The Outside Story
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The Outside Story: Exploring a swamp
There was a sucking sound as my rubber boot sank into the deep black muck. Naturalist Jon Binhammer and I were standing in the middle of a hardwood…
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The Outside Story: Sweat bees — diminutive and diverse
As you swat away blackflies this summer, look closely — it may be that not all those flies are flies. Some of them might be tiny sweat bees,…
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The Outside Story: Star-nosed mole has a nose that knows
Some people have life birds, species of birds they’ve waited their whole lives to see in the wild. I don’t have one of these, but I do have…
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The outside story: Varied (and not-so-shrinking) violet
One of the first spring wildflowers you’ll see — perhaps even before the last shaded patches of snow disappear — is the violet. This common flower, which blooms…
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The outside story: Animal tails and the tales they tell
Anyone who has shared a home with a dog or a cat has learned something about the silent language of tails. Wild and domesticated animals may use tails…
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The Outside Story: A treasure hunt for early spring
This is such a disorienting time, when all our lives have been turned upside down and shaken. One of the ways my own family is coping is by…
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The Outside Story: Fox talk goes from yips to shrieks
Sometimes it pays to be an insomniac. One frigid winter night, I climbed out of my restless bed and slipped outside to stand under a sky littered with…
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The Outside Story: How do snakes survive the winter?
During the summer I often spy common garter snakes sunning themselves in my garden. As the snow piles up through winter, covering the landscape in cold white, I…
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The Outside Story: Springtails are in a class of their own
As we leaned over the Colchester Bog boardwalk, a student asked, “What’s that black stuff on the water?” I suggested gently poking it with a twig. This elicited…
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The Outside Story: The bobcat’s snow day
Snow day! The announcement draws squeals of joy from students throughout the school district and groans from parents who must scramble to provide care for their kids and…
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The Outside Story: Chipmunk game theory 101
Two chipmunks vie for seeds on our front lawn. One lives directly underneath the bird feeder. Another hails from the far side of the house, address unknown. The…
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The Outside Story: How bald eagles weather winter
VERMONT — A couple of decades ago, I spent several winters living in Crested Butte, Colo., where I learned to peer into the cottonwood trees between Route 135…
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The Outside Story: A closer look at chickadees
Black-capped chickadees are one of the most frequent visitors to our bird feeders in winter, but do we really know them? This common bird exhibits some remarkable behaviors…
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The Outside Story: Year-round evergreen ferns
Walking through the woods on a crisp December day, I spotted a flash of green amongst the rocks, snaking up through the snow. Greenery in a forest full…
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The Outside Story: Always searching for the woolly mammoth
I fall in love easy. I’ve been mad about river otters and star-nosed moles, and of course the venomous short-tailed shrew. But my first love was a creature…
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The Outside Story: Woolly bears on the move
Woolly bear caterpillars seem to be everywhere these days — creeping across the lawn, along the road when I’m walking the dog, hidden in the wilted cut-back of…