I can’t say for sure exactly how many of my childhood birthdays were celebrated on the ice of Lake Champlain, but a good number. That’s what happens when your father likes to ice fish,…

These snowballs weren’t made by the neighborhood kids. So who, or what, made them?

Ice fishing. The sky’s the color of grungy nickels. The wind is picking up. A bottle is produced from the inside pocket of a wool hunting coat to ward off the morning chill. I don’t…

Ask a group of foresters, tree farmers, or loggers how to promote American beech, and there will likely be a pause, a few grins, perhaps a chuckle or two, and then, the faint sound of crickets. That…

Crossbills are one of our most specialized groups of birds, feeding almost exclusively on conifer seeds.  These hardy, nomadic finches have evolved oddly-shaped bills that allow them to exploit…

Skeletal tissues of living animals are constantly being renewed and replaced as wear and tear creates stresses and microfractures. In order to know how much bone needs replacing, the skeleton must…

A new study led by a researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that there are early indications that soils are recovering – at least in red spruce forests – from the detrimental…

“Dead wood coming down.” “All clear, Bear.” “Thanks!” THUD. A dead oak branch crashes to the ground after a brief but thorough exchange between two arborists. One…

My friend John the blacksmith lent me an old book, A Natural History of Trees, by Donald Culross Peattie, which is both quaint and authoritative. Maybe it’s this combination of qualities that…

Winter is a hard time for wildlife. It brings deep cold, leafless terrain, and a shortage of food and water. Animals have few choices. Most songbirds abandon the region via a perilous migration to…

Blueberries? In the dead of winter? What plant is this?

We took a break from the pre-sugaring-season woods work last weekend and went to the annual Vermont Maple Sugarmakers’ Association (VMSMA) conference in Bellows Falls. It’s always a nice…

For many, fond memories of college might include football games, Homecoming, and perhaps a keg party or three. For the alumni of The Ranger School, nostalgic reveries conjure images of hard hats,…

The calls come in all winter, said Paul DeBow of DeBow Wildlife Service in Plymouth, New Hampshire. If there is no snow, the peak will be in January or February, when it’s the coldest. Some…

All too often, discussions about culverts center around two different objectives. There’s the practical side: designing and sizing a structure that will protect roads. And then there’s…

The feeding habits of porcupines are far more diverse than many people realize. Cambium, phloem, foliage, buds, flowers, fruits, and nuts comprise the mainstay of Erethizon dorsatum’s diet.…

If you’re a white pine, it can’t be a good way to die. It starts when infectious spores land on your needles and enter through your pores. Masses of slimy spores grow under your bark,…

Who pawed his away across this snowy road?

Four years ago, I built an owl box. I built it for barred owls, Strix varia, inspired by the lovelorn hooting that erupted several nights after a February thaw. Who cooks for you? Who cooks for…

In winter at Halibut Point, a rocky headland on the Massachusetts coast, the drama begins at dawn. A stout gust rips the white from whitecaps and sprays the shore with ice that tinkles like glass. A…