Your August photos showed woody landscape scenes, as well as an abundance of late summer small life, from a temporarily blue-eyed snake to the unfortunately named bleeding teeth fungi. Although summer…
Rock of Ages
Geologist Peter Thompson photographed these rocks in East Thetford, Vermont. What is the rock type, and what would you call structures like this?
A Lifetime of Learning – and Teaching – with Susan Hayward
Growing up in suburban Washington, D.C, during the 1960s, Susan Hayward considered herself a “serious science kid.” During college at the University of Maine, she turned her attention to…
As Summer Wanes, Fawns Lose Their Spots
I have often been stopped in my tracks by the sight of a white-tailed doe standing in the lush summer grass. Depending on the sun’s slant, the animal’s coat is a rich shade of rusty brown…
September: Week Two
This Week in the Woods, we’ve been paying closer attention to bumblebees. Like most other pollinators, they’re winding down their year as the weather cools. Unlike honeybee hives, which…
Common Grackles Show Their Colors
The grackle appeared early last spring, the day before I put the feeder away (so as not to tempt the bears who would soon be awakening from their winter dens). In the dim light of a cloudy day, this…
September: Week One
This Week in the Woods, we never actually made it into the woods, because we got distracted by so much interesting life at the trees’ edge. We found this great egret stalking frogs in a roadside…
Amaranth
When I was in college, some friends found a patch of amaranth growing wild in the school’s community garden, and we decided to try to make flour from its seeds. This was before the internet…
Name That Berry
This time of year, summer’s bounty of blooming things is transitioning from flower to fruit. The first image was shared by Bruce Lindwall of Craftsbury, Vermont, who wrote, “There may be places…
Protecting Alpine Habitats
The hikers are visibly exhausted as they trudge the final steps toward the summit of Mount Marcy – past the “Revegetation Area” cordoned off with string fence and the plaque…
Leopard Frogs Migrating
During the summer months, after breeding in a body of water, northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) are often found in wet, grassy meadows. Come fall, they typically migrate toward the shoreline…
Old Mother West Wind, Laughing Brook, and the Stories that Inspired Generations
Murph and I had ducked into the woods in Phippsburg around 9:30 a.m., hoping to escape the July heat. No spring chickens, we ambled more than we hiked and only covered a few miles before taking an…
Solving the Puzzle of Grouse Decline
For six weeks every October and November, Sean Flint spends two or three days a week walking through thick underbrush in Vermont and flushing ruffed grouse with his dog, Finn. Last year, Flint (who is…
Horse Logging with Brad Johnson
When he was about 6 years old, Brad Johnson drew a stick figure holding an axe and a saw and titled it “The Tree Cutter.” Still, it was a surprise – to Brad, his wife, and his…
Sowing the Seeds of Hope
“We’re creating a model that can be replicated in other ecoregions. We must preserve these arks of biodiversity. Seed sovereignty is a tool of resilience in the face of climate…
The Future of Forestry in the Penobscot Watershed
Each fall, as days grow shorter and the sun dips lower in the sky, the last of the year’s run of Atlantic salmon swim through the cold waters of the Penobscot River and its tributaries, sweeping…
1,000 Words
Every autumn, North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, Vermont hosts a banding station for migrating northern saw-whet owls, a common but seldom-seen woodland species. Tig Tillinghast (husband of…
Editor’s Note
Forests and rivers are inseparable in my mind. When I worked on the Penobscot River Restoration Project in Maine from 2005 to 2015, I became familiar with how this particular river changes its shape…
From the Center
I’ve been spending many weekend hours up on our hill, cutting down stands of invasive honeysuckle. I use a hand saw and work slowly, stopping every time I hear the approaching chime of a dog…
Rivers Reconnected
For more than 200 years, dams built on waterways up and down the East Coast helped to move and sort timber, power sawmills and gristmills, and produce hydroelectric power. These dams shut off…