I like getting letters, but very few people seem to write them anymore.

I do get emails, however, and I like them, too, because they often make column writing easier.

I’ve received several good ones recently, including one from longtime area coach and athletic director Kathy Faber, who wrote to tell me about a great rescue performed by Bill Boyle and Ryan Fagan earlier this summer.

Boyle was sitting on his deck at Canadarago Lake drinking his morning coffee and watching an eagle hunting up its breakfast. There was a boat out on the lake trolling with planer boards, and the eagle decided that one of the trailing lures might be edible and dropped out of the sky and into the water to get it.

The bird became entangled and was in danger of drowning. Boyle enlisted the help of Fagan, who netted the bird, which then somehow freed itself from the lure, and turned out of the net. The eagle was exhausted, however, and couldn’t get off the water. Fagan netted it again, and he and Boyle worked their way against the wind to Deowongo Island, where they released it again. The eagle stood in place for a while on the shore, then flew-hopped to a bench on the island, sat there for about 20 minutes, then flew up into a tree and soon was gone.

The rescue wasn’t an easy task since the bird, as you might imagine, was not in the best of moods. It was great work by Boyle and Fagan.

Fagan thinks the bird was a golden eagle. Tom Salo of the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society’s Franklin Mountain Hawk Watch has been studying goldens for many years, and he is quite sure, after looking at photos, it was an immature bald eagle. Immatures lack the signature white head and tail, and look somewhat like goldens. (Salo wrote an excellent story on golden eagles in the December 2014 New York State Conservationist. You should be able to find it on line.)

By the way, you are likely to see bald eagles almost any day near Canadarago and Otsego lakes. I’ve seen them pluck fish out of the water, riding thermals, standing out in fields, and feeding on carrion in the middle of the road. Fagan said they congregate on Canadarago in double-digit numbers at ice-out time in the spring.

Also by the way, the Franklin Mountain Hawkwatch – just across the Susquehanna River from Oneonta – officially began last weekend. You can see bald eagles, golden eagles, and many other raptors up there, depending on the season. Broad-winged hawks already have been migrating. Visitors are always welcome, and official counters appreciate help spotting birds. Dress warmly in layers. It can be much colder up there than you think it is going to be.

The best times to be at the hawkwatch are when winds are strong from the northwest and especially after a rain and the passing of a cold front. Information, including detailed directions, is available at https://doas.us/research/franklin-mountain-hawkwatch/.

I received several other emails of note:

For example, in regard to a column on garden pests and how to deal with them, Sue Fellows suggested an electric fence. She and her husband put up a three-strand solar fence, with components from Tractor Supply, and a Gallagher charger bought on line. Sue said it was easy to install. She sent photos of the garden, which looks great and has not been molested by critters.

Anthony Salerno wrote to share his experience with his very large garden. He has a picket fence that keeps out larger animals, and he doesn’t weed and feed his backyard, leaving plenty of clover that he says keeps the woodchucks and squirrels fat and happy. He doesn’t plant lettuce, kale, Brussel sprouts of any type of cabbage because he has found nothing that works at preventing them being ravaged. He moves owl decoys around the garden, which seems to keep the crows at bay. Strawberries and blueberries have wire fencing over them to keep the birds and rabbits away, and he has so many blackberries that he lets the animals have their fill. He said everything else, including herbs, usually is undisturbed and left alone.

In response to a column about invasive species, Donald Beier wrote to tell me his experience in dealing with Japanese knotweed at a campground he belonged on the West Branch of the Delaware River. Everything was tried and nothing worked until it was decided to tarp the weeds. They were cut down to ground level, and then tarps were placed over the roots. It took several years of what he described as diligent, consistent effort, but the knotweed disappeared and native foliage returned.

Also on knotweed, Ross Cohn informed me that it is edible. Well, as a veteran forager of dandelions, cardoons (burdock), mustard greens, leeks, black walnuts and the like, I should have expected that to be so, but, really, I was stunned by that news. Ross suggested that as terribly invasive as the weed is, making it into a feature in the kitchen might be a great way to control its spread.

In a posting from 2016, bonappetit.com reported that some restaurants were serving knotweed. Maybe it was a fad that since has faded, but I’m thinking it probably still is a thing in certain big city establishments.

Here is what bonappetit.com had to say:

“Knotweed’s one redeeming quality, then, is that its hollow green stems, segmented like bamboo and freckled with crimson, taste a whole lot like rhubarb (though the two bear no relation). They are tart, crunchy, and juicy; can be eaten raw or cooked; and can lean sweet or savory, depending on how they’re prepared. So knotweed is in many ways the perfect thing to forage: It tastes good, it’s easy to find, and, unlike many wild edibles, it’s at zero risk of being over-harvested.”

Write to John Pitarresi at 60 Pearl St., New Hartford, N.Y. 13413 orjcpitarresi41@gmail.com or call him at 315-724-5266.

          Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol will discuss New York state’s new gun laws at the next meeting of the Federated Sportsmen’s Clubs of Oneida County on Sept.12.

The public is invited to attend and ask questions. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Steuben Town Hall, 9458 Soule Road, Remsen.