Way Downstream

In Annapolis, Maryland Natural Resources Police reported three tree stand accidents last weekend, one of them fatal. Police said that Andre Strickland, 53, was apparently hanged by his safety harness after falling from a tree in Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery County. Two other men, one in Frederick County and one in Kent County, fell from trees and were injured Ö

In Annapolis, Gov, Robert Ehrlich had a crane to do fall planting at his house. The 60-ton crane hoisted a 30-foot, six-and-a-half-ton Japanese Kwanzan cherry tree from Adirondack Tree Experts in Beltsville. Watch for the vivid pink blossoms next spring in the corner of Government House next to Lawyerís Mall and College Avenue Ö

In Virginia, the stink of asphalt wafted down the steaming James River in the early morning hours Monday. Thatís because a barge ran aground, spilling thousands of gallons of gallons of the 270-degree asphalt, which produced steam when it hit the water ó and a terrible mess. "It's going to be obviously an aesthetic problem for awhile,î a state environmental official told the Times-Dispatch.

In Antarctica, German scientists may have discovered a first ó a singing iceberg. In a Science magazine article last week, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research claims to have recorded iceberg sounds that resembled an orchestra warming up. "The water pushes through its crevasses and tunnels at high pressure and the iceberg starts singing,î said scientist Vera Schlindwein Ö

Our Creature Feature comes from Montana, where the first buffalo hunt in 15 years drew television crews from as far away as Britain and Poland when it opened this month. The hunt is billed as a means to thin buffalo herds at Yellowstone National Park. But see there little sport in killing animals that have grown accustomed to humans and donít bother to flee hunters.

Fifty people won hunting licenses by lottery; as of early this week, eight buffalo had been shot, according to the Buffalo Field Campaign, an organization that is critical of the hunt and has filmed animals being shot (www.buffalofieldcampaign.org). The season runs through Jan. 15.