By Declan McCabe Earlier this summer, I joined graduate school friend and beetle biologist, Kristian Omland, in search of the elusive cobblestone tiger beetle (Cicindela marginipennis). We loaded a canoe with insect nets, jars, and binoculars to view beetles while minimizing handling. Absent from our kit: entomologist’s killing jars. Ours was a catch-and-release mission. The…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul Several years ago, I was awakened nearly every day of late spring by a recurring – and very loud – bird sound. I say “sound,” rather than “song” because this particular noise was not so melodious as the cheery whistling of the robin or the musical trilling of the hermit thrush.…

By Catherine Schmitt Some things are so familiar, so common, that they are often overlooked. Such is the case with northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). Also known as eastern white cedar, this tree grows throughout the Northeast, but only in certain places, in part because it has evolved many ways to live and grow that…

By Declan McCabe Phantom midges are among the most common, but least seen, planktonic insect larvae in lakes and ponds. These members of the genus Chaoborus earn the “phantom” moniker from both their unique appearance and their unusual behaviors. Measuring nearly an inch long, phantom midges are virtually impossible to see. Their almost transparent bodies…

By Elizabeth Crotty When asked to name the most resilient animal, not many people likely think of tardigrades. In fact, mostpeople probably don’t even know that tardigrades exist. Affectionately called water bears or moss piglets, these microscopic invertebrates, live almost anywhere there is water – from lakes and rivers to the ocean and even in…

By Susan Shea As spring warms the water, a turtle, covered by leaves and mud at the bottom of a wetland where she hibernated for the winter, awakens. Emerging from the water, she basks on shore. The sun illuminates her bright yellow throat and her high, domed shell, or carapace, dark and shiny with light…

By Tiffany Soukup Distinctive features differentiates this rodent If you’ve never seen – or heard of – the southern bog lemming, you’re not alone. Although this small mammal scurries through our landscape year-round, it is elusive by nature. So elusive, in fact, that the southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi) is listed as a species of…

By Susie Spikol Gardening at night has its rewards. For me, it offers a way to stay on top of planting and weeding while balancing work and family responsibilities. It is also cooler at night, and the quiet act of having my hands in the dirt helps me unwind. But my favorite part of night…

By Susan Shea “Witchity, witchity, witchity.” I know that common yellowthroats have returned to my neighborhood in spring when I hear that distinctive song. With luck, I’ll glimpse the striking male as he darts about the shrubbery. The common yellowthroat is one of North America’s most abundant warblers, nesting across Canada and the United States,…

From early spring through late summer, the air trills and croaks and buzzes and chirps with the sounds of nature’s little loudmouths. Mornings are full of birdsong; evenings are the domain of frogs and crickets. How do such little animals make so much noise? Let’s find out by looking at some of the sound-per-pound champions…

By Laurie D. Morrissey One cold spring morning, a turkey vulture soared across the sky and landed high in a tree behind my house. I soon noticed another vulture, most likely its mate, in a nearby oak. This one was perched with its back to the sun with its gigantic wings outspread. It remained in…

By Susan Shea Beneath the forest canopy, or overstory, of towering trees is a second layer of vegetation known as the understory. It is composed of shrubs, saplings, and understory trees that grow in the dappled shade of the overstory. One understory specialist is striped maple, a small tree that seldom grows more than 20…

By Steve Faccio The life cycles of the three species of stream salamanders native to New England – northern two-lined, northern dusky, and spring – are closely tied to the small streams where they are found. All three species belong to the Plethodontidae family, which are lungless salamanders that breathe through their skin. Stream salamanders…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul Every spring, after the last of winter’s snow has completely melted and as I start the wonderful, dirty work of turning the soil of my vegetable beds, I find myself gazing often to the just-greening-up ground beneath the old apple tree behind the garden. It’s a rather unruly tree, sprouted at…

By Rachel Sargent Mirus Birds use a wonderful variety of materials and techniques to create their nests. Some nests are small and tidy, like grass baskets lined with cozy feathers. Others are large and messily blobbed with mud. Some species build their nests in trees, some on the ground, and others woven into wetland plants…