Site Discussions

I have a black racer in my yard… I’ve seen it twice. It’s more of a dark grey.. smooth and I have only seen the tail end of it. But it is a solid grey.

Wow, nicely done!  Looks great and well balanced in the water. It’s nice too that the pictures show the work that went into this.  Question: did birchbark canoes have planking as this one does ?

So fantastic to hear of this wonderful opportunity to maintain and increase sustainable economic activity, healthy ecology, and public recreational access!!

Fascinating, by the way. Thank you!

And we humans think we are so clever…

I love all the northern Woodlands articles but this was especially interesting Rachel!  It’s amazing what people discover!!! My son and I will be taking a closer look, I share these with him.

The wonderful aroma of wild grapes in CT can be smelled from some distance when ripe. I suppose it may be possible to smell them from the sea if they have such an aroma and grew at greater levels before colonial environmental degradation.

I have noticed a large amount of wild rice plants growing along the waterway on the Mattabesset River in the lower watershed area heading down to the Connecticut River from Cromwell, CT. It’s look like the rice is at or almost peaking time for picking. The birds do enjoy it as I have them eating away over the past few years.

Marc Parill—- I agree with you on the mourning doves being bullies. I have had a flock of them come in and chase away all but my small birds: goldfinches, sparrows and black-capped chickadees. I am really upset about this as I have counted up to 29 species that USED to visit my feeders. Now it’s just the doves and the small birds. At this rate, I will probably stop feeding my birds for awhile just to see if the doves will go away.

Enjoyed learning about Harvey’s story. Love the phrase comparing iron and wood.

Loved your article. I’m a beekeeper with several hives, I do not take much of their honey, but give it back to them to survive winter instead of sugar. I’m always curious to where they obtain their nectar and pollen and therefor marked a handful of Worker Bees with a bright color to be able to recognize them in the field after following them on a mountain bike. Your way of bee-lining is much more sophisticated and fun because of so many of the readers have done this during their childhood with their dads. Love that. Thanks for the drawings, I’ll make one for myself for sure.

Great story.  Beautiful table!!!  Would love one.

I love every product Harvey has made for me. He is an amazing, fastidious, creative and knowledgeable artist with wonderful ideas. You will love working with him. One visit to his workshop and you will know you are in for a treat!! 
Say hello to Winston when you get there!!

I discovered a preying mantis in my driveway perched on a pigweed. I pulled the weed and relocated the mantis to another plant without injuring the mantis. I understand mantis were introduced to this area a few years ago.

I live in southern Westchester County and have 5 large beech trees on my property.  I noticed the problem for the first time this year in late spring when the full tree foliage canopy never developed properly. My neighthood has many of these large beeches that are obviously affected. I’m surprised it’s not “bigger” news as the loss of these old trees will greatly affect the landscape of the area and it’s dependent wildlife. It’s truly sad.

We raise chickens and turkeys in a small flock. One of our heritage chocolate turkeys disappeared recently and then made surprise visits to our coop to feed after which she vanished again. My husband figured she was on a nest in the field so he was on the look out for her return. A few days later she showed up and he followed her to her nest. Next time she made a special guest appearance we went to the nest site and saw about 12 eggs. We waited again for her to make an appearance and I went to the nest only to find most of the eggs hatched and some birds present. Over the last few days, we have seen mom and her flock of about 9 poults working the paths we cut in the field so we can walk our dog. This has been our excitement for the summer. We are wondering if she will eventually return to the existing flock of birds near our house which is only 100 yards away from the nesting site and paths.

Thank you, Declan!  Fascinating article on a species I knew nothing about.  Your information on these creatures re-affirms my belief that nature really knows how to take care of itself.  What amazing parenting skills these insects have!

I once picked up a handful of duckweed from a beaver pond, and received a very painful bite on my finger.  Never saw the creature that did it, but I figured it might be a giant water bug. Many years ago we (my ex and I) had one in an aquarium. She had her hand in the aquarium and it bit her. Extremely painful bite.

And another delight of jewelweed. Capture the green seeds as the pod ejects them. Peel the outer green coating off the tiny jewel. Inside, at the right stage of maturity, is a white seed the turns a heavenly blue as it oxidizes.

Thanks for the article. I am just beginning to think about the forest, how different people use it, and how each group of people depends on another group to get what they want. Your article is very helpful and inspirational to us beginners.