Site Discussions

Wonderful information about these hawks’ lives and migration.  Thank you.

Thank you for these beautifully put definitions! My wetland bio class was a few years ago, so this was a needed and very clear refresher :)

Spring peepers signal spring beginning. In my locale, means anywhere from last week of March to mid-April. Ive noticed in recent years they have moved further from the pond and are very high in the woods, probably from eradication of vernal pools and seeps; by property owner about 8 years ago I was shed hunting and happened upon one of the “frogsicles” you describe. I covered him with forest duff so he could come out the RIGHT time of year! In the summer the baaroom! of the bullfrogs is an enjoyable evening chorus. Great article! Unearthed a lot of memories and gleaned new info as well. Thanks!

The first sentence of paragraph four reinforced my joy of subscribing to this publication.

You couldn’t ask for a better, more caring, and more knowledgable mentor than Tom Seeley. I can’t wait to read (more of) his latest book!

Excellent article!  We are so lucky to have the Kilham Bear Center nearby as well as the professional wildlife skills and knowledge of Dr. Walter Cottrell!

I have a skunk in my crawl space. If I leave it alone will it leave the same way it got in. Thanks

I have a pussy willow growing over an electrical conduit so it needs to be removed. Fortunately I live on a lake and plan to take cuttings to replant. Catkins are just coming out now. When would be the best time to do the cuttings? Should I wait till after the plant flowers? Thanks

To the person talking live trap & relocation, that might be ok, if you would be ok with having someone else relocate porcupines to your forest area where they would chew up & kill your trees.
Please, folks, take into consideration if you would like to having something done that you are considering to someone else. That goes for skunk relocation too.
Thank you.

What a beautiful, passionate article!  Laurie has followed her dreams and pursued her love of the natural world and animals, and documented this through photography. Truly inspiring story! Thank you for sharing with NF readers.  Marion Gray, Warren, Maine

Thank you for this interesting article - and special thanks to Adelaide Tyrol for the extra beautiful illustration.  I have loved her work for years, and it’s a joy to see it regularly in The Outside Story.

I enjoyed reading about your success with Eastern Bluebirds. I’m used to them losing out to invasive English sparrows rather than to our tree swallows.

Behind our barn there has been a beautiful, fairly young tree that I was advised is an American elm. Watching it mature, with its beautiful canopy, has been a joy, until abruptly about a year and a half ago it started to die back, one branch, then one limb, and now the entire tree. Some of the limbs are falling, and are too large for me to remove them. It was quick and heartbreaking. Is there any resource to remove the tree, before whatever caused its demise becomes a safety problem (falling limbs) or for the health of the surrounding trees? Sadly, I know of no other elm trees here on our farm in MidCoast Maine.

Our bluebird family has overwintered for several years.  Papa and Mama bluebird hang out with their previous season’s brood, feasting on the dried mealworms we provide every morning (they are waiting at sun-up). They have learned to peck on the suet over the years by watching other birds. This year the family group numbered 7.  At some time each year, Mama and Papa shoo away their brood.  This year it was a record-setting (for us) March 4.  We have 7 nest boxes.  The bluebirds have to work hard to remain in possession of 1 after the tree swallows arrive.

I have a bird house by my front door, that chickadee always nest in. Should I remove old abandoned nests, allowing new “tenants”  to build their own, or will they reuse old nests? I want to keep them at their happiest
Thank you
Kathy B

Does hardwood and softwood make a difference in the angle you sharpen a chain at?

Earliest known leaf miners were recently found in Massachusetts in a 300+ million year old fossil…

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-unearthing-leaf-miners-ancient-million-year-old.html

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Charley’s works, his book ‘Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates’ (http://charleyeiseman.com/publications/) and his e-book ‘Leafminers of North America’. At Distant Hill Gardens, our nonprofit environmental learning center in Walpole, New Hampshire, we had the privilege of hosting Charley for an amazing and enlightening ‘Insect Tracking’ workshop in 2022. The experience transformed the way all attendees, myself included, now perceive the relationship between plants and insects. With Charley’s guidance, we learned how to more closely observe plants in a landscape and to uncover the subtle evidence of insects utilizing them as host plants, deepening our understanding of the intricate relationship between plants and insects and their importance within a functioning ecosystem.

Thank you, Charley, for opening my eyes to the overlooked but ever present plant/insect interactions taking place right in front of us!

We had a flock of about 20 pine grosbeaks last winter. That hung around for several weeks and ate us out of house and home!

What a great profile of Charley.  I heartily recommend his “Tracks and Sign” book (http://charleyeiseman.com/publications/).  Its content could provide a virtually inexhaustible supply of content for Northern Woodlands’ “What in the Woods is That?” quiz.