American elms were once a favorite tree in urban landscapes across America, prized for their elegant shape. When Dutch elm disease found its way to the United States in the 1930s, it slowly moved…

Researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are attaching high-speed cameras to pigeons to gain insight into how the birds navigate through dense forests and…

A new study of eastern red-spotted newts, by a biologist at Bennington College in Vermont, suggests that these amphibians are able to adapt to dramatically different aquatic conditions. Elizabeth…

One autumn day, 15 years ago, I found myself perched on a ladder that was leaning against a highway sign on Interstate 89 somewhere in Vermont. There was a wooden box clamped to one of the sign poles…

Two wings and a prayer will carry a blackpoll warbler on a remarkable journey to South America this autumn. Well, two wings, a prayer, and the energy packed into a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s…

When asked to name the fastest animal on earth, many people will respond “cheetah.” But it is the peregrine falcon – a cliff-dwelling raptor –that holds that title with the…

In the midst of like-minded company, like here in this blog, I often speak of the “woodlot” – the place my family goes to, among other things, cut firewood, make maple syrup, grow…

It's that time of year. Can you identify the trees and plants from whence these colorful leaves came?

“Excuse me. Is this . . . the peak?” This query, from a perplexed tourist whose family had traveled from Italy to enjoy New England’s world-renowned foliage last fall, rather…

A quiz: The first society to make paper was: A. Egypt. B. China. C. Vespidae. Answer: C. Vespidae is the family that includes paper making wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets. Social insects,…

Anyone in Maine who was paying attention knew that by the end of September 1947, a forest fire was likely. There had been almost no rain during the previous 10 weeks of high summer. Newspapers and…

Renewable Energy with the Convenience of Fossil Fuel It’s a scene you’ve undoubtedly witnessed many times: a fuel truck lumbers up to a house, the driver attaches a hose to the…

Where I live, the three warmer seasons are colored gold. In mid-May, the fields are covered with dandelions. Then come the buttercups, which turn the landscape into a real-life Monet painting. Now,…

Some might call it a plantation, and some a tree farm, but my family refers to it simply as “the farm.” To the outside observer, our marginal patch of land may appear aesthetically…

Don’t fear this spiky crawler; it’s not so scary. What is it?

Editor’s Note: We recently hired Elise Tillinghast to be our new Executive Director. Those of you who live in the Upper Valley may know her from her work in area non-profits; regular readers of…

At the Mohonk Mountain Preserve in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains, naturalists have been collecting data on weather, spring migrants, plant life, and seasonal milestones for almost 90 years.…

In his New York Times best-seller A Walk in the Woods, author Bill Bryson mourns the loss of the “massively graceful” American chestnut: “There has never been any tree like it.…

There is nothing wild about most wild rice. Most was grown in a “paddy” in California, harvested by machines, processed in factories, and finally wrapped in packages of cardboard and…

Most people, when they look at a tree, look up. Understandable. The trunk lofts limbs skyward, unfurling a shimmering sunlight-gulping net of leaves. But with a little imagination (and, more…