Site Discussions

I had my house built on the highest point of my land, which is over 845 ft elevation (and the highest point in my immediate area). The geology has always puzzled me since to my east, the ground could be used for farming (but I choose to leave it wooded). The same applies to my south, north and further west (from house). How ever,  half of my house foundation is in pure sand (they dug for the septic and never hit anything but sand). The other part of my house, is on rock. The kind of rock that is comprised of yellow rocks (imagine how rocks mixed with concrete looks). Back years ago, this hilltop was about 20+ foot higher. My grandfather let a neighbor haul away dirt/sand. Anyhow, I doubt I described it very well.

Beautiful description of an intriguing habitat. Reminded me of visits to NJ’s Pine Barrens also resilient to fire to the point of dependency on fire. Thank you for this piece.

There is so much private property now in my area that I can bv find very few areas to pick fiddleheads at all. I’m very interested in growing my own. Do you have information available for doing that? Thank you so much for reminding people to harvest sustainably.

Took a drive this week to Central Oregon to see the turkeys and discovered the turkeys were hiding.

Concluded that they must be nesting and following and several of the things mentioned in this article.

Thanks for the educational material..

Wonderful way to use roots as anti-inflammatory instead of pro-arthritis potatoes.

Thank Ric. And so great that Sutton Library is sharing local nature information!

Can you help identify a bird if we don’t have a picture?  It’s a tiny tan bird, with a square-end tail, that has been taking sticks into our blue bird house. We have fishing line of the sides of the hole to prevent sparrows but this bird is so small, it can get between.  It’s “nest” is a bunch of sticks piled in different ways all the way to the top of the house. It’s hard to imagine how that can be used as a nest.  My husband and I wondered how that little bird got all those fairly big sticks in the house.

Thanks for the note on false morels.  I saw several in a walk last weekend and had been meaning to review my memory about it.  (Mainly that I didn’t want to eat it.)  Tom Volk’s page was exactly what I wanted to see.

[I see these via a link from the Sutton Library FB page.]

Thank you for this information! The recipe was a bonus.

I found this in my bathroom and I am TERRIFIED.

I had the pleasure of meeting Officer Murphy today and I couldn’t be happier! I was riding my bicycle on the rail trail through Enfield, enjoying the beautiful weather. As I crossed a bridge over Mascoma River, I looked over and saw Heidi walking up from the river bank. I hollered and waved, and we proceeded to have a nice short conversation. She is a great member of North Woods Law, which is one of very few shows I record and watch. I’m very glad that she serves as the conservation officer in my district. Keep up the good work Heidi! I hope you get a chance to enjoy Mother’s Day with your two young boys today.

Have you ever heard of Osprey, diving with fish in talons, toward a hard surface to slam it’s catch against said ground? I think I witnessed this on a side street near our neighborhood. Could it be a behavior meant to kill a struggling fish before flying to a nearby nest with it’s young?

First time to see, even know they exist, this cold past winter. Heard the wings sitting in the house, so loud thought it was one of the owls really close. Ran to window like a kid and gasped loudly. Amazing!!!! I am surrounded by woods so maybe will see another.

Thanks for the excellent, informative article, Lee!

To avoid confusion, I am the son of Howard Fadden (1912-1963). Kudos to Dave Fadden (Onchiota) for his amazing art work. I vividly recall my first visit to the museum when I was a very young boy.  I was impressed by the stories shared by Cousin Ray and how it influenced my miss-guided perception of the indigenous occupants of this beautiful area known as The Adirondacks.

Thanks for the great info and feed back. I just recently started clearing my property of sketchy trees. I have 2.5 acres and am trying to extend driveway. Not to mention I have about 15 60’+ oaks 50’ from my home. Constantly thinking about them. Definitely getting the come along now. I’d rather not get crushed in the middle of the night by one. Thanks all.

Thanks for the info. I just spotted a kettle migrating north/northeast over Brownsville, TX. The winds were very strong for about 4-5 days before calming down today. There are easily hundreds- if not in the 4 digits. I’ve had my eye on it for about an hour. This is my first sighting. I’ll never forget it.

I enjoyed reading this article by Katrina very much. It made me think of my childhood in northern Alabama where I roamed the forests around my home. Growing up in that environment made me love the outdoors and want to protect it. I came to New England when I was 23 and never left it. I have spent many years hiking the White Mountain trails and surroundings. Nowadays, at age 77, I’m content to wander all the wonderful town forests in southern New Hampshire to get my “nature fix”. I recommend the SELT (South East Land Trust) properties which are very well taken care of. Thank you, Katrina and Miles. Keep up the good work.

Great article! I’ve been watching the PA farm country eagle cam and wondered about eagle winter migration and happened upon this info. Thank you!

The discussion of tree line is mistakenly assumed to be a temperature phenomena.  It isn’t. It is a partial pressure of gases issue with CO2.  Specifically the eastern tree line at Mt Washington etc is lower because the atmospheric pressure is lower due to the high speed winds in the area. The tree line corresponds very well to the partial pressure of gas because it will be higher on one side of the mountain where the wind blows faster than on the other side.

It is related to the ability of the plants to photosynthesize sugar. This tree line issue happens in the tropics at very nearly the same altitudes as in the West USA etc.  It even happens in Africa the same way where the mountains go above about 9,500 feet (3000 meters).  Even on the flat the large areas of Africa (Rift Valley) see the same effect. 
Sorry folks but looking at this for climate change in terms of temperatures is not borne out by the recorded data.  Look up DENSITY ALTITUDE calculations for pilots. When I was young the CO2 levels were lower and the tree line was lower, not because it was colder lower, but because the partial pressure of CO2 changed.