Susan Shea 1/31/25 Susan Shea 1/31/25

Northeastern hawks soar through winter

Driving on Vermont’s Interstate highways in winter, I often notice large hawks perched in trees on woodland edges at regular intervals along the road. With the stark landscape providing better visibility and many bird species gone for the winter, this is a great time of year to hawk-watch.

Susan Shea 12/30/24 Susan Shea 12/30/24

White-footed mice seek a cozy, warm home

During winter, I often hear gnawing and the scurrying of little feet inside the walls of our house. Mice have taken shelter in our old farmhouse again.

Susan Shea 12/17/24 Susan Shea 12/17/24

The evergreen Christmas fern

An easy fern to identify grows in fountain-like clumps and has glossy, dark green leaflets, or pinnae. This is Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), named for its evergreen habit and the shape of its leaflets.

Susan Shea 10/18/24 Susan Shea 10/18/24

A tough little tree with a quirky name

Wandering through the woods this time of year, occasionally I’ve come across a small deciduous tree laden with cone-like structures that resemble the hops used to brew beer.

Susan Shea 7/26/24 Susan Shea 7/26/24

White Admirals winging through the woods

Walking on a wooded road beside a stream in early July, I spotted several tight clusters of butterflies perched on scat piles and on wet sand near the brook.

Susan Shea 6/26/24 Susan Shea 6/26/24

Surprise! Some birds find strange eggs in their nests

Black birds with a greenish sheen and brown heads sometimes visit my yard during spring migration. These are male brown-headed cowbirds, and they often arrive in mixed flocks of red-winged blackbirds and grackles.

Susan Shea 5/8/24 Susan Shea 5/8/24

A young red squirrel grows up

Years ago, a hitchhiker found a baby red squirrel beneath a tree and brought it to the nature center where I worked as a naturalist and wildlife rehabilitator. The squirrel kit had not yet opened its eyes, so we estimated it was only three weeks old.

Susan Shea 2/13/24 Susan Shea 2/13/24

A tale of two grosbeaks in winter | The Outside Story

Last February, several evening grosbeaks which we rarely see here visited our feeder.

Susan Shea 1/12/24 Susan Shea 1/12/24

American Tree Sparrows are winter’s hardy visitors

American tree sparrows (Spizelloides arborea) are so named by European settlers who were reminded of Eurasian tree sparrows back home. The name, however, is a misnomer, as these “tree” sparrows are actually ground birds, spending little time in trees.

Susan Shea 10/17/23 Susan Shea 10/17/23

The Outside Story: A close encounter during the fall moose rut

On an October day years ago, my husband and I were canoeing on a pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. We heard crashing in the bushes along the shoreline just before a magnificent bull moose with large antlers appeared.

Susan Shea 9/19/23 Susan Shea 9/19/23

The Outside Story: Varied flora and fauna call cliffs home

We tend to think of cliffs as solely geological features. But they also host distinct natural communities of plants and animals.

Susan Shea 7/25/23 Susan Shea 7/25/23

The Outside Story: The rare and reclusive spotted turtle

Named for their polka-dot-like markings, spotted turtles have declined throughout most of their range, which stretches from Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida, and from western New York into the eastern Great Lakes states. This species is listed as threatened or endangered in northern New England states.

Susan Shea 7/6/23 Susan Shea 7/6/23

The Outside Story: Showy, short-lived flying tigers

When our lilacs bloom in late May, pale yellow butterflies with black stripes arrive to feed on their nectar. These are tiger swallowtails.

Susan Shea 5/16/23 Susan Shea 5/16/23

The Outside Story: Meet the chestnut-sided warbler

While planting the vegetable garden last May, I heard a repeated bird song emanating from the adjacent raspberry patch: “Pleased, pleased, pleased to MEETCHA.”

Susan Shea 4/13/23 Susan Shea 4/13/23

The Outside Story: Lessons from raising a baby opossum

Years ago, when I worked at a nature center in Connecticut licensed to care for injured and orphaned wildlife, a baby opossum was brought to us. It was found lying on a golf course and was too young to be on its own.

Susan Shea 2/17/23 Susan Shea 2/17/23

The Outside Story: Winter wonders – Icicles, snow rollers, hair ice

Along with the challenges of icy roads and snow shoveling, winter offers a host of wonders if you take the time to look.

Susan Shea 1/2/23 Susan Shea 1/2/23

The Outside Story: South Carolina state bird moves north

In mid-December, a small, reddish-brown bird with an upturned tail, a white eyebrow-stripe, and a long, slender, down curved bill was on the deck below our feeder.