This Week in the Woods

This Week in the Woods, a nighttime camera trap at the edge of an apple orchard revealed the presence of a deer, porcupine, and this handsome gray fox. As noted in this Outside Story essay by…

This Week in the Woods, we encountered a mass of white fluff on an alder that wiggled a bit when we passed our hands over it. This was a clump of woolly alder aphids – tiny insects…

This Week in the Woods, during a staff walk near our office, we discovered a large clubtail dragonfly that we later identified as a female zebra clubtail. One clue that you may be looking at a…

This Week in the Woods, puffballs have ripened and want you to stomp them. A favorite among kids, these fungi produce millions of tiny spores inside their fruiting bodies. Once the spores are…

This Week in the Woods, we encountered a flock of palm warblers flitting back and forth between a corn field edge and trees along the Ompompanoosuc River. The birds breed in boreal forests,…

This Week in the Woods, we found approximately 50 wood ducks perched together in trees along a river. In the Northeast, migration occurs from September to November. Although some wood ducks…

This Week in the Woods, we found this Wilson’s snipe in a local wetland. These birds look like elongated versions of their distant cousins, American woodcocks (both in the sandpiper…

This Week in the Woods, we brushed up against some tree bark, and it flew away, flashing pink stripes as it went. Happily, this underwing moth didn’t go far. Once it had settled back…

This Week in the Woods, we’ve been paying closer attention to bumblebees. Like most other pollinators, they’re winding down their year as the weather cools. Unlike honeybee hives,…

This Week in the Woods, we never actually made it into the woods, because we got distracted by so much interesting life at the trees’ edge. We found this great egret stalking frogs in a…

This Week in the Woods, it’s common nighthawk migration season, and in what has become an annual tradition, Tig Tillinghast staked out a local dam site and riverside fields at dusk to…

This Week in the Woods, we found patches of cardinal flower blooming along the Connecticut River. As noted in this profile from The Native Plant Trust, these vivid summer wildflowers –…

This Week in the Woods, we were very surprised when a barred owl alit on a branch just a few feet from us, on a frequently-walked trail. It called once, then swiveled its head to track…

This Week in the Woods, we encountered a beaver just as it clambered up from a lower impoundment and splashed back into the water. This is a fun time to visit a beaver pond, to observe how the…

This Week in the Woods, assistant editor Meghan McCarthy McPhaul found two porcupines perched in an apple tree, chowing down on the developing fruit. According to Uldis Roze, in his excellent…

This Week in the Woods, we discovered a daredevil green frog in a patch of clover a good half mile from any pond or stream. Our guess it that it was hunting, and all the humidity and rain…

This Week in the Woods, after several days of warmth and wet weather, fungi are popping up everywhere, including American Caesar’s Mushroom. Unlike most Amanita species, American Caesar…

This Week in the Woods, we asked Jason Berard, vice president of stewardship at Upper Valley Land Trust, to take photos for this blog. He graciously agreed to help us, and shared more cool…

This Week in the Woods, some young fawns of white-tailed deer are still tucked in their hiding places, although earlier-born ones have started feeding on plants and may be easier to see. As…

This Week in the Woods, we’re giving a special shout out to the Thurston family, who jumped into action to rescue raccoon kits after their mother was hit by a car. After a cross-Vermont…