The Outside Story: Harrowing journeys for Blanding’s turtles to survive
For thousands of years, Blanding’s turtles have traveled between wetlands over the course of their annual lifecycles. Today, their habitat has been damaged and fragmented by development and roads, and fast-moving vehicles pose a grave danger to turtles. If she is not hit by a car, she may live to be more than 75 years old.
The Outside Story: Little masked bandits
I know that common yellowthroats have returned to my neighborhood in spring when I hear that distinctive song. With luck, I’ll glimpse the striking male as he darts about the shrubbery.
The Outside Story: Striped maple offers food, shelter in the understory
Beneath the forest canopy, or overstory, of towering trees is a second layer of vegetation known as the understory.
The Outside Story: Sharp-shinned hawks are agile hunters
One late winter day, I heard our dog barking fiercely from the yard. I went outside to find him standing about 6 feet away from a hawk that was on the ground beside our house.
The Outside Story: Crows in Winter
During winter, I catch glimpses of crows as they fly swiftly over our valley, cawing, or gather in small groups to feed on roadkill along the highway.
The Outside Story: Juncos - The original ‘snow birds’
Most winters, the dark-eyed junco is one of the most common birds at my feeder.
The Outside Story: The favorite conifer Christmas tree
Every year my husband and I cut a Christmas tree on family land. We look for a young balsam fir growing in the power line right-of-way or in a forest clearing.
The Outside Story: Bats prepare to hunker down for winter
Years ago, I visited two Vermont caves in winter to help biologists count hibernating bats. After descending through a hole into the first cave, I immediately noticed that it was much warmer than above ground.
The Outside Story: Alpine zone awaits high-altitude hikers
Hikers climbing the Northeast’s highest peaks are familiar with several different vegetative zones that they traverse along the way. On the summits, they can encounter plants so hardy that many also grow in the Arctic, thousands of miles to the north.
The Outside Story: A visit to an old-growth forest
Decayed wood crumbled underfoot as I stepped on a mossy log. The ground was almost hidden by a lush, diverse growth of wildflowers and ferns.
The Outside Story: Swallows prove to be graceful, acrobatic fliers
I never tire of watching the aerial acrobatics of swallows as they swoop over fields, darting back and forth to snap up flying insects.
The Outside Story: Yellow birches thrive for long lives in some precarious places
One summer, I took a nature drawing class, and we hiked up Vermont’s Stowe Pinnacle to sketch in the cool mountain forest.
The Outside Story: Hybrid salamanders continue survival by ancient practice of cloning
On a warm, rainy April night a few years ago, I drove up our muddy, rutted dirt road through the mist, steering around the wood frogs hopping across the road. As I approached the vernal pool, there were more frogs in the road, so I parked to avoid hitting them and walked the rest of the way.
The Outside Story: Winter Buds - Tiny Packages of Potential
The bare branches of the trees outside my window seem lifeless in late winter. However, each twig holds many buds – small, wrapped packages of potential awaiting the spring.
The Outside Story: An insect hunter extraordinaire
A woodpecker frequently visits our feeder, alighting on the wooden supporting post and hopping up the post to the suet.
The Outside Story: Where are summer birds?
Mornings are quiet now. Gone is the loud chorus of bird song outside my window that I awoke to in spring and summer.
The Outside Story: Mighty oaks of the Northeast
Showers of acorns hit the ground and tapped our heads as my husband and I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Thousands of acorns strewn across the path atop multi-colored leaves made for treacherous passage.
The Outside Story: After foliage, forest fungi put on a fall show
A walk in the woods during fall is likely to reveal an array of forest fungi.