History, Natural History & the Arts
Near my home, at the bottom of a hillside, there is a shelf just above a road-cut where the soil is moist from the groundwater seeping out of the hill. Back in April the first coiled cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) fiddleheads pushed up through the ground.
Huddled with heads bowed in a tight group, clad in shaggy off-white wool as if anticipating the chill, their forms glinted in the morning light as they caught the dew. [Read more…] about Cinnamon Fern Through the Lens of Time
The following text is from articles printed in March 1832 about the destruction of one of the Hudson River lighthouses on a tidal marsh flat near Stuyvesant Landing, only shortly after its construction in 1830.
A massive, moving field of spring ice crushed the 20 by 34 feet stone structure and killed four children. [Read more…] about 1832: A Stuyvesant Lighthouse Disaster Kills Four Children
If you live near a large meadow, hayfield, or grassland, you may have recently noticed some bubbly robotic noises emanating from those areas. It might sound like an overexcited android, but the real source is a medium-sized songbird, the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).
One of the few avian grassland specialists in the Northeast, bobolinks have recently returned from their wintering grounds in southern South America and are now fully engaged in breeding activity. [Read more…] about Bobolink: The Grassland Bird in a Reverse Tuxedo
One of the great joys of early May in the Northeast is the dawn-break aubade of songbirds returning to summer habitats or passing through to their nesting grounds in higher latitudes.
Mornings that only a month ago were silent – save the croaking crows and shrieking blue jays – are now filled with a polyphonic chorus of trills, chirrs, and fluted arias that quicken both body and soul. [Read more…] about Songbirds Struggle With Noise Pollution
Amphibian Week occurs during the first full week in May and was created to raise awareness about these creatures which are severely threatened and are currently the most threatened vertebrate class globally.
A 2023 global assessment found that 40.7% of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction. The crisis is driven by habitat loss, pollution, and increasing impacts from climate change, with roughly two in five species at risk. [Read more…] about Celebrate Amphibian Week With Knowledge, Action
On a recent walk through a woodland strewn with underfoot color, my rapt gaze floated, like a bumblebee queen on her first foray after winter, from trout lilies to trilliums to spring beauties, all blooming across the forest floor and exulting in the sun shining through the leafless canopy.
Standing out is hard among such a flashy crowd, especially for one particularly understated spring ephemeral: sessile-leaved bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia), known more commonly as wild oats. [Read more…] about Wild Oats: A Bashful Spring Bellwort
Spring is often portrayed as the season of rebirth, and for many organisms it is. But spring is also the season of reawakening for those species that spend the winter in some form of hibernation or reduced metabolic activity.
We have reached the point in our annual commute around the sun when the increased daylight and temperature act as a physiological alarm, rousing organisms from slumber. Some species are harder to roust, stirring from their sleep only when the calendar approaches mid-spring. [Read more…] about Meadow Jumping Mice: Spring’s Late Riser
Spring is an ideal time to observe bird migrations. New York is conveniently located along the Atlantic Flyway, one of the main migration routes.
This provides a great opportunity to observe birds flying to their summer breeding grounds. Here’s a few resources to get you started: [Read more…] about Watching Migrating Birds This Spring: A Primer
Every year I know that spring has arrived when it’s time for my family to forage for ramps on a two-acre patch on the hill above my house. We have just a few weeks to enjoy their spiciness before they disappear from the landscape, along with other spring ephemerals.
While we prize many spring ephemerals for their fleeting beauty – flourishing before the overstory trees leaf out, then dying back as the shade season begins – they also are important to nutrient cycling in woodlands. [Read more…] about Forest Spring Ephemerals & The Vernal Dam Hypothesis
By early April I start to get impatient for full-blown spring. I’m ready for the treetops to be full of warblers and the understory to be crowded with blooming flowers.
But when mud season lingers, I pick up my paddle. Kayaking and canoeing in floodplain forests is a seasonal treat as fleeting as spring ephemerals – and it comes earlier. [Read more…] about Spring Paddling in Floodplain Forests
Did you know that sanitizing your bird feeder helps limit the spread of disease? It’s a good practice to clean your bird feeders regularly as several diseases are commonly spread at bird feeders. [Read more…] about Time to Clean Your Bird Feeders
In spring, when temperatures rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and usher in gentle rains, a plethora of life emerges from the forest. Last year, I went out on such a night to catch the spring migration of amphibians. I could feel the rain coming before it hit the ground.
