By Declan McCabe Biologists sometimes field questions about a “huge scary bug” that appeared in someone’s home or worse yet, on their person. Most turn out to be benign organisms that ended up in the wrong place. For me, the most common questions come in July, when male dobsonflies emerge from the Winooski River…

  By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul When you think of foxes (if you ever do), you likely picture the ginger-coated red fox, like Mr. Tod from Beatrix Potter’s fantastical children’s tales, only without the dapper suit-coat and tweed knickers. It is the not-as-common gray fox, however, that has been wandering the woods and fields near my…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul Helicopters. Keys. Whirligigs. Samaras. Whatever you call the winged seeds released by maple trees, here’s one more word for them: delicious. Like many New Englanders, I have fond childhood memories of dropping maple “helicopters” from a height and watching them twist and twirl down to the ground. My children do the…

By Joe Rankin A while back I had a few hives of honey bees parked at a beef farm down the road, tucked up against a stone wall just outside a pasture. One day the owner called to say that my bees had invaded a building in a barn complex and were laying eggs in…

By David Deen Most people do not like sea lampreys even though they have never even seen one. The fish have a bad reputation as an invasive species in Lake Champlain. Their appearance is also alarming. These are the fish you occasionally see on the television news, with long, snake-like bodies and suction cup mouths…

By Susan Shea Last May, while out hiking, I came across a young fawn curled up in the ferns only three feet from the Appalachian Trail. My husband and our dog had already walked right by without noticing it. I quickly snapped a few photos as the creature lay motionless, its large eyes wide open,…

By Michael J. Caduto In the early 1960s, Euell Gibbons wrote “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” and introduced millions of North Americans to the virtues of harvesting wild foods. Since that time, gathering wild edibles has become increasingly popular, and in our region, woods-grown delicacies such as ramps and fiddlehead ferns appear in grocery stores each…

Alder and Willow Flycatchers: sibling species By Steven D. Faccio By mid-May each year I begin to look forward to the return of the alder flycatchers that nest in the willows along the stream near our house. Usually the last migrant to arrive on our property, this small, drab gray bird with its sneeze-like song,…

Go figure: how tree burls grow By Joe Rankin I’ve had my eye on this maple in my woods for some time. Not because it’s a beautiful timber tree. It’s only about eight inches in diameter, after all. But it has an interesting burl about 14 feet up the trunk. As a woodturner, I love…

Vernal pools: Hatch, grow and get out By Barbara Mackay Three things happened this week: bluebirds and tree swallows returned, my road was graded, and the red maple buds popped. It’s time to search for vernal pools. Vernal pools are small areas of wetland that form in the spring and dry up during the summer.…

Fish go with the flow By Tim Traver There are times when fish appear telepathic. Consider the uncanny way a school of bait fish moves as one to avoid a predator, or the way goldfish in their lighted bowl turn towards the glass when someone walks into the dark room. Researchers often describe this ability…

Tasty teas (and more) from trees: black and yellow birch By Russ Cohen Scratch and then sniff a black or yellow birch twig, and the pleasant aroma will likely put a smile on your face. What you are smelling is oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate). This chemical compound is present in the inner bark of…

By Elise Tillinghast A deer died by the river near my home. The crows found it, as did other scavengers–a bald eagle and two big brown raptors that were hard to identify. Both had white flecking on their heads, wings and bodies, but the markings didn’t match up, bird to bird. They looked unkempt and…

By Kristen Fountain All of a sudden, sap season is here and winter’s on its way out. Chances are, though, a few more snow or ice squalls are still to come. The next time you find yourself driving behind a big plow truck, take a look at what’s coming out of the spreader. What is…

By Michael J. Caduto Walking through the woods on a cool spring morning, I saw a barred owl in an old maple tree. I circled the owl three times from a distance. Its head kept turning to follow me, tracking my movements with three complete revolutions. One of the owl’s chicks had fallen from the…