Wildlife Watch

In late fall and early winter, a walk in the woods still reveals some lovely green plants. One of New England’s prettiest evergreens is most noticeable at this time on the forest floor;  the tiny tree-like plants called clubmosses. In our area, there are five species of clubmosses: ground pine (also called princess pine), shining … Read more

The Last Flower of Fall When walking on my favorite trail recently, I noticed the last flowers of fall blooming in profusion. The Common Witch-hazel shrubs were sporting their yellow leaves, and their surprising bursts of yellow flowers. I always seem to forget to look for them in October, and am always happily surprised to … Read more

Where Are All the Birds? Where are all the birds? Many people have mentioned that their feeders seem bereft of birds. Our feeders, too, are attracting very few takers this fall. This is a pattern we see every year. At this time of year, there is a great deal of natural food available to the … Read more

New England’s greatest treasure is its forests. We rely on our forests to cool the land, and provide moisture to our air. And in this era of abrupt, serious climate change, trees are a major route for carbon sequestration. The more trees that are cut, the more global warming will occur. Forests provide sanctuary for … Read more

Hot enough for ya? This is the question I used to hear when I was growing up in Washington, D.C. And it was hot–in the 90’s most summer days. When we moved north  to New England, we didn’t have nearly as much hot weather–only about two weeks a year when it was in the low … Read more