Site Discussions

I found my first one with her litter in one of my bluebird houses. She has way more than 3 I think there’s at least 8 of them. Definitely a Lemming. At first I thought it was a baby rabbit and wondered how it got in there. She didn’t bite me and let me take a picture of her and her little ones. I’ll leave her alone and instruct the new owners to leave her alone too. I never knew they existed in my area till now. And I’ve never seen one in my life and have lived between south western MI and north Western IN all my life. There is a small swampy area not far from me that she may have been living in. Not sure why she picked my bluebird house. But that’s OK She seemed very content.

8/11/2025, 3:00 pm, Mendon, MA: in our stone wall connected to granite boulders, overgrown with grapes and vines and huckleberries. Lots of chipmunk, rabbit, squirrel and bird activity here, I just saw a pine marten slink along and under a large rock. We’re near the lake and lots of wildlife come through here.

Excellent article!  I knew just barely enough to tell a syrphid fly from a bee, but that was it.  Thank you for so much good information, presented in such interesting writing.

Thank you for this wonderful vision of the intricacy and beauty of this tiny natural phenomenon.

I have a perfect habitat for Common Yellowthroats and so enjoy the wickety wickety wick in June. I first became aware of them a few years ago when I observed these little gems hanging on the tops of grasses and hanging on as the grasses bent with a breeze. But I haven’t seen that this summer, although the air was filled with their song earlier this year. When might I observe these golden miracles atop grasses again? I know they are here but silent.
Thanks

Are the cone blooms every year?

Thanks for such a wonderful article.

Lovely essay and poignant reflection on time and timelessness; sense of place,  The things that seem ageless as we are aging.    The lobster boat engine? A marine diesel engine for the low-end torque; not a 2-stroke which is more high-end powerband for small engines - think dirt bikes, chainsaws and weed-whackers,  Two strokes are too dirty by today’s standards for outboard engines.  That deep thrum vibration you can almost feel in your chest from a passing Maine lobster boat is sometimes accompanied by the faint whiff of diesel exhaust fumes across the water. They utilize long driveshaft and large oversize 3- or 4- blade propellor to plow low, slow and steady. LOVE the working boats of coastal Maine.

Beautifully written piece, Ned, full of the longing that is akin somehow to loyalty. The trees! Oh, the trees!

I found one, or I believe that is what it is in a river that looks like a hotdog in a bun, about 3” long overall.

Hello. I have a sort of silly question: do moose typically bother beavers, or vice versa? Moose, as stated in your article, eat tree vegetation and typically prefer wetlands, but do they, or any other non human animals, bother beaver dams?

Very, very interesting, now I have learned something very pertinent to the season today! I know how to tell them apart now! It will be fun to look for them - thank you so much!

Great article on Marcus Rosten and The Western New York Wildway. Glad to see Northern Woodlands covering western New York. Thanks for all your work Marcus!

The adult beetles also make a clicking/sqeaking sound when they are scared.

Wow!  What stunning photographs!  Many thanks to Northern Woodlands and Brent Haglund for this beautiful article.

Excellent article!!!!!

I recently came across this interview and found it delightfully interesting. I’ve been an avid hiker since the childhood and after hiatus early in marriage returned to it as my path forward. Both of my children have loved it, too, nd it continues with their children into a new generation. I always loved clambering rocks, but finally learned proper techniques out in the Rockies.

What I’m learning is that much of our lives run in parallel. Listing familiar names and places this article brings out is part of my lifeline. I’ve been through East Corinth, love Franconia Ridge, am an author, known struggles, and wondered about Guy and his decision which I understand now much more than before. Thank you for publishing this respectful dialogue.

Years ago I pulled down a used Phoebe nest and saved it in a large jar. Now I see that phobes reuse old nests, so I’m going to put it back for them to reuse, but there’s a new phoebe nest in the old location, full of babies, so I’ll find a good spot for it. I’ll let you know if somebody starts using it.

Nice article! It’s curious that it says the Blackburnian Warbler population is stable. Here in the Maritimes the population is in steep declines, down by about 70% since 1985. The primary cause is loss of habitat due to industrial forestry in the area.

Geology is the basis for why the trout fishing is generally better in VT than NH.  Nutrient-rich green mountain soils produce more fertile streams with more aquatic insect life which translates into a better environment for trout to grow bigger and more numerous more quickly. Geology, and by extension, water pH, also explains why walleyes thrive in some of VT’s waters but - even though NH Fish and Game has tried - walleyes can’t succeed in NH’s waters. Except the CT river, thanks to what Vermont soils are able to contribute to that river.