Even amid the snow still on the ground, you can hearken to the signs of Spring. Flocks of male Red-winged Blackbirds are back in the wetlands singing and setting up hearth and home for their ladies soon to return. Even in the chill air, you can smell the sweetness that tells the tale of Sugar Maples…
Category Archives: Natural Science
Last summer I was noticing quite a few rabbits around our home. They seemed to be breeding, well, like bunnies. And they ate all our strawberries and then our Brussels sprouts! There has got to be checks and balances. Who would balance this equation? Meet Bobbi. Bobbi is a bobcat (Felis rufus) who moved in…
Sublimation is a sign of Spring; that Ostara is approaching. Snow-melt ascending. But this year, the mists have come weeks earlier. As have the Red-winged Blackbird – another herald of Spring. I look out upon the wetlands and ask, “what will we do?” “Adapt” is the only reply I receive. A steady drip drip drip heralds…
How the Otter Half Lives (in Winter) The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), a member of the subfamily Lutrinae, in the weasel family (Mustelidae), is an equal opportunity player on both land and water. This mustelid LOVES to have a good time! And in winter you can find their slides along the forest floor,…
BRR! It’s cold out there! How do the “wiuts” – the wild ones – survive the winter? Time for a winter ecology lesson – a study of relationships among living organisms during the coldest season of the year and how they relate to their environment during this season. To our New England flora, winter is…
The Longest Night is approaching. How do you keep warm? With good food and good company. Seconds on hugs and lots of blankets. The Longest Night of the year is approaching. Now you may say, “Bah! What does it matter? It will still be dark and cold for months to come.” And of course you…
What were we thinking when we introduced the Autumn Olive? Autumn Olive, Elaeagnus umbellate, of the Oleaster family, is a migrant from central Asia. Actually, within close proximity of our beloved fall fruit the apple, who is considered naturalized to the United States. That means this flora been here long enough to play nice and…
Our Beloved Fall Fruit: the Apple “There is no fruit, in temperate climes, so universally esteemed and so extensively cultivated, nor is there any which is so closely identified with the social habits of the human species, as the apple”. ~ Robert Hogg, British Pomology, 1851 The Apple, Malus domestica, is a member of the…
As you may have noticed we are experiencing a drought. You may be watching your garden, fretful, wanting to water all the thirsty “kids” out there in the yard. Some plants may look stressed; droopy leaves closing against the heat of the sun. But there is a plant that appears happy as a little lark.…
I find Milkweed so curious. The flowers’ scent is so intoxicating; an alluring sweetness that simply draws you in. But YOU can’t eat it. Not raw anyway. You can watch Monarch caterpillars munch on the leaves and butterflies sup on the nectar, but don’t you go doing that. Monarchs – as a well as Queens…
Hearken to Avalon 