By Joe Rankin It’s the classic story of unintended consequences. In 1890, Eugene Schieffelin released 60 starlings in New York’s Central Park with the hope of establishing a breeding population. Just in case the experiment wasn’t successful, he released another […]
Category: The Outside Story
Column, The Outside Story
The nostalgia of wintergreen
By Kathy Bernier I give a lot of tours at my 80-acre homestead, and have found that most visitors are delighted for the opportunity to connect nature with real life. Those of us who spend much time rubbing elbows with […]
Column, The Outside Story
The evolution of bird feet
By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul As spring’s crescendo of birdsong mellows now to a steadier summer trill, I listen for melodies I don’t recognize and try to figure out which birds are singing. I look through binoculars at their feathers, the […]
Column, The Outside Story
Summer skaters
By Declan McCabe Scanning a sunlit pond floor for crayfish, I was distracted by seven dark spots gliding in a tight formation. Six crisp oval shadows surrounded a faint, less distinct silhouette. The shapes slid slowly and then, with a […]
Column, The Outside Story
The fisher: elusive, fast, a porcupine’s worst nightmare
By Joe Rankin The “fisher cat” is neither of those things. Doesn’t fish. Isn’t a cat. In fact, a lot more of what people think they know about the fisher is wrong. It’s almost like we made up the animal. […]
Column, The Outside Story
Twilight singer: The Hermit Thrush
By Susan Shea If you take a walk in the woods on a summer evening, you may be treated to the ethereal, flute-like song of the hermit thrush, often the only bird still singing at dusk (and the first bird […]
Column, The Outside Story
On mammal teeth
By Tim Traver When my daughter was 4, she once asked, “Do mice get cavities?” We were coming back from the dentist, so teeth were on her mind and so were mice, since her pet mouse had recently escaped. Later […]
Column, The Outside Story
The great duckweed migration
By Declan McCabe The word “migration” conjures images of vast wildebeest or pronghorn herds crossing plains in unison, or hummingbirds traversing the Gulf of Mexico. When charismatic birds leave our New England forests, migration is typically the explanation. But how […]
Column, The Outside Story
A precious stone with wings
By Carolyn Lorié One day last spring, I pulled into a parking lot in Thetford and saw a flash of brilliant red. Instantly, I knew it was a male scarlet tanager. He was perched in a cluster of bushes and […]
Column, The Outside Story
Wild leeks
By Virginia Barlow The white bulbs of wild leeks, also called ramps (especially in the South), can be eaten year round, but it’s the early leaves that are most appreciated. In pre-freezer days, ramps were the first greens available after […]