We found this caterpillar on this shrub in an acidic wetland in Island Pond, Vermont. What genus is the caterpillar, and what genus is the shrub? (Hint: the fruits, ranging from pink to dark blue, are…

Laura Kenefic is a silviculturist and scientist in Maine, where she works for the U.S. Forest Service as a research forester and team leader. Originally from New York state, Laura studied at…

Now at the end of August, the garden is in full swing and showing signs of the season’s end. Some plants have flowered and are starting to fade, others are just hitting their peak, and a few…

This week in the woods, the scarlet oval fruit of painted trillium stood out among the drab brown debris of the late-summer forest floor. We can also find the red trillium’s similar but more…

The black and orange stripes catch my eye as I swing the scythe through dew-laden grass. My eyes typically follow the tip of the 28-inch blade as I mow, trying to keep it level with the ground, but…

“There is a singer everyone has heard, / Loud, a mid-summer and mid-wood bird...”   Heard, yes, but maybe not seen. This bird keeps me company on summer walks, calling out tea-CHER…

This week in the woods, pinesap and ghost pipe unfurled from the forest floor. These waxy lookalikes are not fungi but rather chlorophyll-free plants that parasitize mycorrhizal fungi, which have in…

Nikko Gagnon is a teacher and naturalist at the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, New Hampshire. Nikko studied environmental science at University of New Hampshire and worked at a…

We found this invertebrate in a wetland in Franklin County, New York. What is it? What kind of wetland conditions does this species prefer?

Our July reader photos capture summer in full swing, from swimming frogs and hungry fledglings to colorful insects galore. Shelley Lutz spotted a tree frog in Clarendon, Vermont, while Fred Scholz of…

Celestial events are among the oldest and most profound human experiences of the cosmos, inspiring stories as grand as the sky is wide to explain the marvelous spectacles that arch overhead. Few…

Join us in our backyard for an evening of nocturnal nature observation with lepidopterist JoAnne Russo. Using UV lights and white sheets, JoAnne will attract moths and other nighttime visitors,…

In the dim light of a floodplain forest along a river, thick ropes of grapevine with shaggy bark hang from tree branches and the hairy stems of poison ivy wrap around tree trunks. These woody vines…

This week in the woods, a black bear sauntered through a blackberry patch. Bears’ wild summertime foods include the roots of jack-in-the-pulpit, berries and other fruit (such as chokecherries,…

Reader John Roberts found this creature under a wood pile in West Cornwall, Vermont. What is it?

Mike Scafini is the endangered mammal specialist for Pennsylvania Game Commission. Mike’s love for wildlife conservation has brought him to Delaware for diamondback terrapins, to Pennsylvania…

Near my home in Vermont, at the bottom of a hillside, there is a shelf just above a roadcut where the soil is moist from the groundwater seeping out of the hill. Back in April the first coiled…

Along the edge of a remote pond, among a spongy carpet of interlaced vegetation, an orchid of graceful and gossamer beauty rises. Its mass of exquisite white flowers, perched atop a slender stalk,…

This week in the woods, we count wild turkey poults as they forage with their mother. Wild turkey young leave the nest soon after hatching (often in late May or early June in our area) and fly after…

Summer is in full swing, and our readers captured the season’s abundance of plants, wildlife, and time spent outdoors. Turtle and fawn sightings were plentiful, including those submitted by…