Once and future rockbreaker
November 30, 2015 - There are a number of what I call "signature plants"—species that do something so significant at a certain time of year...
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Faux Holstein
November 29, 2015 - We remain, happily enough, in cow country, and though, in the three decades we've called this now-less-than-completely-r...
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The first winter moths
November 28, 2015 - The first of the Winter Moths, a viciously invasive species imported from Europe via Canada, have started to appear at t...
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In focus
November 27, 2015 - The day after the feast, we needed to go for a hike, and since my granddaughter was with us and my wife wanted to test h...
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Thankful
November 26, 2015 - This has, in retrospect, been a pretty crummy year, what with loathsome developers trashing the fields and woods across...
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Start of curling season
November 25, 2015 - The cold weather continues, and a sign of the times, besides the skim ice and waterfall icicles, is an event we call the...
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Ice arrival
November 24, 2015 - The mercury in the maximum-minimum Taylor thermometer touched 19 degrees F. at daybreak, and when I went out for a morni...
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Unexpected eagle
November 23, 2015 - I easily could have missed this sighting. The large raptor made no sound whatsoever, but a few minutes before I noticed...
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Fern finale
November 22, 2015 - With all the chilliness in the air, and a touch of killing frost, the more tender species of ferns have definitely calle...
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Red-headeds return
November 21, 2015 - Several Novembers ago, my wife surprised me with the news that she thought she might have seen a Red-headed Woodpecker a...
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Waiting 'til next year
November 20, 2015 - This is more than a little embarrassing, but when I shot this picture on my daily trek, I was almost sure I knew what sp...
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The birds
November 19, 2015 - I heard them well before I spotted any: that big flock of blackbirds that periodically rises out of the cornfields and s...
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A new touch of silver
November 18, 2015 - The cold came back for what the forecasts say is a brief visit during what has been, so far, a definitely mild autumn. A...
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Shaft... right pitted
November 17, 2015 - Avalonia's Yannatos Preserve is a short walk away from my house and a favorite destination. At its heart is the meeting...
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The return of the millpond mystery
November 16, 2015 - My walking shoes didn't go on until late afternoon, and though I had my camera with me, I suspected that it was nearing...
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Lilliputian landscape
November 15, 2015 - I've always been attracted to very small scenes, and while I've certainly wanted to own those gargantuan telephoto lense...
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Untimely gah-lic
November 14, 2015 - There's a pretty high likelihood that I've planted just about every kind of vegetable likely to grow in our region of Zo...
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Pileated very busywork
November 12, 2015 - Just to show I'm not superstitious, I went out for a walk on Friday the 13th, and coming back from the water's edge by t...
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A knotty enemy
November 12, 2015 - In the archives of botanical public enemies, the Japanese Knotweed is pretty close to the top of the worst-of-the-worst...
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Waterfall return, foliage fade
November 11, 2015 - In the afternoon, the sun put in a return appearance, and, with the morning toil out of the way, I hit the trail, non-wa...
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Welcome rain
November 10, 2015 - It was raining steadily when I got up, so I held off walking in the morning and tried to catch up on a bundle of writing...
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Afternoon comet
November 09, 2015 - When I was a kid, a pretty strange kid, I might add, I was too bookish, unathletic, and shy to have many friends, so I s...
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Welcome back, Sam Peabody
November 08, 2015 - Two days ago, when I was leading groups of local sixth graders on nature walks, we were blessed by a wonderfully familia...
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Bat-less
November 07, 2015 - It was a little less Indian Summer today, but not cold enough to keep me from a house project: painting a run of trim on...
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The joy of record-keeping
November 06, 2015 - Today, for me, began ridiculously early. I was up in the gloomy semi-darkness of 6 a.m., something I hadn't been able to...
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Floral watch and calendar
November 05, 2015 - The weather remains ridiculously warm, and on my trek today, I noticed something I hadn't thought to look for, but, base...
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Working the marsh
November 04, 2015 - In getting ready for one of my absolute favorite activities—spending the day at our local middle school to take the scie...
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Green into gold
November 03, 2015 - Th
In the middle of every May, the American Larch (Larix laricina) comes back to life. It's an odd tree: an "evergreen"...
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Clubmoss journey
November 02, 2015 - The ground pines, which are also known as club mosses, are just now starting to put on their annual show. These ancient...
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A visit from Pooh and Drac
November 01, 2015 - Samhain was, without a doubt, a success, and though my granddaughter Stasia, who spent the night with us, harvested and...
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