The life cycles of the three species of stream salamanders native to New England – northern two-lined, northern dusky, and spring – are closely...
Last June my wife Marie and I encountered a mature wood turtle while walking through a forest near our home. We admired the intricate topography of...
One night just before Christmas last year, my youngest daughter and I opted to walk the short distance home from dinner at my parents’ house...
As winter approaches and snow coats the ground, the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) will again become a ubiquitous backyard visitor. Familiar...
Rat-a-tat-tat. Showers of acorns hit the ground and tapped our heads as my husband and I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Thousands of acorns strewn...
Bent down in an apple field searching for a lost earring, I found a different treasure: a stout mouse-like animal, with a short tail and stubby...
Pine barrens are certainly piney — but they’re not the least bit barren. They were so named not because they lack life, but because colonists found...
A walk in the woods during fall is likely to reveal an array of forest fungi. Ranging from delicate, tan mini-umbrellas to fleshy, white softballs...
Recently I saw a beautiful orange butterfly speckled with black — a great spangled fritillary — feeding on orange hawkweed in a meadow. I observed...
I grew up on a street lined with tall, stately elms. While walking to school one day, I found a bird’s nest that the wind had blown down. The nest...
On a picture-perfect winter morning last year, 20 Saint Michael’s College students and I visited Vermont Fish and Wildlife scientists for ice...
Whenever I spy a pileated woodpecker traversing the sky, I pause to watch its weird undulating flight. The jerky rise-and-drop movement of this...