By Susan Shea Every year my husband and I cut a Christmas tree on family land. We look for a young balsam fir growing in the power line right-of-way or in a forest clearing. Fir is our favorite type of […]
Tag: By Susan Shea
Column, The Outside Story
Bats prepare for winter
By Susan Shea Years ago, I visited two Vermont caves in winter to help biologists count hibernating bats. After descending through a hole into the first cave, I immediately noticed that it was much warmer than above-ground. The cave was […]
Column, The Outside Story
Climbing into the alpine zone
By Susan Shea Hikers climbing the Northeast’s highest peaks will traverse several different vegetative zones along the way. On the summits, they’ll likely encounter plants so hardy that many also grow in the Arctic, thousands of miles to the north. […]
Column, The Outside Story
Visiting an old forest
By Susan Shea Decayed wood crumbled underfoot as I stepped on a mossy log. The ground was almost hidden by a lush, diverse growth of wildflowers and ferns. Brown scapes of wild leeks poked up above mottled leaflets of Virginia […]
Column, The Outside Story
Swallows: graceful fliers
By Susan Shea I never tire of watching the aerial acrobatics of swallows as they swoop over fields, darting back and forth to snap up flying insects. With their smooth, flowing flight and pointed wings, they are beautiful, graceful fliers. […]
Column, The Outside Story
Yellow birch: a long-lived northern forest tree
By Susan Shea One summer, I took a nature drawing class, and we hiked up Stowe Pinnacle to sketch in the cool, mountain forest. I chose to draw a big yellow birch that had established itself on the steep slope. […]
The Outside Story
The sociable gray squirrel
By Susan Shea On winter mornings when I look out my window, I often see a gray squirrel clinging upside down to the post supporting my bird feeder, with his front paws in the tray, munching sunflower seeds. Sometimes, a […]