- Northern Woodlands Magazine
- Northern Woodlands Goes to School
- The Outside Story
- The Place You Call Home
Page 53 of 54 ‹ First < 51 52 53 54 >
Outside Story Archive
-
Mosquito Lullaby
You can hear the whine from across the room, higher in pitch and more ceaseless than the whine of a toddler, and even more annoying. If it has roused you from half-sleep, you have two choices: snap on the light to find its source before it finds you, or drift back to sleep hoping it finds someone else first.
It… (more)
-
A Chorus Line
I mark the progress of spring by the succession of frogs that raise their voices to court and reproduce. My favorite, gray treefrogs, pipe up in late May, long after the wood frogs, peepers, and American toads have had their say. With this spring being particularly cold, treefrogs are only now reaching their peak.
On warm, humid June nights, I… (more)
-
Nonpoint Source Pollution
When I used to think of water pollution, I imagined an industrial building with a pipe spewing smelly, vile-colored liquid into a river. I’ve never witnessed such pollution, but I do remember the stream that ran through my college campus 25 years ago. There was a paper mill nearby that produced toilet paper, and you could tell what color tissue… (more)
-
Look, Fireflies!
Deep down, most of us know that fireflies have a life, but a good firefly night brings such a flood of amazement and gratitude that questions about their larval phase, their diet, and their day jobs get crowded out. And what are they doing out there? Nearly all the flashes you see are emitted by males searching for females. The… (more)
-
Holey Alliance
The first dawn volley of a yellow-bellied sapsucker on our metal roof is exciting because it signals spring. The twenty-first volley is a little harder to be enthusiastic about, but I forgive them and begin to think “hummingbird.”
Ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive at my house in Vershire, Vermont, by early May, which in the past has always made me vaguely uneasy.… (more)
-
Bluebirds
When the male bluebird first arrived in my front yard, I adopted a new routine. Whenever I reached the living room, I would glance out the big window to the north end of the garden, where a homemade birdhouse stood, and report on all aspects of the bluebird’s behavior. Whether he perched on the birdhouse, stalked through the brown grasses… (more)
-
Glaciers and Taxes in Vermont and New Hampshire
For those of you who view geology as a confusing bunch of stones from the ancient past, try this: Vermont has an income tax and New Hampshire doesn’t because Vermont is landlocked while New Hampshire isn’t.
This statement is practically true – “practically” because human affairs are rarely straightforward enough to be solely determined by nature. But this disclaimer… (more)
-
How Do Trees Know When to Leaf Out in the Spring?
Thankfully, most northern trees aren’t dead in winter. They’re dormant – very much alive but relatively inactive. They still burn energy maintaining life, but little goes on in the way of growth. It’s just too cold. And water, being frozen, is unavailable. Dormancy is how trees avoid such unfavorable environmental conditions without moving to Florida.
The strategy makes sense. In… (more)
-
Turning Pines Into Cabbages
A white pine weevil close up or, even better, seen through a hand lens, is so silly looking it will make you laugh. This plump, quarter-inch-long beetle (Pissodes strobi) has a tapering head that narrows to a long snout with chewing mouthparts at the end. Two antennae sprout from the snout, and first aim backwards, in the wrong direction, then… (more)
-
Rites of Spring
When April temperatures reach 45 degrees Fahrenheit and a long rain extends into the evening, spotted salamanders are awakened by water trickling through the forest soil. They push their way up through the earth and, guided by gravity and a moisture gradient, begin their annual migration down to vernal pools. Vernal pools (literally “spring” pools) are ephemeral. Filled with snow-melt… (more)