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Where Osprey Go, Part 2

Dear Bay Weekly:

Homer’s finally moving again. This is the first time I’ve had one bird migrate through North Carolina, in the same direction, twice in one year. In fact this is the first of any of our tagged osprey to pull such a stunt.

I’ve put a link so you can pick up Homer’s maps from Virginia south. Follow the link to 2005 maps, and then “Migration continues.”

Conanicus is probably fluent in Spanish by now. Seems he’s in Cuba for the duration.

Jaws is still off the air. I choose to believe that it’s a problem with the transmitter. We may get a signal eventually or just have to keep our eyes open for an osprey flying around Martha’s Vineyard with a transmitter on its back next spring.

We’ve had another piece of bad news. Bluebeard’s radio is off the air. The last signals from him were very close to where he spent the winter last year. While Jaws’ radio silence holds some hope, it doesn’t look good for Bluebeard. Our last signals were weak, and the activity counter was not going up, so he either died or lost the radio.

It’s frustrating to lose another bird and have no idea what could have happened. He had made the really tough part of the trip, crossing the Caribbean, and should have had an easy time of it getting to his wintering grounds. An osprey really only needs one good-sized fish a day to get by, so it’s hard to believe he had a problem with food. The most likely explanation would be that he was shot. It happens down there more frequently than we’d like to believe.

We’ll just have to wait until spring to see if he shows up.

As usual: http://www.bioweb.uncc.edu/bierregaard/migration_’05.htm.

—Rob Bierregaard, UNC-Charlotte

Enough Green Tomatoes for Everyone

Dear Bay Weekly:

The green-tomato pickle recipe Joan Lehmann shared in Bay Reflections [Vol. xiii, No. 44: Nov, 3] is in fact a southwest Virginia relish that dates to the early 1800s. Green tomato relish has been served as a standard with beans and cornbread, fish and certain wild game in my family for generations. Coming from a meager family with roots planted in soil and water, we added green peppers and cabbage to increase the amount we canned.

I still put up a fair amount every year to enjoy, give as gifts and enter in the Calvert County Fair. I am glad to see someone else enjoying the best of all tomatoes, the green ones!

—S.Zimmerman, Owings

Editor’s note: It’s comforting to be part of a culinary tradition; still, it never surprises us when a good idea pops into more than one head, particularly under the provocation of annual late-season abundance.