New England is home to dozens of species of mammals, hundreds of varieties of birds, and tens of thousands of different insects, but only one lizard: the five-lined skink. Though I am fond of reptiles and often seek them out, […]
Category: The Outside Story
Column, The Outside Story
Blue jays — likeable villains
Plenty of backyard birdwatchers consider blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) the villains of the avian world. Mark Twain best summarized anti-blue jay sentiment when he compared the bird’s principles to that of an ex-congressman. In Native American lore, blue jays are […]
Column, The Outside Story
Are brighter monarchs better flyers?
By Rachel Mirus The September before my daughter was born, my husband and I went for our last pre-baby hike around Camel’s Hump. We stopped for a snack on the ridgeline, and as we sat munching granola bars we were […]
Column, The Outside Story
Brainwashed by worms
By Declan McCabe Some of my favorite children’s books describe life cycles as heroic tales of persistence and redemption. From “The Ugly Duckling” to “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to “A Seed is Sleeping,” these stories have brought the miracles of […]
Column, The Outside Story
Garter snakes can be surprise guests
By Susan Shea One summer day I lifted the black plastic top of our composter and jumped back, startled – a large snake was curled up on top of the compost. The yellow stripe down the center of its dark […]
Column, The Outside Story
Amphibians Aglow
By Brett Amy Thelen The living light of bioluminescent organisms like fireflies, anglerfish, and marine plankton is legendary. The dazzling light shows put on by synchronous fireflies in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are so popular that park managers have […]
Column, The Outside Story
The kingfisher and the mussel
Last July, Rich Kelley posted a most unusual photograph to the Vermont Birding Facebook group with the caption, “Someone bit off more than he could chew.” The photo, taken in the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, showed a belted kingfisher weighted […]
Column, The Outside Story
Butterflies sip sweet nectar
By Susan Shea Recently I saw a beautiful orange butterfly speckled with black – a great spangled fritillary –feeding on orange hawkweed in a meadow. I observed it through binoculars, so as not to scare it off, then slowly crept […]
Column, The Outside Story
Red-bellied woodpeckers move north
By Lee Emmons I first became acquainted with my neighborhood red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) when it visited my bird feeders last winter. Sporting a black-and-white-striped back with a red nape, this medium-sized woodpecker certainly made a visual impression. Its call […]
Column, The Outside Story
Exploring a swamp
By Susan Shea There was a sucking sound as my rubber boot sank into the deep black muck. Naturalist Jon Binhammer and I were standing in the middle of a hardwood swamp in central Vermont. Above us, dainty red flowers […]