Site Discussions

I am lucky to have been a participant in the VMN program and to have had Alicia as a teacher. The ‘layercake’ approach provides such a rich lense to see interconnectedness in natural areas and a vocabulary to share it with others.

Allaire’s work really works. It is very inspiring to see the photos and read how these small dam prevented flooding. A lot of other good things happen when the flow of water is slowed down and it replenishes the ground water. I hope to install a beaver dam analogue in western New Hampshire this summer. Please spread the word, and the water.
John Lambert
Charlestown NH

I live in Westminster Vermont, and I have seen a Fisher several times here once having climbed some crabapple trees to get at the berries this was in December of 2024 and prior to that disappearing into a health side in my backyard which is a forest in 2023. I hate to think that these beautiful animals are under threat in this area. In any area. Very good article. If they’re not using tree Den boxes would they burrow into the side of a wooded hillside? It looks like that’s where this one and 2023 disappeared into.

Wonderful. Reading helps us find the value and depth we sense in the landscape.

Years ago when my husband came home from work we just had an afternoon shower and he saw a rainbow that appeared to end in our backyard. He walked towards it until he found himself standing inside of the rainbow. The light was bright all around him and the air felt misty..it was almost a religious experience for him. Unfortunately nobody believed him, including myself..I just wished I was there to experience this with him!

Be friending nature, friending wildlife, like friending people requires us to open up who and what we are while inquiring, observing, learning about our friend to be. We learn to see each other for what and who we each are. With who and what in nature will you find a bond?

Excellent article - makes me wish I could meet her!  Thank you!

I have made two chairs with Mike Dunbar in years past, and now I am about to embark on a solo effort on building a continuous arm Windsor chair ala Curtis Buchanan’s plans. Even though I have been woodworking most of my life, now at 73 I still find the process quite intimating! Oh and great article Mr Long!

Very good article.  It’s detailed and informative.  The step by step information is good for beginners. Thanks for your work

I wish you wouldn’t use the term “continental United States” to refer to the Lower 48 or coterminous states.  Alaska, where I live, is definitely on the North American continent—among other things, it’s the location of our continent’s tallest mountain, Denali (20,310’).  It’s also the location of the US portion of the continent’s third longest river, the Yukon.

I’ve see lots of American Tree sparrows here during their summer breeding season.  They overwinter in southern Canada and points farther south in the coterminous USA.

The term “Continental USA” as applied to differentiate between the Lower 48 and Alaska was an invention of the DoD.  Later, the entire federal government adopted this geographically deficient term for federal travel purposes (lodging, meal, and incidental allowances for DoD and federal civilian personnel traveling to AK are higher than the standard reimbursements for travel in the Lower 48).  Like many things military, the terminology reflects a rather narrow viewpoint, and one that most geographers roll their eyes at.

Hi! I have been reading about the blue feet of the blue-footed booby (a bird found in the Galapagos Islands), and the explanations have focused on the processing of carotenids. Is this type of blue also structural coloration of some kind? I am really curious now! Especially since the carotenids are usually responsible for reds and oranges, not blues.

Enjoyed your article. Thanks. I am seeing ice flowers in south Mississippi (Hattiesburg) on white crownbeard in my forest for the last 4 years. Like Carter, I happened upon them while hiking in 2021. Now I look for them whenever conditions seem favorable and usually find them.

When this article mentioned the times in New England when we would see Evening Grosbeaks by the hundreds I remembered that with a bit of sadness. I grew up in New England so remember seeing them all the time. I am an avid bird watcher, I miss Evening Grosbeaks, I haven’t seen one in years!

This article gave me some hope, maybe I will see one again, especially since we will be moving closer to the Adirondacks hopefully by next winter

I spent a lot of time in Wolfeboro New Hampshire as a kid, my family has a camp up near the reservoir. We heard loons all the time! So glad the populations are doing better. This article on Ice Rescues is incredible!

Since 2004, when we moved to Royalston, we have had Evening Grosbeaks present in the summer. I have kept records of non-wintering arrivals - usually mid-March to mid-April, and departures - usually in September, and fledgling counts. Typically, we have at least two pairs with 2-4 fledglings each year. I have wondered where do the spring birds come from and where do they go in the fall. It might be worth someone color banding some individuals to help determine the answers. There are several locations in the north Quabbin area that host summer Evening Grosbeaks.

Thank you for publishing this interesting article. Matt Young is local here (Central New York) , and I have had the opportunity to learn quite a bit from him out in the field! And yes-his knowledge of finches is incredible! The newly published book contains an incredible amount of information and has been exceptionally well received by the birding world.

I remember when I was 18 in 1969 there were incredible flights of Evening Grosbeaks in late November and other years we would see them feeding in mature Tulip trees in May after returning from their wintering quarters.  Now if one is sighted it’s a rare event.

Thanks for your stories and comments. We never use rodenticides for the reasons William described. Recent research in Vermont has indicated that rodenticides may be affecting fisher populations. Dogs will eat dead mice too.

Be careful what you wish for!  We had a dead end wall in our house- open on the top to the attic but sealed on the other sides. Occasionally, a mouse would get too curious and fall in. Inevitably, other mice would be drawn by the smell of carrion and follow it to their doom. Then the smell got really bad and I had to drill a hole in the wall to see what was happening. I found two weasels, in varying states of decay, along with dozens of mouse carcasses. It was a veritable necropolis in my walls.

Controlling mouse population is best done with snap traps, as you said. Rodenticides are a cruel way to die and dying. Animals are often picked up by predators like hawks or owl which are than poisoned. Or perhaps they bring the poison mouse back to their nest where chicks are killed.
Snap traps are the most humane.  For both the mice and mouse predators.