Discover More from This Category: The Outside Story

Bring in the bird feeders – and other ways to avoid bear-human conflict

April 5, 2023
Bring in the bird feeders – and other ways to avoid bear-human conflict It is a question I face each year as March winds into April: when to take down the bird feeder. Our avian feeding station is basic: a single run-of-the-mill hopper, which I fill with a local mix of seed that seems to…

Owls on the nest 

March 28, 2023
By Anna Morris Among the very earliest signs of spring are the strange caterwauls of the barred owls that haunt our woods: “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” Their hooted conversations, thrown back and forth through forests all over New England, signal the territory disputes, nest-site advertisement, and pair bonding that begin…

The unsung music of birds

March 22, 2023
By Kenrick Vezina With spring creeping closer, our year-round avian residents such as cardinals and titmice are already raising their voices. But there’s more than one way to make music, and birds have evolved means for using everything at their disposal to fill our forests with whistles, twitters, and booms – no voice needed. Early…

Return of the ospreys

March 15, 2023
By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul On my commute to the Northern Woodlands offices in Lyme, New Hampshire, I pass a long-established osprey nest, perched atop a very tall electric tower next to Route 302. This location offers the ospreys a view of their surroundings— and provides me with a view of the ospreys from the road.…

Hibernation: Surviving winter by simply chilling out

March 15, 2023
By Doug Facey Mammals and birds are endotherms, which means they generate their own body heat through relatively high metabolic rates. That high metabolism requires energy, which these animals garner from food. We typically think of endotherms as warm-blooded; however, some of them are not warm all of the time. Most active birds and mammals…

Winter survival: Keeping the heat

March 7, 2023
To survive the cold of winter, some animals take advantage of protected habitats, such as wooded areas or under a blanket of insulating snow. Ruffed grouse, for example, fly into piles of loose snow and create roosting cavities to rest in when not foraging. Mice and other small mammals remain active in tunnels under the…

Musical fish in New England? Meet the burbot

March 1, 2023
By Doug Facey In the midst of winter, the ice-covered lakes of New England seem quiet. It may, however, be a bit noisy below the ice. Winter into early spring is the spawning season for burbot, when males produce sounds to attract mates.  Burbot (Lota lota), also called cusk, lingcod, eelpout, and a few other…

Winter wonders: Icicles, Snow doughnuts and hair ice

February 21, 2023
By Susan Shea A few winters ago, I snowshoed along a trail that led below a series of cliffs with rows of huge, hanging icicles. These icicles were up to 40 feet long, with colors ranging from blue-green to yellowish-brown. In some spots, the icicles extended from clifftop to base, forming thick columns of ice.…

Pigeons in love

February 14, 2023
 By Anna Morris Humans often ascribe traits that we admire to other animals. We treasure a dog’s loyalty, revere an eagle’s power, and applaud a dolphin’s intellect. We hold these creatures in high esteem, whether they are spotted rarely in the wild or are daily lounging at our feet, because we value these same attributes…

Water boatmen: Foraging beneath the ice

February 9, 2023
By Declan McCabe If you get a chance this winter, take a peek through the icy window of a pond surface. You may see water boatmen (order Hemiptera: Family Corixidae) clinging to the pond floor. Long oar-like hind legs propel these insects, inspiring their common name. Shorter, scoop-like front legs are used for feeding and…

A robin’s winter habits

January 11, 2023
By Anna Morris One January day, my husband and I set off on a walk around our neighborhood. The temperature was a bone-chilling negative 19 degrees, and although we worked to get our blood pumping, our fingers and toes eventually revolted. As we turned back toward the warmth of home, I spotted a flock of…

Carolina wrens move north

January 4, 2023
By Susan Shea I saw a new bird at my feeder last winter. In mid-December, a small, reddish-brown bird with an upturned tail, a white eyebrow-stripe, and a long, slender, down curved bill was on the deck below our feeder. Looking at its cocked tail, I suspected it was a type of wren —  a…

Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe: A bomb-bearing botanical vampire

December 22, 2022
By Kenrick Vezina Have you noticed the cheery evergreen sprig with pearly berries, currently perched over the doorways of Yankee traditionalists and those desperate to be kissed? That’s common mistletoe (Viscum album), which one botanical dispatch from the 1800s called “perhaps the most distinguished plant in the flora of England.” It’s found in broadleaf trees…

Reindeer lichen: Food of Santa’s reindeer

December 14, 2022
By Susan Shea Santa’s reindeer need fuel to pull that sleigh full of toys, and one of their primary winter foods is reindeer lichen, also known as reindeer moss. These are puffy, many-branched, pale green or grayish-white lichens up to 4 inches tall, spongy to the touch when damp. Multiple species of reindeer lichen cover…

Walking with many legs

December 7, 2022
By Rachel Sargent Mirus Grinning and giggling, my 1-year-old son ran across the living room, only to trip over his own feet and faceplant on the carpet. Sometimes, two legs can be too many to coordinate. How, then, do invertebrates walk with six, eight, or hundreds of legs? In some ways, walking for insects, arachnids,…