After more than a half dozen years in academia and even longer suffering from chronic depression, Jarod K. Anderson quit his job. He was tired of often joyless work in the office and classroom. He…

How does a poet write an ode to a viceroy if their reader doesn’t know what a viceroy is? How do they write an elegy for ash trees without explaining why they require an elegy in the first…

A reader shared this photo of these tadpole-shaped tracks in the snow. It’s not an actual tadpole, of course, but what is it? Who left these tracks and how?

Melody Starya Mobley was the first Black female forester hired by the U.S. Forest Service, where she worked for 28 years. She was also the first Black woman to graduate with a B.S. in forest…

This week in the woods, we took a look at some zig-zagging weasel tracks after watching the culprit periscope its way out of deep snow, eyeball us, and scamper away. In these grainy smartphone video…

It’s a familiar sight in winter: An inky-black raven soaring over a landscape white with snow. Though similar in appearance to the American crow, the common raven (Corvus corax) is distinguished…

This week in the woods, a ruffed grouse burst from its snow roost and startled a snowshoer, who had been inspecting the entry signs a few feet away. The bird left these wing impressions and a glimpse…

The Northeast has experienced significant ice storms throughout history, and we may be due for another one. Though we see icing in many winter storms, including recent ones, major ice storms cause…

While walking through the woods in northern New Hampshire this past week, we spotted several areas where it looked like someone had spilled ground pepper on the snow. What’s happening here?

Ted Levin is a zoologist, photographer, and award-winning author. His essays have appeared in publications including Audubon, The New York Times, Sierra, and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of…

This week in the woods, we spied an immature bald eagle picking at a deer carcass on a frozen roadside pond. The United States’ newly designated national bird doesn’t always have its…

Snow patterns and tracks were the subjects of January, along with another round of birds and ice formations. Ann Pearce of Winooski, Vermont, discovered intricate frost patterns on her windows, Ford…

On a subzero morning, I clip into skis and head out across my meadow, gliding between desiccated husks of sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) poking up above the snow. I imagine this spot eight months…

Driving on Vermont’s Interstate highways in winter, I often notice large hawks perched in trees on woodland edges at regular intervals along the road. With the stark landscape providing better…

Alicia Daniel is a naturalist and educator in Burlington, Vermont. She is the founder and director of Vermont Master Naturalist, has taught at the University of Vermont in the Field Naturalist Program…

This week in the woods, we observed a large flock of American robins feeding in a crabapple tree – and perhaps getting drunk. Because sugars in fruit can ferment over the course of the year,…

Reader Jackie Robidoux shared this image of a tree snag marked by...something? What is at the opening here? And what does it indicate?

In the starkness of winter, squirrel dreys reveal themselves in the tree canopy. They’ve been there all along — just screened by trees’ leafy crowns for much of the year. Dreys are…