About a year ago, I took over Northern Woodlands’ This Week in the Woods blog, which my predecessor and skilled observer Elise Tillinghast began during the pandemic and wrote for four years. Following her example, each week I post photographs of and information about the flora, fauna, and fungi I observe in the Upper Connecticut River Valley, such as this barred owl. I appreciate the opportunity to remain in regular touch with the Northern Woodlands community in this way between print issues of the magazine – and the lessons gleaned putting the pieces together each week.
The blog might give the false impression that I am a most suitable person to inform others on the ecology of the region, but I learn much of what I share while I draft each post. I take photos from a place of curiosity, sometimes before identifying a species or phenomenon, delight in the excuse to research it, and then present the material as if I’ve known it all along. The information I need often appears in our vast magazine and Outside Story archive, and as I peruse, I take pride in Northern Woodlands’ history – and in contributing to it. But writing the series has also required humility. I have had to develop comfort with uncertainty and not knowing; for instance, accurately identifying some moth species necessitates close examination or even dissection of genitalia, and confidently naming one of the Empidonax flycatchers depends on hearing its call or song in addition to seeing its field marks. I have had to welcome at least one community correction, and for a time, it horrified me that the post leading with a misidentification had more page views than any other This Week in the Woods entry. I have in turn come to rely even more on other people – on my most regular walking companion for their photos when they surpass mine; on neighbors for their directions to where the Canada lily, twinflower, or one-flowered wintergreen is in bloom; and yes, on the proper expert for identifying that ambiguous animal track, fungus, or sedge that I’ve gotten the wrong idea about.
If This Week in the Woods tracks seasonal change, From the Center, which appears in each quarterly issue of the magazine, tracks developments at the nonprofit and offers an opportunity to pay respect to the partners such as the ones mentioned above – the readership and the network of naturalists, scientists, foresters, and science communicators that I and the rest of us at Northern Woodlands regularly benefit from and learn alongside. In this issue, it provides the space for me to welcome new board member John De Laney and to bid farewell to departing board member Jim Curtis. John’s enthusiasm for learning about the forest has frequently refreshed my own, and his experiences at the intersection of nature and culture make him the perfect fit for what we do. Jim’s independence of thought and overall generosity have helped drive the organization for nine years, and we owe him our heartfelt thanks. While Jim’s final term on the board has ended, we know that he – like so many of our past board members – will remain a friend of the organization.