We’ve all heard that crows and jays are among the smartest of the avian crew. And we have all year to watch them excel, since they don’t fly south for the winter. But chickadees and…

The fruiting structures of the tinder polypore are not hard to recognize, especially if you can remember that it has another common name, which is “hoof fungus.” Shaped like a…

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." —Aesop, Fables: The Lay and the Peacock Of all the birds that regularly visit backyard feeders, none is more easily recognized - or has a…

Everything we do – or don’t do – in a forest is forest management. Many of today’s foresters strive to provide excellent forest management. But what exactly does that mean?…

Here’s a question for the season: where does all that mulch go? Farmers and gardeners across Vermont and New Hampshire have laid down thick carpets of mulch – leaves, hay, straw,…

In recent years, the crepuscular wailing of coyotes has become as much a part of autumn in Vermont and New Hampshire as falling leaves and wood smoke. But coyote voices are not music to…

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has recently been discovered in the Northeast for the first time. CWD is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (brain disease) that is similar to mad cow…

If autumn had a sound track, one of its main themes would be the honking of Canada geese as they slice the gray sky in their ever-shifting V-shaped formations. But if the call of the Canada goose has…

Our local forests are generally susceptible to fire each year during two very short, dry periods. The first is when mud season has ended and the flush of green understory plants has yet to break…

Our organic vegetable farm sits deep in the Connecticut River valley, a few hundred feet above the river and more than a thousand feet below the top of the valley’s walls. On autumn mornings,…

The shape that tree leaves take is mostly an adaptation to shade and sun; leaves are tailored to optimize the production of food and oxygen under conditions that range from parched desert to lush…

We’ve all fallen for it at some point, those of us who spend time in the woods: the way it looks now is the way it always has looked. And the way it always will look. And why not? When…

Who loves a ladybug? Until recently, everyone did. These tiny beetles gobble aphids and other soft-bodied insects that plague crops and ornamental plants. It is said that their name refers to the…

Forest scientists who study global warming in the northeast say that a warmer climate could lead to later and lackluster leaf peeping. Three different things could cause this to happen, acting alone…

Go out in your yard some evening this fall, cock your head towards the sky, and listen. Thrushes, warblers, sparrows, and blackbirds will be swiftly moving across the night sky toward their winter…

“If you want to be recalled for something that you do, you will be well advised to do it under an Elm – a great Elm, for such a tree outlives the generations of men; the burning issues of…

It’s a magnificent bird – one of the largest woodpeckers in North America. Its plumage is striking, with stripes of black and white feathers and a bright red crest. It can be shy. Its…

Forests would be a lot less interesting and not nearly as beautiful without ferns, wildflowers, shrubs, understory trees, and other small plants. But as the canopy closes in a forest, the amount of…

Fish for enough summers and you can’t help but accumulate some photos in the classic sporting genre: guy holding fish. If the trophy is a smallmouth, you’re likely to be hoisting it by the…

If you have your window open right at this moment, you may hear it: a chickadee chick-ing and dee-ing away. Bird enthusiasts and even the rest of us think of the call primarily as a territorial…