Glow-worms, blinkers, ghosts: The hidden diversity of fireflies
“Firefly” refers to more than one species in the beetle family Lampyridae. Some of the many include the Chiricahua glow-worm, twilight bush baby, Florida fishhook, double cousin, creekside tree blinker, Bill’s hitch, heebie-jeebie, quick one-two, and superb ghost.
Northeastern crayfish: Tiny predators with big impact
Crayfish are an essential part of the food web in river ecosystems, connecting to more than 240 other animals through the food web.
Tussock cottongrass: Champion of low-lying bogs and alpine heights
Thriving in both swampy bogs and alpine heights, tussock cottongrasses wave in the summer wind with 'a sprinkling of stars across the flat expanse that makes you feel like you've wandered into some kind of heaven.
Bird songs compete with the sounds of modern society
Given the almost unimaginable loss of roughly 3 billion birds in North America over the last 50 years – a decline that continues to accelerate across nearly half of the species scientists have studied – quantifying the impacts of noise pollution may help preserve our avian populations.
Wild Oats: Spring’s bashful bellwort
Standing out is hard among such a flashy crowd, especially for one particularly understated spring ephemeral: sessile-leaved bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia), known more commonly as wild oats.
Spring ephermerals and the vernal dam hypothesis
Every year I know that spring has arrived when it’s time for my family to forage for ramps on a two-acre patch on the hill above my house. We have just a few weeks to enjoy their spiciness before they disappear from the landscape, along with other spring ephemerals.
Why did the frog cross the road?
In spring, when temperatures rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and usher in gentle rains, a plethora of life emerges from the forest.
In search of cellar holes and old foundations
Stone foundations are the less-talked-about cousins of the storied stone walls that trace the landscape. Both are legacies of the glacier that covered all of New England until 13,000 years ago, leaving a layer of till – tumbled-up dirt and stone of every size.
Lengthening days of spring
Light in the evening brings the first sign of spring’s arrival. Before the snow has fully melted or any scraps of green start to appear, those lengthening days are a promise.
Gobbling and strutting through wild turkey mating season
As the days get longer and warmer, wild turkeys start feeling the urge to begin the spring shuffle, wandering in search of breeding opportunities and nesting sites.
Backyard neighbor: Ubiquitous, melodious song sparrows
In early March, birds that have been gone all winter begin appearing at my feeder. One of the earliest of these spring migrants is a brown-backed sparrow with a white breast coarsely streaked with brown
Fishers inherently practice family planning
Fishers have a reputation as the northern forests’ ultimate misanthropes. These mesocarnivores are so territorial that within six to eight months after their birth, young fishers are unceremoniously pushed out of their mother’s home range to fend for themselves.
Seeds, frazil and flocs tell the story of ice
During some recent winters, climate change has brought unseasonably warm spells, incomplete ice covers, decreased water levels, and insignificant snowfall, all of which expose ice formations normally unseen. These formations are known as frazil (often referred to as “frazil ice”), and they don’t begin in water; they begin in the air.
Soil microbes bundle up in winter
Although we may be aware that other creatures are preparing for the cold, building their nutritious stockpiles and cozy dens, few of us think about the ground beneath our feet. Yet here as well, a whole world gets ready for winter.
Tiny king of the winter woods: Golden-crowned kinglets
Golden-crowned kinglets are ping-pong-ball-sized (and -shaped) songbirds that breed almost exclusively in coniferous forests. For seven months of the year, they wear the crown of smallest bird in the Northeast, surpassed only by the ruby-throated hummingbird in summertime.
Great gray owls are winter’s elusive visitors
The great gray owl is a northern raptor that only occasionally graces the northeastern U.S. Called the phantom of the north, great grays have a fierce appearance with luminous yellow eyes, an impressive size, and large talons.
A rare winter flicker of red and yellow
While many of our region’s colorful birds fly south for the cold months, resident woodpeckers offer a reliable contrast to this season’s monochrome palette.
Life beneath ice and snow: Turtles in winter
Some water turtles, such as painted turtles and common snapping turtles, search out the soft substrate at the bottom of ponds, rivers, and lakes, and burrow down into the mud to survive the winter.
The incredible shrinking shrew
Masked shrews are one of our smallest mammals, tipping the scales at between 3 and 6 grams (one to two pennies), with a 2.5-inch-long body and a 1.5-inch tail.
Native hollies offer more than holiday cheer
while Christmas holly (Ilex aquifolium) originates across the Atlantic, our region has two native holly species of which to boast – and they do much more on the landscape than brighten homes and spirits at yuletide.