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Character assassination

July 31, 2019 - If you comb just about any collection of flowers, especially those of hydrangeas and goldenrods, you may notice a small,...
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Midsummer scent

July 30, 2019 - Just as the exquisite scent of the much-maligned Multiflora Rose has become the signature aroma of summer's beginning, s...
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Not really a widow

July 29, 2019 - When you spot your first Widow Skimmer dragonfly, it's easy to understand why birders and butterfly aficionados get hook...
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Out of its shell

July 28, 2019 - I guess it's now legit to say that we've officially entered the "Dog Days," the hot and humid time of the summer at whic...
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Hopeful explanation

July 27, 2019 - This afternoon I was on the trail as a co-leader for the Stonington Land Trust's inauguration of its pathway through the...
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Rhubarb robbery

July 26, 2019 - One of the reasons I am forever behind in keeping this endeavor up to date is because I spend way too much time trying t...
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Invasive harvest

July 25, 2019 - I know the standard line on invasive species is this: Eliminate Them. Typically, I agree, but then there's the Wineberry...
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Faux H-bird

July 24, 2019 - Next month, I have a public walk coming up at one of my favorite "gardens": Avalonia's Preston Nature Preserve. Without...
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Floral feast

July 23, 2019 - I'm not sure exactly what kind of milkweed this is, save that it's certainly not our common species, Asclepias syriaca,...
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Jumping ambush

July 22, 2019 - A couple of years ago, a naturalist friend of mine recommended that, if I wanted to learn the spiders—definitely a big g...
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Change incoming

July 21, 2019 - I'll say this about the heat wave: it was just about as intense as we get, but, thank God, it appears to be quite short-...
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Vulture afternoon

July 20, 2019 - How hot is it? Well, even the walk to the mailbox, which is all of 75 feet, is a challenge, and none of the usual natura...
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Heat wave!

July 19, 2019 - The Weather Channel has been droning on endlessly about the incipient advent of genuine heat, and as the forecasts have...
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In the loop... er

July 18, 2019 - Once again, the kitchen porch lights have been good to me, to say nothing of providing the goad that ensures continuing...
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Nightmare at porch lights

July 17, 2019 - A first look at a Stag Beetle, which is a member of the Family Lucanidae, is enough to make a casual observer back off s...
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Learning to prowl

July 16, 2019 - The Queen Anne's Lace flowers—QAL is actually a kind of wild carrot—are wonderfully abundant these days, and, as I've le...
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Something strangely Strangalia

July 15, 2019 - For the past month, just about every trip outside has offered an adventure in beetle-finding. It really doesn't matter w...
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Prey-predator

July 14, 2019 - I'd been scanning a patch of Swamp Milkweed blossoms in a freshwater marsh near my daughter's house, and while there wer...
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Fair enough

July 13, 2019 - It's North Stonington Agricultural Fair weekend, and to show solidarity with the increasingly beleaguered agricultural a...
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Mini-mini wood frog

July 12, 2019 - The almost monsoonal rains we've enjoyed this spring and summer have been a boon to the mosquitoes, and that's not somet...
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Winter's midsummer glory

July 11, 2019 - Spotted Wintergreen is one of those eye-catching plants that I wind up pointing out on just about every walk that I lead...
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False eyes

July 10, 2019 - I'm always on the lookout for one of my favorite "fakes": an insect known as the Eyed Click Beetle. Alaus oculatus is a...
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Protection racket

July 09, 2019 - While I typically get on the trail for at least a short trek every day, I almost always start my mornings by checking ou...
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Rescue reward

July 08, 2019 - Several weeks ago when I was out on a long walk, I noticed something disturbing: a brush-cutter-wielding young woman tid...
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Bad-ass "bumblebee"

July 07, 2019 - In the classic 1942 film Casablanca, Bogie lifts up Bergman's chin and says "Here's lookin' at you, kid." This critter m...
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Heatless lightning

July 06, 2019 - Given all the despair we've had over the population declines of fireflies over the past few years, 2019 is actually turn...
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New syrphid

July 05, 2019 - I need to give viewers advanced warning. As I noted about a week or so ago, I've been in contact with Jeff Skevington, a...
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Independence night dazzlers

July 03, 2019 - I may not be feeling very patriotic these days—I have no interest whatsoever in defending what this country is becoming...
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Woodworker

July 03, 2019 - With my granddaughter in camp all day, I've been able to do at least a bit of trekking, and my venue, for the past few m...
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Rhodie season

July 02, 2019 - About ten days ago, I reported on the natural history doings at Ell Pond, where I'd trekked to see if I could find the s...
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First fawn

July 01, 2019 - This was a definite surprise. It was a warm, sunny morning—the fact that it wasn't raining was a surprise in and of itse...
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