We’re on the morning school run. Lucy, Turner, and I are singing the family “Yerpy-derp” song, because that’s what we do when we’re stuck behind slow-moving vehicles. Our…
Forest Foraging with Ari Rockland-Miller and Jenna Antonino DiMare
Jenna Antonino DiMare and Ari Rockland-Miller have been exploring the woods since they were children. Originally from western Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley, the married couple met in high school…
Leaf Me Alone
On a recent walk through the woods, we saw what appeared to be a leaf crawling across another leaf. What is this?
Support our Native Plant Pollinator Garden
With your help, we will transform our front yard from lawn and overgrown shrubs to a pollinator oasis! Ever since we moved into our headquarters in Lyme, New Hampshire, we have wanted to replace the…
The Wonders of Aerial Insectivore Flight
When I worked at a barn one summer during college, I marveled at the swallows that nested in the structure’s eaves and corners. I watched the iridescent birds swoop, flutter, and dart with…
May: Week Five
This Week in the Woods, there are several showy wildflowers coming in bloom, including lady’s slippers, columbine, rhodora, and painted trillium. Meghan McCarthy McPhaul took this photograph of…
How Fungi Return to Disturbed Forest
Two common ways that forest fungi spread to new locations are by releasing spores into the wind, and through transport by animals, including the consumption – and defecation – of fungal…
A Rare Glimpse into a Gray Fox Den
Gray foxes inhabit areas of dense cover, usually close to water. They den in the ground, cavities between rocks and ledges, brush piles, tree holes, and hollow logs. In 2018, in a wooded residential…
Western New York Forests Are Growing Less Fired Up
In 1900, much of the forest in the eastern United States was filled with oaks and other trees that tolerated fire. This structure in part reflected previous centuries of shaping by Indigenous peoples,…
May: Week Four
This Week in the Woods, we’re continuing last week’s theme of high bird drama with two images (courtesy of Tig Tillinghast) of a male red-winged blackbird attacking a crow. Moments before,…
Jesup’s Milk-Vetch: A Rare Beauty
A few ledges along the Connecticut River are home to a rare plant commonly known as Jesup’s milk-vetch (Astragalus robbinsii var. jesupii). In fact, this species, which has been listed as…
Working Lands Conservation with Wendy Ward
A lifelong resident of Keene, New Hampshire, Wendy Ward has held a love and curiosity for the natural world for as long as she remembers. For the past 29 years she’s worked with the USDA’s…
Spring Open House
When: May 15th 2024 4 - 7 pm
Where: at Northern Woodlands Office
Join us in celebrating spring and learn about our plans for a pollinator garden! We’ll share the design and show you what we’re growing. Alicia Houk of the Wild Garden Alliance will be on…
April 2024
Your April photos showed a profusion of spring wildflowers, from showy bloodroots to often-overlooked wild ginger. In Adams, Massachusetts, Sharon Bombard had the lucky find of an infant moth perched…
Seeing Red
A reader found these bright red forms among the leaf litter and spring ephemerals near the Northern Woodlands office, in an east-facing cove forest of mature sugar maple and ash trees. What are these?
Native Cherry Trees: Spring Beauty, Ecological Gold
Each spring, cities from New York to Texas celebrate the spectacular blooming of ornamental cherry trees. In many cultures, the lovely, delicate pink and white cherry blossoms symbolize rebirth and…
May: Week Three
This week in the woods, the summer canopy is rapidly closing, which means that the window of opportunity to easily observe summer forest birds is closing, too. Scarlet tanagers are especially hard to…
May: Week Two
This Week in the Woods, bald eagle chicks are growing quickly, and by this point, many have shed their white baby fuzz. The eaglet in this nest (photographed with a high magnification lens from across…