Site Discussions
Thank you for including Ryan’s article! I am a member of the CFA and have watched Ryan not only substantially grow the membership, but also the services that the CFA provides. His and the CFA’s efforts have made a difference.
From "Backyard Forestry with Ryan Trapani" »
We had an extremely snowy winter this year and very cold. It is slowly starting to warm this week but we still have about 4 feet of snow on our lawn. I have noticed new buds on our maple tree . Is it because the days are getting longer?
From "How Do Trees Know When to Leaf Out in the Spring?" »
I’m curious… will this winter’s cold have any effect on the ticks that have become such a problem in southeastern Vermont ? Thank You !
From "Survival in the Cold" »
Hi Hayden,
I was friends with your mom in college and we remained friends till her death, although I lived in Philadelphia. She was a wonderful woman. Of course, you know that, but more than anything I wanted to write to you when I saw this and tell you she would be so proud of you. Because I know she was proud of you and Norah when she was alive.
Take care of yourself and all the best.
Peter Miraglia
From "Coast-to-Coast Forestry with Hayden Lake" »
Cool to read, I searched this up because I just saw two female Cardinals fighting in my front yard. I walked within 5 feet of them to see what it was about and they kept going at it. Super cool.
From "Sweet-singing Cardinals Defend Territories" »
Being a woman in the National Park Service from the ‘70s until now I’ve also experienced the culture of white male dominance. It was good to read Starya Mobley experiences, I applaud her tenacity to stick with NSF and her efforts to open doors and mentor other diverse people to seek jobs in outdoor/nature based fields of work and education!
From "A Pioneer in Forestry: Melody Starya Mobley" »
What a powerful essay. It struck a chord with me as I live in New York City, but have spent my summers in Vermont for most of my life. I have recurring dreams that I’m stuck in elevators that burst through skyscraper rooftops and hurl into space. I’ve also had dreams that I wake up and our Vermont meadow is covered with condos. It’s a always a relief to wake up and see that I’m still in bed and that the meadow is still a meadow!
From "Subway Dreams" »
This is not a reply, but a new question. A friend in Cambridge MA saw a blue circle in the snow far into a woodsy area. He searched about and found an article on Facebook that said this was rabbit pee, caused by the rabbits eating buckthorn. Can that be true? Here’s the article:
https://gardenbite.com/whats-that-blue-stuff-in-the-snow/
I’d attach my friend’s blue pee photo but can’t in this message.
(I subscribe to your magazine and love it. Subscription might be in my husband’s name, our address is Goshen, NH although we are in Plymouth for the winter.).
From "February: Week Three" »
My family had a complete set of deer antlers which we proudly hung on our wall for years but they were sadly lost. My family said the antlers were found in the forest so maybe they were shed as you mentioned happens. Does anyone have any ideas of how I might obtain a set of deer antlers that I could display?
From "White-tailed Bucks Shedding Antlers" »
A few years ago, in early spring I was digging into an empty nursery bed when I was surprised to see a live bumble bee emerge. Soon there were many - I would guess at least 25 - mostly crawling around on the surface. Fortunately it was a warm day, and I very carefully recovered the bees, desperately hoping I wasn’t suffocating them. Later in the spring I thoroughly dug up the same spot without finding a single bee, dead or alive, so I hope they all survived and emerged at the right time. What a thrill! I always thought they hibernated individually, not in such large groups.
From "Bees at Home in Holes and Hollows" »
This article on bees is so interesting! I didn’t know about the difference between the nonnative honeybee winter activity vs. how our native bees are so well adapted. I also enjoyed the comparison to the summer garden alive with buzzing as the author notes and brings to life, in contrast to the winter months.
From "Bees at Home in Holes and Hollows" »
Great article! Ms. Daniel’s VMN videos on YouTube are what inspired me to become a MA Audubon Certified Field Naturalist in Massachusetts.
From "Shining Light on the Places We Live with Alicia Daniel" »
Peter and all: in this lovely article, you are walking on a definitional boundary that may be trickier than you realize. ‘Herbs’ need to be herbaceous, meaning that a significant part of the above-ground architecture dies back in the winter. Mitella and Orthilla clearly meet that test; the stems senesce after flowering, through the leaves do not, and they are herbs. Scirpoides stems, both vegetative and fruiting, are perennial; it isn’t an herb. What it is then is a harder question. Books like categories; plants ignore them. It has no secondary growth, but does have stems reinforced by lignin and silica. And thus is not anatomically woody, but may be functionally woody. To me, behavior trumps anatomy; it grows like a dwarf shrub and has stems like a dwarf shrub, and so is a dwarf shrub. With best botanical wishes, Jerry J., 8 Feb 025.
From "Scouting for Summer: Evergreen Wetland Herbs" »
I am lucky to have been a participant in the VMN program and to have had Alicia as a teacher. The ‘layercake’ approach provides such a rich lense to see interconnectedness in natural areas and a vocabulary to share it with others.
From "Shining Light on the Places We Live with Alicia Daniel" »
Allaire’s work really works. It is very inspiring to see the photos and read how these small dam prevented flooding. A lot of other good things happen when the flow of water is slowed down and it replenishes the ground water. I hope to install a beaver dam analogue in western New Hampshire this summer. Please spread the word, and the water.
John Lambert
Charlestown NH
From "BDA and Beaver Dam Sites after Vermont’s July Extreme Rain Event" »
I live in Westminster Vermont, and I have seen a Fisher several times here once having climbed some crabapple trees to get at the berries this was in December of 2024 and prior to that disappearing into a health side in my backyard which is a forest in 2023. I hate to think that these beautiful animals are under threat in this area. In any area. Very good article. If they’re not using tree Den boxes would they burrow into the side of a wooded hillside? It looks like that’s where this one and 2023 disappeared into.
From "What’s Happening to the Fisher?" »
Wonderful. Reading helps us find the value and depth we sense in the landscape.
From "Shining Light on the Places We Live with Alicia Daniel" »
Years ago when my husband came home from work we just had an afternoon shower and he saw a rainbow that appeared to end in our backyard. He walked towards it until he found himself standing inside of the rainbow. The light was bright all around him and the air felt misty..it was almost a religious experience for him. Unfortunately nobody believed him, including myself..I just wished I was there to experience this with him!
From "Inside a Rainbow" »
Be friending nature, friending wildlife, like friending people requires us to open up who and what we are while inquiring, observing, learning about our friend to be. We learn to see each other for what and who we each are. With who and what in nature will you find a bond?
From "A Lesson in Turtles" »