Discover More from This Category: The Outside Story
The Outside Story: Spotted turtles: Rare and reclusive
July 26, 2023
Named for their polka-dot-like markings, spotted turtles have declined throughout most of their range, which stretches from Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida, and from western New York into the eastern Great Lakes states. This species is listed as threatened or endangered in northern New England states. While I have…
The Outside Story: Spittlebugs hide in plain sight
July 19, 2023
Spittlebugs are the color of a new spring leaf, their bodies both tiny and so fat that you hardly notice their six miniature legs underneath. This plumpness makes them an appetizing snack for various insect predators—or would, anyway, if spittlebugs didn’t have an elaborate adaptation to keep them safe. Spittlebugs live in a variety…
The Northern Mockingbird: Master of Mimicry
July 12, 2023
When I worked on a college campus, a northern mockingbird often accompanied me on the walk between my car and my office. This slender gray bird darted from the hedges, flashing white wing patches and outer tail feathers before landing on a crabapple branch, where it poured forth a string of trills and phrases,…
Flying tigers
July 5, 2023
When our lilacs bloom in late May, pale yellow butterflies with black stripes arrive to feed on their nectar. These are tiger swallowtails. These exquisite butterflies have a broad black band along the edge of their forewings bordered with yellow dots. They also have small red spots and “tails” at the base of their hindwings.…
Spawning sunfish, satellites, and sneakers
June 30, 2023
In the shallow margins of many lakes and ponds in June and July, you may spot male sunfish guarding their nests. The sunfishes (family Centrarchidae) comprise many well-known species — including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rock bass, and black crappie — but the most visible nest guarders in early summer are the pumpkinseed, bluegill,…
It takes a village to raise a veery
June 21, 2023
If you take a walk through a thick, broadleaf forest on a cool summer morning, you might recognize the cascading, metallic song of a thrush called a veery. It is an ethereal sound that echoes through the understory, like the ring of a haunted cell phone. You might even see a veery, with its…
Summer Lights: It’s Firefly Season!
June 14, 2023
Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies, That though they never equal stars in size, (And they were never really stars at heart Achieve at times a very star-like start... —Robert Frost, “Fireflies in the Garden” It happens on a warm June evening: in the…
Of dewdrops and spider webs
June 7, 2023
On a foggy morning walk, it may seem as if the spider webs on your path have turned into jeweled wonders, every thread a string of gems as smooth as pearls and as sparkling as diamonds. Each of these “jewels” is a drop of water the web has collected from the misty air. As…
The early bird gets the jumping worm
May 24, 2023
We’ve all heard the idiom, “The early bird gets the worm.” When it comes to invasive jumping worms, unfortunately, there are more than enough to go around. These invasive worms can consume excessive amounts of organic matter and leaf litter in a garden or forest, to the point that it becomes uninhabitable to native…
Meet the Chestnut-Sided Warbler
May 18, 2023
While planting the vegetable garden last May, I heard a repeated bird song emanating from the adjacent raspberry patch: “Pleased, pleased, pleased to MEETCHA.” Finally, the small songster perched near the tip of a raspberry cane, its tail cocked. The bird’s yellow crown, black mask, olive back with black streaks, and white breast with rusty…
Queen season: Bumble bees in spring
May 10, 2023
Hear ye, hear ye! The queens have emerged! We’re talking about bumble bees (genus Bombus). For several weeks each spring, any bumble bee you see is a queen – and very hard at work. She must construct her kingdom. Her mother (the previous queen), and most of her siblings will have perished. Unlike honey bees,…
The carpenters arrive in spring
May 3, 2023
Why do ants suddenly appear every time spring is near? Just like bees, they long to be close to you – especially if your home is made of wood. Carpenter ants (genus Camponotus) and the eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) both nest in wood and are frequent visitors to my log home. The Northeast is…
Clover: Flower or weed?
April 26, 2023
Call it a flower or call it a weed – clover is a plant everyone knows. Who hasn’t idled away an hour hunting for a four-leaf clover, hoping for good luck? A member of the legume family, clover is common in lawns and fields, in disturbed sites, and along roadsides. Of the world’s 300…
Lessons learned from raising a baby opossum
April 19, 2023
Years ago, when I worked at a nature center in Connecticut licensed to care for injured and orphaned wildlife, a baby opossum was brought to us. It was found lying on a golf course, and was too young to be on its own. We named the opossum Alice and estimated it was 9 weeks old.…
The amazing bird egg
April 12, 2023
I’m often tempted to peek at the eggs inside a phoebe’s nest when the parents leave it to forage for food. I’ve picked up a fallen robin’s egg shell and admired its delicate color and smoothness. I’ve marveled at the primal determination of the chick that pecked its way out of an egg to become…