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The Halloween hangover

October 31, 2013 - I started the day a little hung-over... but not from any over-indulgence the night before. Truth be told, I don't drink...
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We are the Champions

October 30, 2013 - I did get a fine walk in today, and I took decent pictures, but my head and heart were elsewhere—about a hundred miles n...
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Almost unbelievable colors

October 29, 2013 - When I was first learning how to do color-correction—a skill that only digital photography makes possible, since I can't...
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A bona fide sapsucker

October 28, 2013 - The morning dawned frosty, and on my walk, I had a fine time photographing silver etchings on oak leaves, grass blades,...
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Premature rumors of my demise

October 27, 2013 - A week ago, when the frosts hit, I reported that I thought I'd seen the last of the meadowhawks for this odonate year. B...
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A new fern

October 25, 2013 - This morning, a downright cold one—the thermometer stood at 27 when the sun came up—found me leading another walk throug...
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First frost

October 25, 2013 - I had to be up early this morning to accept a special kind of honor—I was asked to spend the day teaching sixth graders...
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The old ways

October 24, 2013 - It was chilly, but the ground wasn't wearing silver when I walked out to make my morning rounds. The foliage is still pu...
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A newcomer thrush

October 23, 2013 - After a relatively balmy, almost-Septemberish warm spell, the air's begun to take on a somber sharpness more in keeping...
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Thanks for the odonate memories

October 22, 2013 - I walked in the morning, a dry day with puffy, dark-bottomed clouds that set off the foliage display, now mostly finishe...
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An overdue return to Trustom Pond

October 21, 2013 - If my so-called career as a naturalist has a starting point, it would have to be the summer of 1976, which I spent leadi...
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A phoebe that tarries

October 19, 2013 - Every April, not long after the initial amphibian rush to the vernal pools and the subsequent frog concert, I start list...
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A serpent in the air

October 19, 2013 - I was leading a walk this morning at the Avalonia Land Conservancy's hoped-for Babcock Ridge property, and as we were tr...
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Gorgeous fall foliage... OK, leaf porn

October 18, 2013 - I have tried to avoid the obvious, but hey, it's New England, the trees are just about at their peak, and the leaves are...
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A muscular member of the understory

October 17, 2013 - When I took on the role of tour guide for Babcock Ridge, I quickly realized that there were some holes in my resume that...
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An ID dilemma solved

October 16, 2013 - In getting ready for my guided walks on the Babcock Ridge property—the 80 or so acres that the Avalonia Land Conservancy...
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The witch's favorite blossom

October 15, 2013 - Most of the autumn wildflowers, asters to gentians, goldenrods to bur-marigolds, are fading from view. But as they disap...
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One of the last butterflies

October 14, 2013 - Last year was a fabulous one for Eastern Comma butterflies, which seemed to be in residence from early spring through mi...
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In search of a refuge

October 13, 2013 - I was prowling a hopefully new Avalonia Land Conservancy property known as Babcock Ridge—Avalonia is raising funds for i...
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The rock splitter

October 12, 2013 - I split a lot of wood, and when I'm working on stone walls, I'll occasionally have to split a rock or two. But this birc...
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The ode of the shadows

October 11, 2013 - It's getting very late in the odonate calendar and the local pond is almost completely empty of dragonflies and damselfl...
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Whither the Red-backeds?

October 10, 2013 - In addition to my writing and editing, which pays the bills, and my photography, which pays, well, just about for itself...
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A star-[nosed] winks out

October 09, 2013 - When I was a kid, I fancied myself a horror story writer, and one of the first tales I sent out for possible publication...
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The end on the road

October 08, 2013 - It's been a great year for catbirds, with lots of nestlings becoming fledglings becoming near-adult members of the commu...
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A classic autumn grass

October 07, 2013 - Years ago, I learned how to identify grasses. I did this mostly to put an end to an embarrassing and stubborn ignorance...
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A great year for Bur-marigolds

October 06, 2013 - About a week after the giant wild sunflowers starting to bloom in my neighbor's lower field, I noticed a much smaller, b...
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Floating away

October 05, 2013 - Summer, alas, is floating away. The calendar, of course, indicates that we're already firmly into autumn, but often arou...
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Fading sun, fading sunflowers

October 04, 2013 - About a month ago, the first of the wild sunflowers began to bloom. Like their cultivated cousins, these perennials get...
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Wood frog on the prowl

October 03, 2013 - The days remain warm and dry, and the nights, while cooler, are not yet close enough to the frost zone that quiet reigns...
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Fall leaves and water

October 02, 2013 - The waterfall by the local grist mill is running on fumes, the result of a persistent drought. The lack of water is worr...
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The beginning

October 01, 2013 - When it comes to the subtle start of the autumn color display, I have a problem. I'm red-green colorblind. This is somet...
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