Site Discussions

Thank you for the delightful article. We love our goldfinches!

Tania, thank you for your interesting and informative article. We are camping in Juneau AK in the Mendenhall Lake CG.  Old Man’s Beard is all around us in this rain forest.

I live in an area with lots of mixed hardwoods and conifers. Some have been here for as long a 80 years, others I have planted in the last 8 years.

I have made some unscientific observations over the last three to five years:
It seems that our “summer-fall” season is lasting much later into the calendar year than it used to with first frost well into October, winters seem milder, and it is taking much longer to warm up in the “spring-summer” than it used to, with last frost in mid-May.
Also, especially during the last three years, new growth of many of these trees seems much more profuse than in the past. For example, an approx. 10-year old Austrian pine has this spring added between 10” and 13” of new growth, and an approx 8-year old sugar maple has added between 16” and 24” of new growth. These trees are not given any special treatment like mulch or fertilizer either.

So, I realize there are many other factors that might affect tree growth from year to year, and I also realize my perception and recollection of what is normal growth may be suspect, but ...
While what’s happening may be neither good nor bad, it seems to me it is not normal for this area of the world.

Can you tell me about any similar observations and explanations for why this is happening?

Found a Snowberry Clearwing in Springfield, MA July 23, 2017. It was very woolly and brilliantly green.

Not sure if it’s a swarm, but dozens of dragonflies have been seen on our flowering Mimosa tree in our front yard. This is the 2nd year we’ve noticed them. There are Hooded Orioles, Anna’s Hummingbirds and some kind of bee also eating from the flowers. The dragonflies don’t seem to land and their flight pattern is fast and erratic. Would love to know what kind they are and what they’re doing.

This weekend I found two dead on our lawn (we’re in the middle of nowhere surrounded by wet woods and meadows.) Our cat is indoor and we don’t use pesticides. Any idea why they might have died?  No outward signs.  Within a day something had carried them off.  I am pretty sure one was the star nosed.

Great site

Very interesting article.  I have been intrigued by fireflies since childhood.  As an adult I still continue to be thrilled when lucky enough to spot them flickering out and about in our yard and garden.

I have found these in Lake Wicwas in central New Hampshire in the muck of the swamp. This article is the only reference to them that I’ve come across so far. Thank you.

Farmers Insurance has a commercial with a moose fighting a swing set with hard antlers.They said it happened on July 1. Which is impossible. All Cervidae basically shed, grow, and rub off in pretty close the same time period. Our deer here on the Gulf Coast rub off August 1st to the 15th and the rut begins around September 10th. Hot and humid. Hunting season doesn’t begin til the first weekend in November, almost the start of the second rut. I was just checking to make sure the Farmers Commercial was incorrect. I had the discussion with my agent. Thanks for the article. Very well written.

Good for you, Juan. I applaud your wish to provide stewardship for your property and thus preserve it for future generations. I have 60 acres of woodlands and strive to do the same. My property taxes are very reasonable. The county in which my woodlands lie offers “Land Use” real estate tax. As long as it is maintained and managed well, the taxes are a very small fraction of what they would be for residential property. I need to apply for the Land Use right each year, but that is not difficult. It’s important that I maintain a management plan and have worked with private foresters and with the state’s Department of Forestry to develop and maintain my plan. Maybe there is something similar in your area.

Hello. Thank you so much for your read Mr. Brown. We have more yellow jackets here on the ground but this article made me appreciate more about honey & these honeybees.  Sunni

Nope. A Mance from southwestern Vermont. The magazine office is in Corinth, so I work up here regularly.

I have a maple tree in my backyard with these patches on them. Some are basketball size and some are tennis ball size. The white part almost looks like it was tie-dyed and it is about 1-2” wide and the inside of the patch is almost black, but not quite, definitely darker then the colour of the bark. I can’t find it on the web. What to do?

I didn’t know that phoebes had two clutches and, the first year I had her nest, I took it down and properly cleaned up. I felt so bad when she started to build again in the same spot (next to my door, on top of the light fixture.  I have a great picture of the three chicks all squished in the nest…I don’t know how they all fit!

Dave in Corinth, Are you a Porter?

Just saw bony, reddish fox with long, straight and not bushy tail. It was scratching and scratching itself, also dragging its butt like a dog with worms. Right in my yard, next to wooded area by Mianus River. We have occasionally seen foxes in the yards but they usually run from wooded area to wooded area and do not linger. This guy was in plain sight for about 10 minutes. Very different behavior.

I left a watering can in the garden for a couple days, half-full of diluted fish emulsion. When I went to use the rest of it, out poured six burying beetles that had been drawn to the odor and sadly drowned. Will remember not to do that again, but was really cool to examine them up close. Amazingly complex bodies.

We have a gray tree frog that stays in the side burner of our grill most of the time.  This is the second year he has done this…at least we think it is the same frog. We do have pictures of this frog.  When we grill, we put him on the deck railing and he usually stays there till dusk.  Today we had another tree frog on the deck railing while the original frog was in the grill.  Neither one seems to be bothered by our presence.  Thought you might find this interesting.

This is awesome!  Thank you for sharing.  Do you have any of the photos of the visitors?