Wildlife Stories

New York Almanack tags help you navigate to different kinds of stories about nature and the environment, such as fish, birds, bats, small mammals, environmental history, climate change, pollution, weather and lots more. Even by season: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Adirondack Author Sees Magic & Mystery Outside Her Door

May 29, 2026 by Wendy Hobday Haugh Leave a Comment

Donna (D.M.) Green never intended to publish a book for the general public. “My first idea was just to write a book for my kids and grandkids,” the Hope Falls writer recalls. “But after my husband, Jeff, proofread In the Moment, In the Forest, he encouraged me to consider getting it published.”

And we’re so glad she took his advice! Readers of In The Moment, In The Forest (Troy Bookmakers, 2024), a beautifully written book of day-by-day journal entries, accompany Green for one full year as she observes and records the natural wonders of her beloved North Country. [Read more…] about Adirondack Author Sees Magic & Mystery Outside Her Door

Bobolink: The Grassland Bird in a Reverse Tuxedo

May 22, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

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

Rare and Fragile Floating Bogs and Fens

May 21, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State is home to several rare and fragile floating bogs and fens. These unique ecosystems feature mats of sphagnum moss and vegetation that actually float over water.

Bogs and fens are both peatlands (wetlands that build up deposits of dead plant matter called peat). The primary difference is their water source: bogs are largely by nutrient-poor rainwater, making them highly acidic. Fens are fed by mineral-rich groundwater, making them alkaline or neutral. [Read more…] about Rare and Fragile Floating Bogs and Fens

A New Native Species Selection Tool

May 19, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Are you looking for recommendations of native plants and trees to plant on your specific site? DEC and the New York Natural Heritage Program recently released a Species Selection Tool that provides a list of recommended native tree, shrub, and herbaceous plant species, including flowering species, ferns and herbs, to improve habitats, increase biodiversity, and benefit wildlife across New York State. [Read more…] about A New Native Species Selection Tool

Final Recreation Plans Announced for Hamilton County Easement Tracts

May 18, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the final Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Speculator Tree Farm, Perkins Clearing and Burnham Mountain Conservation Easement Tracts in the Adirondack Park.

The RMP was developed in partnership with Lyme Adirondack Forest Company, the landowner. [Read more…] about Final Recreation Plans Announced for Hamilton County Easement Tracts

Hunting, Poaching & The American Revolution

May 18, 2026 by Anthony F. Hall Leave a Comment

John Bird Burnham (1869-1939), Chief Game Protector for the state of New York in the early 1900s, once made an observation worthy of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.

“The union of monarchial game laws with an anti-monarchial sentiment make for an impossible marriage, and in America, drastic prohibitions on hunting can never be as effective as they are in England,” he wrote. [Read more…] about Hunting, Poaching & The American Revolution

Troy’s Great Elephant Rampage

May 15, 2026 by Dave Waite Leave a Comment

Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth opened their 1882 season March 11th with a torchlight parade to Madison Square Garden. Every foot of their route through the city was shoulder to shoulder with spectators. Those who braved the cool evening were rewarded with a two-and-a-half-hour circus parade.

Their next stop, Philadelphia on April 24th, was just the beginning of a busy season that would take the circus across 129 cities in New England, New York, and down the eastern seaboard. Also that spring, Barnum and Bailey purchased Jumbo, a 21-year-old African Savanna Elephant from the London Zoo. He soon joined the other elephants on the tour and was quickly given top billing. [Read more…] about Troy’s Great Elephant Rampage

Beginner Birding Library Lending Program Launched

May 8, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched the I BIRD NY Library Lending Program. The hopes to expand access to free birding equipment by offering backpacks with binoculars and reference materials about birding in New York to libraries across the State. [Read more…] about Beginner Birding Library Lending Program Launched

Songbirds Struggle With Noise Pollution

May 7, 2026 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

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

Unicorns & Six-Foot Lobsters: Adriaen van der Donck’s Confident Inaccuracies

May 6, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Adriaen van der Donck (ca. 1618–1655) was a Dutch lawyer, landowner, and political activist in the colony of New Netherland.

He is best known as a champion of colonial self-governance and for writing the first comprehensive account of the region. [Read more…] about Unicorns & Six-Foot Lobsters: Adriaen van der Donck’s Confident Inaccuracies

Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve

May 5, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

One of the last and finest examples of alvar grasslands in the world, Chaumont Barrens Preserve is a one-of-a-kind destination in New York State.

Featuring a unique landscape with flat, rocky terrain of grasslands, limestone woodlands, cedar forests, pavement barrens, and globally rare plant communities, Chaumont Barrens is home to a mosaic of natural and remarkable wonders. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve

Celebrate Amphibian Week With Knowledge, Action

May 5, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

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

Meadow Jumping Mice: Spring’s Late Riser

April 23, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

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

Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State

April 19, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) made several wildlife rescues recently including a Red-Tailed Hawk on Long Island, two rabbits in Erie County, and an Red-Necked Grebe in Columbia County. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues Around New York State

Watching Migrating Birds This Spring: A Primer

April 17, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

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

Gowanus Canal is Getting Cleaner Every Day

April 15, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Gowanus Canal (originally known as Gowanus Creek) is a 1.8-mile-long waterway in Brooklyn that was once a saltwater marsh teeming with wildlife, but is now among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States.

The area’s early settlers, on the first land patents issued in Breukelen (today Brooklyn), named the waterway “Gowanes Creek” after Gouwane a sachem (chief) of the Canarsee, an indigenous Lenape tribe who exploited the waterway’s resources and farmed its shores. [Read more…] about Gowanus Canal is Getting Cleaner Every Day

Spring Paddling in Floodplain Forests

April 12, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

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

Time to Clean Your Bird Feeders

April 8, 2026 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

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

Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?

April 3, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

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?

The Plume Boom: Feathers, Fans, Funerals, Fashion & Filth

April 1, 2026 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Economic history is a tale of bubbles and booms in which assets such as commodities, land, or stocks, quickly inflate in price above their intrinsic value. Such sudden movements, driven by greedy investors and speculative hype, are invariably followed by a bust. Loss of confidence causes a collapse in prices, resulting in a crash of “panic selling.”

There are many such examples, most of them well-documented. Tulip-mania in the Dutch Republic during the 1630s was the first real financial bubble. Then there were the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles (1720), both followed by a spectacular crash. More recently, we have seen the Dotcom Bubble, driven by mad speculation in internet-based stock.

While the assets may change over time, from tulips to technology, the factors of greed and fear are the ever-present psychological drivers of economic upheavals. Of all the bubbles known to historians, the “Plume Boom” is one of the more obscure tales. [Read more…] about The Plume Boom: Feathers, Fans, Funerals, Fashion & Filth

Wildlife Stories

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