We recently received this photo for the August readers’ photo gallery, along with this explanation from Bonnie Honaberger: “I found this chrysalis on the ground, thus the straight…
August 2019
Wait…where did summer go? Your August photos showed the transition from new life to maturity and even the first faint hints of autumn. An adult cicada emerged from its nymphal shell, an…
“We Wouldn’t Know”
Last February you might have seen news stories about an impending insect apocalypse. “Huge global extinction risk.” “Plummeting insect numbers threaten collapse of nature.”…
Editor’s Note: Staying True
The centerpiece of this issue is a mishmash story on deer and deer hunting – the hunting bit as important a cultural touchstone as we have in the rural Northeast, a culture that’s…
From the Center
So there we were, my friend “Jane” and I, standing in a field of blazing staghorn sumac. The tree next to us was heavily infested with galls, and to Jane’s dismay, I launched into a…
Issue 102: Autumn 2019 $6.00
The Pearl Fishers of the Winooski River by Paul Heller; Burlwood by Nick Rosato; Tick-borne Diseases on the Rise in the Northeast by Meghan McCarthy McPhaul; We Can’t Afford to Buy New by George…
Talking ‘Bout Regeneration
A few times a year, I bring groups of people into the woods to search for red-backed salamanders in the damp netherworld that is the forest floor. Last spring, it was 8th graders. They did their best…
A Place in Mind: Mowing
I have been helping to mow our fields these last weeks of August, making long work out of what could be done by an experienced operator in a few days. This mowing is far from Robert Frost’s…
The Humming Tree
The photographer was drawn to this tree (in mid-July, on a rich site) by a loud hum coming from its canopy. What’s the tree species, and why was its canopy humming?
Bats on the Wing
Yesterday evening, a bat found its way into the Northern Woodlands building and flew into my office. It careened around the room for several revolutions and then (as far as I know) found its way…
Camera, Eyes, and Heart
Sean Beckett, who will teach a photography workshop at this year’s Northern Woodlands Conference, shared this image of Sterling Falls near Stowe, Vermont. Sean is the Staff Naturalist at North…
The Sandpipers That Like Lakes
If there’s one place you’d expect to see a sandpiper, it’s on the sand. However, there is one member of this family of shorebirds that prefers streamside to surfside. Almost any time…
Chris Kueffner
Storrs, Connecticut
Chris is a life-long resident of Connecticut who grew up in that time when parents shooed kids out of the house...and the woods and hills were inviting. As an adult, the allure of trees and topography…
Robert Cowden
Newton, Massachusetts
Bob is a retired partner in the Boston law firm Casner & Edwards, LLP. There, he concentrated his practice on the affairs of nonprofit organizations. This work included tax, general corporate,…
Ben Cosgrove
Portland, Maine
Ben is a traveling composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment in North America. Ben has performed in every U.S. state except Delaware and Hawaii, and held…
John H. Sanders, Jr. MD.
Lyme, New Hampshire
John was born in inner-city Detroit, grew up on the west side of Cleveland, and is Dartmouth Class of 1964. He attended University of Michigan Medical School, where he and his wife, Karen, met.…
Inside a Rainbow
After a passing shower, when the sun comes out again, I often see a rainbow in the east behind my house, arching over the trees on the hilltop. Ancient peoples were awed by these multi-colored arcs in…
Unlucky Three
What does this hemlock branch, beech sapling, and hunting camp have in common?
The Loons of Lyford Pond
Recently, subscriber Diana Hayes encountered a group from the Vermont Loon Conservation Project at Quimby Camp in Averill, Vermont. Diana was pleased to see biologist Eric Hanson in this outing; she…
July 2019
Perhaps not surprisingly, given the extreme hot weather, many of your July images were taken near water. In Groton, Massachusetts, juvenile herons crowded the nest, while out in the Adirondacks, a…