by Susan Shea RANDOLPH – On an October day years ago, my husband and I were canoeing on a pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. We heard crashing in the bushes along the shoreline just before a magnificent bull moose with large antlers appeared. He plunged into the water[Read More…]
The Outside Story
If a Tree Falls in the Woods, It Creates Opportunity
by Declan McCabe BURLINGTON – In May of this year, when a cottonwood measuring nearly 3 ½ feet in diameter and more than 100 feet tall fell across a trail in the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area, I saw the event less as a tragedy, and more as a circle[Read More…]
Buttonbush Is a Boon for Wildlife
by Colby Galliher NEW ENGLAND – As autumn begins and insect populations dwindle, many waterfowl species rely increasingly on seeds as a food source. Common buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), with its spherical bouquets of seeds now ripening, provides food for an array of ducks, geese, and other wetland denizens. Buttonbush’s range[Read More…]
Why Do Some Mushrooms Glow in the Dark?
by Rachel Sargent Mirus DERRY, N.H. – I recently found myself sitting in the crawl space of my house holding a bioluminescent mushroom. I’d been on a quest to find one of these light-producing mushrooms and, on my birthday, had collected a jack o’lantern (Omphalotus illudens), so named for its[Read More…]
The Peculiar Acorn Pip Gall Wasp
by Jen Weimer Hillsborough, N.H. — In northern New England, acorns ripen in late summer and normally drop from oak trees from September through October. They may fall earlier, however, for a host of reasons, from eager squirrels getting a head start on gathering nuts for the winter to environmental[Read More…]
Cliffs Host Varied Flora and Fauna
by Susan Shea RANDOLPH – On a recent hike up Eagle Mountain in Milton, we climbed to a ledge overlooking Lake Champlain. Turkey vultures soared overhead, tilting back and forth on the breeze. A sheer cliff dropped to the forest below us, a lush variety of plants clinging to its[Read More…]
The Life of a Snapping Turtle
by Anna Morris QUECHEE — Until 65 million years ago, huge reptiles dominated our planet, and every summer I think they might be making a comeback. The sight of a snapping turtle hauling herself onto a sunny log or lifting her incredible bulk on mud-colored legs always fills me with[Read More…]
Chrysalis Surprise Produces a Parasitoid Wasp
by Rachel Sargent Mirus DUXBURY – A caterpillar eats and eats, becomes a chrysalis, and after a period of metamorphosis emerges as a beautiful butterfly, except sometimes, it doesn’t quite work that way. Occasionally, while sitting on my deck, I spot smallish, orange butterflies landing on our hop plants. Their[Read More…]
When North Meets South: Flying Squirrel Hybrids
by Gretchen Uhrinek Pittsburgh, Pa. – It’s evening, and you’re in the forest. You close your eyes and inhale the sharp, sweet, turpentine scent of pine. The air is still, yet the branches overhead seem to nod at your presence. You shine a flashlight and catch a glimpse: a fleeting,[Read More…]
Doodlebug, Doodlebug, Are You at Home?
by Timothy Loftus AUBURN, Mass. – The doodlebug waits. It is patient. It is silent. And it is hidden under a fine layer of dry, loose, sandy soil at the bottom of a small conical pit. Soon, a wandering ant will slip down the side of the pit, where the[Read More…]
Total Eclipse of the Duck
by William von Herff CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — For most of the year, it’s hard to find a pond without at least a few mallards swimming around. These ducks, with their green-headed drakes and streaky brown hens, are among the most common water birds throughout the Northeast. In spring and fall,[Read More…]