You’re probably familiar with the basic amphibian life plan: start as a wriggly water-breathing tadpole, transform into an adult that breathes air. Enter the eastern newt, an amphibian with threedifferent forms, whose ability to transform its body and lifestyle makes its peers look like amateurs.

With spring creeping closer, our year-round avian residents such as cardinals and titmice are already raising their voices.

Have you noticed the cheery evergreen sprig with pearly berries, currently perched over the doorways of Yankee traditionalists and those desperate to be kissed? 

To say that lightning “splits” the sky is no mere poetry. A single stroke contains about one billion joules of energy, roughly 280 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and could power a modern American household for more than nine days.

From early spring through late summer, the air trills and croaks and buzzes and chirps with the sounds of nature’s little loudmouths.