Site Discussions

The other year I flushed hens from 2 nests in patches of Canada thistle; one with 14 eggs, the other with 12. More than a couple months later I returned to find the nest with the eggs still present an intact.  A lady from the NRCS explained that if a hen is flushed she will frequently abandon the nest, build a new nest and start laying eggs all over again.

Some of our red pines are dying one branch at a time from the bottom up. What could be going on?

I am not a woodworker at all, but came across this article when googling the definition of heartwood and sapwood to help understand a dense poem I’m reading about trees. This was so helpful, thank you so much!

I m not so much in love with these birds. Mine are as big as chickens. I fill up my feeder and it last a week, since the doves arrived it’s empty in one day. I’m not going to fill it up again until it gets cold out. I can’t afford to feed the birds if these doves hang around.

I had 2 Swallowtail Cats pupate on the same day in mid August.  One eclosed on Aug 25, and the other still hasn’t.  It has now been in chrysalis for 22 days.  We had an unseasonably cool August and now Sep.  Is there a chance of this one hatching this fall if we get a spell of warm indian summer temps - or is it definitely destined to overwinter since it has been so long already?

As a person that has lived 85 years, much of it out of doors, I can say that insects, both numerically and by species have hugely diminished in my lifetime. As examples, when was the last time you had to clean insects off your car windshield? Not so long ago we had to do it daily. Not anymore. Or had your outdoor lights attract thousands of bugs? Not anymore. I rest my case.

This podcast seemed very biased toward hunters/trappers. At one point it’s stated that deer are “public property” and that that designation basically overrules the RIGHTS of landowners to post their property. So the RIGHTS over landowners is magically usurped by the “privilege” of hunters to hunt. How does that work, when there’s a hunter sitting in his truck outside of someone’s property line, but runs packs of radio-collared dogs across posted land? I have a neighbor whose property was invaded by a extremely loud pack of dogs at 3am, chasing a bear across his property. When he complained to the F&W board, he was basically ignored. So just to clarify then, the “privileges” of hunters/trappers is paramount to the RIGHTS of property owners? Next time there’s an election, I’d love to see Governor Scott be truthful and try getting re-elected by denigrating the RIGHTS of Vermont landowners.

I’m curious as to how this impacts native plants and animal species. They have changed the landscape drastically. Isn’t there a loss in biodiversity?

Thses are nice simple photos of the monarch’s emergence.  Easy for kig=ds but also the simple explainaton is so nice in the world of complicated words and explanations. We need to simplify and the monarch simple emergence keeps the simplicity of life at a good level of understanding Thank you.

Several years ago I began establishing plots of milkweed as well as establishing gardens that attract butterflies. The payoff was this year as there were chrysalis hanging from bucket handles, window frames, outdoor house plants….. Monarchs and other butterflies (swallowtails and more) floated and drifted through the meadows. Is there anything more serene on a sunny late Summer afternoon?

As the state’s natural resources supervisor for New York City, I am desperately trying to stop the complete destruction of New York City’s remaining forests on Staten Island.  I am very grateful for this piece and for any messaging that can be sent out to help clarify this issue and resolve this dire and urgent problem

This morning I got up early and entered the kitchen. I saw an animal the size of a mouse come out from under the counter and move 15 feet in 2-3 seconds before going under another counter. I’ve never seen a rodent move nearly that fast. What could it have been.

House sparrows are very aggressive to my purple Martin’s. I live on the bay and watch how they distroy martins nest and eggs and kill the Young.

Thanks for the question Judy! It’s not a matter of the young birds “getting” their bills to cross, any more than I “got” my eyes to be green or my belly button to be an ‘innie’. Their bills cross because it’s in their genetic make-up. Whether being left-billed or right-billed is inherited or simply random chance, I have no idea, but presumably both are equally successful or natural selection would have eliminated the weaker of the two options.

I have several black walnut trees on my property, the oldest being about 200 years old. I would like to know if there are any hulling stations in Vermont and also if there are any walnut tree harvesters in Vermont.

Dear Steven,

You say that crossbills can be left-billed or right-billed.  “Beaks of crossbills actually cross over, either to the right or left.”

You didn’t say how the youngsters get their bills to cross? About 7 or more days after the fledglings leave the nest, the bill tips begin growing very fast for about three days. It would seem that the tip of the bottom bill would grow up into the bottom of the upper bill and force the mouth open, so the young bird would not be able to eat or drink. So how do the fledgling crossbills get their bills to cross? That is something that people reading your website might like to know. I would like to know how you think they get their bills to cross? You said some cross to the left and some to the right, but you didn’t say how the crossbills get their bills to cross so the upper bill is either to the right or to the left. Actually, about half make their bills cross to the right and half cross to the left so all the seeds in the cones can be exploited.

All the best,
Judy Hoy

Enjoyed this! Spent the summer trying to convince red squirrel to move out of my garage. Nothing worked until I found their midden hidden in rafters of garage. Three buckets full of black walnuts and shells. Apparently they even gift these stashes to their offspring.  Moved the black walnuts to a nearby woodland area (for other squirrels) and haven’t seen the red squirrel friend in the garage since.

We have our farm in CU. The farm has been in the family for over 200 years. My mom, who lived there until she was 91, just died. Now the farm came in a trust to my 2 siblings and my 3 cousins (total of 6 owners). I want to keep a portion of the farm while the rest of the family does not. CU makes it difficult to keep a part of this property and the house (I am an heir of the original owner) without incurring huge fees. Apparently no transfer of deeds, even if no money is exchanged, will allow my to keep the farm in the family without CU exacting a huge cost (which I am probably unable to pay since I don’t want to sell anything).  How can we accomplish keeping the farm (what my grandfather and his grandfather worked so hard to do through years of struggle) without CU giving us no choice but to sell? It is currently 26 acres in AG and about 200 in forestry.

I love Mourning Doves.  They nested in our backyard Christmas tree this spring.  The first set of babies grew and flew off to their new adventure.  Then, they had another set of babies, but from what I could see, they stayed very small and then today, the nest was empty.  I feel sad…something must have attacked their nest??  Mama dove was sitting on our roof watching the tree…but the babies were gone.  Hopefully, they will return and nest again.  Thank you for your article on Mourning Doves!

I have a letter from a relative on my mothers mothers side, where thes man said that they had come to the end of the old mans beard.  I have tried to understand what this man from the 1800’s was referring to…. Thank you for this information as it helps to clarify his letter.  If I remember right he lived in the Carolinas possibility even Kentucky or Tennessee.  Back then there was lots of TB and consumption and I’m sure they must have used it a lot through the civil war and olden times! I figure when he writes “we are at the end of the old mans beard” he must have been referring to the end of the growing season, just an assumption on my part!Thank you.