Site Discussions

Fascinating.  Thank you.

What a surprise to read this delightful article by family friend Loren Merrill! I think I spotted our first pheobe of the season today, just by the tail-bob. Great to see your work in this magazine, Loren!

The American Kestrel Research Project at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee, VT is a very good way to get involved in helping the Kestrel population increase and thrive.  Here’s the link:https://vinsweb.org/research/birds/
Kestrels that have been rehabilitated but are unable to survive in the wild are on exhibit and are included in educational programs at VINS as well.  Come and enjoy these beautiful creatures up close.
vinsweb.org

Very much enjoyed reading this …right after listening to Bridget on Vermont Public just after lunch. Hearing the voice and her bird voices in my head as I was reading. Such a wonderful teacher.

This was fascinating.  A great new slant on birding.

An amazing and praiseworthy man which I’m sure he would not relish. Few will ever know the impact he had on a small remote village nestled in the woods of Northern Washington county Maine. The lifestyle, people, and community he embraced and in return they so enthusiastically embraced him. Will forever be indebted to him for his conservation work with the Downeast Lakes Land Trust. It was an honor to work with him and watch his commitment and tireless dedication to keeping Grand Lake Stream Maine, Grand Lake Stream Maine.

Thank you, Syd, I too am deeply indebted.

I’m studying Blanding’s turtles currently and would love to be involved.

Thank you for including Ryan’s article! I am a member of the CFA and have watched Ryan not only substantially grow the membership, but also the services that the CFA provides. His and the CFA’s efforts have made a difference.

We had an extremely snowy winter this year and very cold. It is slowly starting to warm this week but we still have about 4 feet of snow on our lawn. I have noticed new buds on our maple tree .  Is it because the days are getting longer?

I’m curious… will this winter’s cold have any effect on the ticks that have become such a problem in southeastern Vermont ?  Thank You !

Hi Hayden,

I was friends with your mom in college and we remained friends till her death, although I lived in Philadelphia. She was a wonderful woman. Of course, you know that, but more than anything I wanted to write to you when I saw this and tell you she would be so proud of you. Because I know she was proud of you and Norah when she was alive.

Take care of yourself and all the best.

Peter Miraglia

Cool to read, I searched this up because I just saw two female Cardinals fighting in my front yard. I walked within 5 feet of them to see what it was about and they kept going at it. Super cool.

Being a woman in the National Park Service from the ‘70s until now I’ve also experienced the culture of white male dominance. It was good to read Starya Mobley experiences, I applaud her tenacity to stick with NSF and her efforts to open doors and mentor other diverse people to seek jobs in outdoor/nature based fields of work and education!

What a powerful essay. It struck a chord with me as I live in New York City, but have spent my summers in Vermont for most of my life. I have recurring dreams that I’m stuck in elevators that burst through skyscraper rooftops and hurl into space. I’ve also had dreams that I wake up and our Vermont meadow is covered with condos. It’s a always a relief to wake up and see that I’m still in bed and that the meadow is still a meadow!

This is not a reply, but a new question.  A friend in Cambridge MA saw a blue circle in the snow far into a woodsy area.  He searched about and found an article on Facebook that said this was rabbit pee, caused by the rabbits eating buckthorn.  Can that be true?  Here’s the article:
https://gardenbite.com/whats-that-blue-stuff-in-the-snow/
I’d attach my friend’s blue pee photo but can’t in this message. 
(I subscribe to your magazine and love it.  Subscription might be in my husband’s name, our address is Goshen, NH although we are in Plymouth for the winter.).

My family had a complete set of deer antlers which we proudly hung on our wall for years but they were sadly lost. My family said the antlers were found in the forest so maybe they were shed as you mentioned happens. Does anyone have any ideas of how I might obtain a set of deer antlers that I could display?

A few years ago, in early spring I was digging into an empty nursery bed when I was surprised to see a live bumble bee emerge.  Soon there were many - I would guess at least 25 - mostly crawling around on the surface.  Fortunately it was a warm day, and I very carefully recovered the bees, desperately hoping I wasn’t suffocating them.  Later in the spring I thoroughly dug up the same spot without finding a single bee, dead or alive, so I hope they all survived and emerged at the right time.  What a thrill!  I always thought they hibernated individually, not in such large groups.

This article on bees is so interesting! I didn’t know about the difference between the nonnative honeybee winter activity vs. how our native bees are so well adapted. I also enjoyed the comparison to the summer garden alive with buzzing as the author notes and brings to life, in contrast to the winter months.

Great article! Ms. Daniel’s VMN videos on YouTube are what inspired me to become a MA Audubon Certified Field Naturalist in Massachusetts.

Peter and all: in this lovely article, you are walking on a definitional boundary that may be trickier than you realize. ‘Herbs’ need to be herbaceous, meaning that a significant part of the above-ground architecture dies back in the winter. Mitella and Orthilla clearly meet that test; the stems senesce after flowering, through the leaves do not, and they are herbs. Scirpoides stems, both vegetative and fruiting, are perennial; it isn’t an herb. What it is then is a harder question. Books like categories; plants ignore them. It has no secondary growth, but does have stems reinforced by lignin and silica. And thus is not anatomically woody, but may be functionally woody. To me, behavior trumps anatomy; it grows like a dwarf shrub and has stems like a dwarf shrub, and so is a dwarf shrub. With best botanical wishes, Jerry J., 8 Feb 025.