This year is the 58th Apple Blossom Festival in Williamson N.Y.  This festival is the longest continuous festival in New York. There are endless float ideas to inspire you, from tie dye to Woodstock. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to enter a float. Generous cash prizes will be awarded to three lucky floats but everyone wins by participating in one of Western New York’s biggest parades! Parade starts promptly at 2:00 on May 20, 2017.
More information and event times can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/Williamson-Apple-Blossom-Festival-133175249382/

(photo left: 1968 Williamson Apple Blossom Festival – this year’s theme is “Still Groovy After all these years”)

From our Cornell Master Gardener friends:

Master Gardeners Great Gardens of Wayne County Tour Tickets on sale now!

Do you love gardens of all shapes and sizes? Whether you have a green thumb or not, there’s a golden opportunity coming soon for you to see what your gardening neighbors are doing. On our self-guided tour, you can discover a diverse selection of wonderful gardens at your own pace.

Whether you enjoy woody plants, flower gardens, water features, or home food production, there’s something for everyone.

This year, our Master Gardeners have selected five gardens for you to tour in the Town of Ontario.

When: June 19th from 4 to 8 pm. Rain or Shine.

To purchase tour tickets send $10.00 per person to the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County 1581 Rte. 88 N. Newark, NY 14513-9739 by June 14th or stop in our office – 830am -430pm Monday-Friday.

Please call (315) 331-8415 for more information. For special needs please contact us two weeks prior to the tour.

You are cordially invited to attend the 2019 4R Technical Field Day at SUNY Morrisville.

4R is an approach to agricultural nutrient management and soil and water stewardship that emphasizes using the Right Source of Nutrients at the Right Rate and Right Time in the Right Place for the protection of New York’s waterways

But it’s more than just a catchy buzz phrase. The approach provides a science-based framework for plant nutrition management and sustained crop production while considering specific individual farms’ needs.

The 2019 4R Field Tech Day will highlight existing 4R Programs and technologies. The 4R Field day counts towards required 4R Training as required by 4R NY Nutrient Stewardship Certification and offers 5.5 hard-to-find CCA credits. Plus Free lunch!

Date: October 15, 2019
Location: SUNY Morrisville Campus, Morrisville, NY
Address: 80 Eaton St, Morrisville, NY 13408

Agenda:

All morning sessions will take place in Charlton Hall

* 8 a.m. Registration and coffee
* 9:00 a.m. Welcome, Jen Gilbert Jenkins SUNY Morrisville
* 9:15 The 4R Program, Sally Flis, TFI Director of Agronomy, NYSABA Pres.
* 9:45 NRCS programs available to support the implementation of 4R strategies, NRCS speaker
* 10:10 TNC, 4R, and Conservation, Gregg Sargis, TNC
* 10:35 Precision Ag Map- Extracting value from different map layers- Avery DeGolyer, WNY Crop Management, CCA
* 11:00 COFFEE BREAK and transportation to demo 1
* 11:30 Environmental Tillage Systems- Soil Warrior- demo
* 12:15 Lunch (including transportation to lunch and then back to demo sites after lunch)

* Afternoon Demonstrations will take place in fields around the Morrisville Dairy Complex
* 1:30 – 3:00 Rotating 20-minute demonstrations including soil sampling technology from Western New York Crop Management and Growmark FS, Sprayer Calibration and Drone imaging demonstrations by Cazenovia Equipment Company, INC, Cover Crop roller demonstration by SUNY Morrisville and more!
* 3:00 Transportation back to an original parking lot

CCA Credits- 1.5 NM, 3.0 SW

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register:
https://4rtechnicalfieldday.eventbrite.com

As part of the Lake Ontario Rapid Response Team, NY DEC deployed a team of experienced coastal engineers to Lake Ontario to work with property owners to address erosion, conduct site visits, meet with owners, and offer technical guidance. The team will rapidly review all emergency permit applications received. DEC’s engineers stand ready to work with property owners so that protective structures can be repaired and homeowners can take appropriate actions expeditiously.  Follow this link for the location and times the DEC will be at the command centers to provide assistance with permit applications. Generally these applications can be approved the same day, but in some cases can take up to a week.

Please visit:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/public/76659.html

Mid-September is a great time to be birding at the Complex.

The Montezuma Wetlands Complex is a globally-significant Important Bird Area and supports a million or more waterfowl of at least 30 species, thousands of inland migrating shorebirds, a myriad of ‘confusing’ fall warblers and many rare and endangered species.

The 242-square mile Montezuma Focus Area, which was highlighted under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan as critical migratory bird habitat, serves as the boundary for the Muckrace.

You will need these forms and rules

Photo Credit Audubon Society

Looking for a new holiday tradition? How about the national Audubon Christmas Bird Count?

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place at the Montezuma Audubon Center located at 2295 State Route 89, Savannah, NY 13146 at 5:00 pm on Monday, December 19.

This is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds. As the Christmas Bird Count enters its 117th year, birders of all experience levels are encouraged to join us to count Montezuma’s wintering birds.

This event is free and open to the public but registration is required by calling 315-365-3588. http://friendsofmontezuma.org/event/montezuma-christmas-bird-count/

The Montezuma Wetlands Complex is a globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA), contains numerous intriguing habitats: Lake, River, Deciduous Hardwoods, Open Field, Coniferous Stands, Fresh Water Marsh, and Grassland.

The compilation will take place at the Montezuma Audubon Center located at 2295 State Route 89, Savannah, NY 13146 at 5:00 pm on Monday, December 19.

There is a specific methodology to the CBC, and all participants must make arrangements to participate in advance with the circle compiler within an established circle, but anyone can participate.

Each count takes place in an established 15-mile wide diameter circle, and is organized by a count compiler. Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. It’s not just a species tally–all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day.

If you are a beginning birder, you will be able to join a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher. … more