During winter, I often hear gnawing and the scurrying of little feet inside the walls of our house. Mice have taken shelter in our old farmhouse again. Although I hate killing the cute creatures,…

Halloween is long past, but you may notice devilish figures hanging out in scrubby fields and open areas this winter: horned larks. These birds are North America’s only true lark species. They…

Reader Anjelica Carroll found these clumps of white hair just off a path at the Retreat Trails in Brattleboro, Vermont. What is this? (There’s a hint at the bottom of the photo!)

Todd Davis is the author of eight full-length collections of poetry, including his most recent collection Ditch Memory: New & Selected Poems (Michigan State University Press, 2024). He has edited…

Your November photos captured colorful fungi in the stick season landscape, creatures still active in water, and early winter scenes. Sheri Larson saw stunning yellow fairy cups in Milton, Vermont,…

This week in the woods, we’ve observed a number of resident birds, as well as a loon that we hope has moved on to open coastal waters. Northern cardinals were uncommon in the Upper Valley as…

Tromping through our woods in December in search of a Christmas tree, I often notice an evergreen fern, one of the few green plants on the forest floor this time of year, other than young conifers. An…

This week in the woods, the past year’s fruit and this coming year’s catkins persist on speckled alders, making these diminutive trees stand out. All alder species share the woody,…

In the cold October air, my classmates and I gathered around the square oak board placed on the ground more than a year earlier. Carefully, we lifted it and peered underneath. Against the dark brown…

High up in a sugar maple, we found what appeared to be two partially completed circumferential cuts, as one would make when girdling a tree. What happened here? And why do the cuts appear under the…

Nigel Manley is an avid outdoorsman, single malt whiskey connoisseur, and soccer referee for local schools. In his long career with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (Forest…

Catherine Wessel is an admirer of things in surprising places and an appreciator of early morning hours. She comes to Northern Woodlands with an MS in Plant Biology from University of Vermont's…

This Week in the Woods, we came across a pileated woodpecker excavation, with large vertical, rectangular holes typical for this species. The blond wood and layering of woodchips over this…

Anton Prikazchikov credits his interest in woodcarving to a documentary he saw many years ago, of a child using a knife to transform a branch into a detailed model of a fish. And to a moment of…

Most days, Jesup Memorial Library Director Matt DeLaney toils in a tiny Harry Potter-esque office tucked beneath the stairs leading to the 114-year-old building’s second-floor balcony. The space…

This article is the last in a four-part series that focuses on climate change impacts and adaptation in forests, supported by the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation. A companion series published…

For the past two years, from late fall to early spring, a livestream on the Finch Research Network’s (FiRN) YouTube page transported viewers to a snow-dusted yard in northern Maine. Through the…

Loon biologists have traditionally worked three field seasons: spring, when common loons return to northeastern lakes, as if by magic, within a day or two of ice-out; summer, when nesting and chick…

What is a native plant enthusiast to do during our region’s long dormant season? While half of the year delights us with new growth and flowers, the other half can test our patience as we wait…

In November 2000, Tina Barney and Sara White purchased a 169-acre parcel on the south side of Clay Hill Road in Hartland, Vermont. The recently partnered couple had been searching for land suitable…