The Outside Story

‘Tis the season for spooky stories, and just in time for Halloween, the spider that news headlines have described as “giant,” “flying,” and “venomous” has made its way to New England. While it may be a nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia, the invasive Joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) is quite docile and, if given a choice,…

Wandering through the woods this time of year, occasionally I’ve come across a small deciduous tree laden with cone-like structures that resemble the hops used to brew beer. This is the American – or Eastern – hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). A member of the birch family, hophornbeam grows in the understory in a variety of northeastern…

The great annual movements of fall include monarch butterflies winging toward Mexico, whales heading to the Caribbean to give birth, and multitudes of birds in the autumn skies. There’s another migration this season that often goes unnoticed by casual observers: that of dragonflies. Given that dragonflies (or something closely resembling them) have been on this…

On warm days through early fall, you can find two large species of “digger” wasps flitting about late-blooming flowers. Like many wasps, these species elicit strong, often negative reactions in humans. But digger wasps inhabit a critical niche in invertebrate communities – and can lend a natural hand in pest control. Two of the most…

I often spot black willow trees as I’m kayaking along a riverbank or lakeshore. While perhaps less picturesque than its (non-native) cousin the weeping willow, black willow is native to the Northeast and provides a host of ecological benefits. Willow trees are in the Salix genus, along with pussy willow and more than 20 other…

Birds exist in a fluid and unpredictable world. Survival depends on remaining constantly alert, adapting and responding to encounters with predators and environmental conditions that change with the seasons, weather, and geography. But sleep is also essential, providing rest, rejuvenation, and healing. Normally, day-active (diurnal) animals sleep at night, and night-active (nocturnal) species sleep by…

By Rachel Sargent Mirus Water striders are a common sight on ponds, vernal pools, and puddles. During clear summer days, these insects seem to walk on water, a feat they accomplish through a combination of long legs that distribute their weight across the water’s surface and micro hairs that make these invertebrates extremely water repellent.…

Ferns have grown on Earth for longer than trees and flowers, and existed well before Homo sapiens. In our region, the oldest lineage, emerging 200 million years ago, is the royal fern family (Osmundaceae), including royal, cinnamon, and interrupted ferns. Named for the fertile, spore-producing pinnae that “interrupt” the rest of the leafy frond. Osmunda…

If you wanted to see the Sunapee trout, you might be inclined to search in its namesake, New Hampshire’s Lake Sunapee. But this elusive fish has long been extirpated from the Granite State, and from neighboring Vermont, where it once lived in the Northeast Kingdom’s Averill Lakes. Sunapee trout remains in 14 bodies of water…

Walking on a woods road beside a stream in early July, I spotted several tight clusters of butterflies perched on scat piles and on wet sand near the brook. When one of the butterflies spread its wings, I saw that its topside was black with blue shading, and had a broad white band running through…

Behind my garden of native plants, one scrappy perennial holds its own among the tangle of goldenrod stalks and blackberry brambles. Its swaying flowerheads buzz with a throng of insects: golden digger and great black wasps, bumblebees, sweat bees, butterflies, and beetles. This pollinator magnet is mountain-mint. It hails from the same family, Lamiaceae, as…

A long time ago, not so far away, freshwater plants partnered with fungi and moved onto land from lake and river shores. Since that time, land plants have evolved many sophisticated strategies for terrestrial life. Yet to this day, growing in damp forests and on foggy mountainsides, are plants that embody ancient botanical history. Liverworts…

By By Colby Galliher If you’re looking for warblers on a walk in the summer woods, your first instinct might be to look toward the canopy. But two closely related warbler species forgo those elevated environs for the eddies and banks of forested streams and wetlands. These specialists of sylvan waters are a treat for…

By Susan Shea Black birds with a greenish sheen and brown heads sometimes visit my yard during spring migration. These are male brown-headed cowbirds, and they often arrive in mixed flocks of red-winged blackbirds and grackles. Cowbirds breed in most of the Northeast and have an unusual reproductive strategy. Instead of building their own nests,…

By Rachel Sargent Mirus Last July, I crossed paths with an insect that looked like the living embodiment of my favorite drawing game. Using folded paper, players add to a communal image without seeing previous contributions, such that the finished work is a surprise to everyone: the head of an eagle, on the body of…