On warm days through early fall, you can find two large species of “digger” wasps flitting about late-blooming flowers. Like many wasps, these species elicit strong, often negative…

Ever fish around in the dark for your keys? Make the task easier with this double-trout pewter key ring. Handmade by Danforth Pewter in Middlebury, Vermont. Comes on two split rings. Measures 2 1/4…

While walking through a patch of brambles in Thetford, Vermont, we noticed many of the plants had bunched up leaves that were turning pink or brown at the center. What are these bunches, and what do…

Our readers captured a variety of colorful amphibians, fungus, and insects this August. Other intriguing photos include a timber rattler in Benezette, Pennsylvania, submitted by Charlie Schwarz, a…

Susie Spikol is a naturalist, writer, and communities program director at the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, New Hampshire. She is the recipient of New Hampshire’s…

This week in the woods, we saw several Andrena bees, most likely peaceful miner bees (Andrena placata) heavily loaded with late-blooming aster pollen. These solitary bees are notable for the…

The Northeast is famous for its fall foliage, as the lush, green leaves of summer transform into bright hues, turning hillsides and valleys into quilts of scarlet, ochre, and gold. Among the brightest…

We have so much to celebrate this autumn at Northern Woodlands. We invite you to join us on Thursday, September 19, from 4:30 – 6:30 PM for an informal gathering to welcome the community to our…

This week in the woods, we’ve been noticing the abundance of brightly colored berries and other fruit. The Northern Woodlands biweekly What in the Woods is That? quiz features six types of fruit…

As the height-of-summer floral abundance fades, goldenrods and asters fill the landscape with hits of yellow, purple, pink, and white. Beyond the beauty they provide, these late bloomers are a…

Rodney Elmer has been chasing game through the forests of Vermont – and beyond – since he was a kid. He’s turned his passion for the woods and hunting into his life’s work…

Our native plant pollinator garden continues to bring many challenges and rewards. After some woodchips washed away during heavy rains, we’ve been very much focused on drainage. In addition to…

This time of year, many native shrubs and trees produce fruits that attract wildlife and thereby help the plants to spread their seeds. Here are five native species and one non-native invasive…

I often spot black willow trees as I’m kayaking along a riverbank or lakeshore. While perhaps less picturesque than its (non-native) cousin the weeping willow, black willow is native to the…

This week in the woods, adult loons have begun their pre-migration partial molt. If you look closely at this adult bird, photographed from a respectful zoom lens distance in Strafford, Vermont,…

Before the trees put on their colorful autumnal cloaks, the newly rewilded fields at my home turn to gold and purple. New England American-aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) begins blooming in…

This week in the woods, we’ve noticed a lot of aerial feeding activity above fields and wetlands along the Connecticut and Ompompanoosuc rivers, all sites within about 20 miles of the Northern…

Mushrooms take up nutrients and minerals from whatever they are growing on, for example, wood they’re decomposing or, in the case of mycorrhizal fungi, forest soils and tree roots. They can also…

More people are taking an interest in outdoor recreation in New Hampshire at the same time as seasons are shifting, winters are warming, and storms are strengthening. To what extent are these…