Cold damp air sank through my rain gear as I donned my reflective vest and walked the length of North Lincoln Street in Keene, New Hampshire. My headlamp was the only source of light on the dark, empty street. [Read more…] about Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?
In the 1950s, black bears only occupied the most remote and mountainous regions of New York, such as the Adirondacks, Catskills, and Allegheny mountains. Over the past 70 years, bears gradually expanded their range and now occupy most areas of the state except Long Island and New York City.
After hibernating through a long winter, these now groggy black bears are beginning to venture out of their dens, stretch their legs, and look for their first meals of spring. For people living or visiting bear country, March is a time to become bear aware. [Read more…] about Be Prepared for Spring Black Bear Visitors
Light in the evening brings the first sign of spring’s arrival. Before the snow has fully melted or any scraps of green start to appear, those lengthening days are a promise. Just when I’ve forgotten the world was ever anything except cold and gray, I’ll step outside into a mauve six o’clock sunset and remind myself to be patient.
Soon the salamanders will be stirring in the leaf litter, the fiddleheads will poke their sleepy heads above the ground, and color will return. But how does the forest know when spring has truly arrived? [Read more…] about The Lengthening Days of Spring
The annual statewide ban prohibiting residential brush burning begins March 16 and runs through May 14. Since 2009, DEC enforces the annual brush burning ban to prevent wildfires and protect communities and first responders during heightened conditions for wildfires.
Even though some areas of the state are damp or remain blanketed in snow, warming temperatures can quickly cause wildfire conditions to arise. [Read more…] about Statewide Residential Brush Burning Prohibition Has Begun
At this time of year, wild eastern turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are still congregated in the flocks of 20 or so birds with which they spend the winter. Groups of hens, mature female turkeys, will generally winter with the broods they raised the previous summer.
Toms, mature male turkeys, spend the colder months apart from hens and immature birds, in what biologists call “bachelor groups,” though males and females are sometimes seen congregating around food resources in winter.
But as the days get longer and warmer, wild turkeys start feeling the urge to begin the spring shuffle, wandering in search of breeding opportunities and nesting sites. [Read more…] about Gobble & Strut: Wild Turkey Mating Season
In early March, birds that have been gone all winter begin appearing at my feeder. One of the earliest of these spring migrants is a brown-backed sparrow with a white breast coarsely streaked with brown.
The streaks converge in a dark central breast spot, an easy identification mark. This is the song sparrow, our most widespread and abundant North American sparrow. [Read more…] about The Song Sparrow: Backyard Neighbor
Beneath the towering trees of New York State, under the leaves and rotting logs, lives a group of amphibians. Nocturnal in their behavior and hunkered down in underground retreats, forest salamanders often go undetected – until they move on rainy nights in large numbers for their annual breeding migrations to vernal pools.
Along with wood frogs, these amphibians encounter many roads that bisect their habitat, and in some places, they also encounter volunteers who lend a hand to provide safe passage. You can be one of the those volunteers. [Read more…] about Preparing for Amphibian Migrations; Volunteers Sought
While grasses are getting greener and flowers are blooming, New Yorkers, high on many people’s priorities is pulling out their mower and beginning the summer-long cycle of mowing their fields or larger lawns. However, the timing of mowing can have significant impacts on a variety of bird species.
Small grassland songbirds nest on, or close to, the ground in grassy and shrubby fields. Mowing and bush-hogging during the spring and early summer can destroy nests and remove the habitat required to successfully raise their young. [Read more…] about Mowing Practices to Benefit Ground-Nesting Birds
Spring and summer in New York bring a burst of activity to the outdoors – flowers bloom, birds sing, and a variety of wildlife — including snakes — make their seasonal appearance. For many homeowners, an unexpected encounter with a snake in the yard or garden can be a bit startling. [Read more…] about Learning to Live with Snakes
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