Champlain Islands' Nature

A crazy month of weather - a tropical heatwave surrounded by two polar vortexes.  In the middle, there was a flurry of moth activity around ...

I am sitting on the gravel beach at the Round Pond State Park - not really paying attention to anything in particular.  Suddenly a Casp...

Click here to see A Minute of Nature - Red-winged Blackbirds. At the margins of the cattail marshes of the Roy Marsh / Rail Trail in S...

The fruit trees are coming to bloom and flocks of Baltimore Orioles ( Icterus galbula ) are feasting on insects and taking nectar from th...

Click here to see A Minute of Nature - Chipmunks. Leaf out is rapidly progressing at the Landon Community Trail in South Hero, VT.  Sk...

I have walked this same trail hundreds of times and feel like I know the denizens of these particular woods like the back of my hand.  Ye...

Click here to see A Minute of Nature - Red Trillium, White Trillium and Trout Lily. In this minute of nature, we venture to the woodla...

Click here to see a Minute of Nature - Hepatica and Bloodroot. In this minute of nature, we journey to the Landon Community Trail in S...

How something so awkward and vulnerable can turn into something so majestic and intimidating is amazing to me.  The owlet was obviously o...

Click here to see A Minute of Nature - Canada Geese. These are crazy times...  And while we have been sheltering in place and keeping ...

Somewhere in the past, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail ( Papilio glaucus) and the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail ( Papilio canadensis) hybri...

I have been amazed by the number and variety of moths that have visited our outdoor garage light over the last few weeks.  Here are a few of...

What started off as four to five eggs that were no more than 3/4 of an inch long, has turned into a nestful of baby Eastern Phoebe ( Sayo...

Beaverpond Baskettail ( Epitheca canis ). Stream Cruiser ( Didymops transversa ). There are just over 100 species of Dragonflies i...

Taiga Bluet ( Coenagrion resolutum ) male. Taiga Bluet ( Coenagrion resolutum ) female. If you stand with the sun to your back and...

The Clavate Tortoise Beetle ( Helocassis clavata ) has been described as looking like a teddy bear living under a clear turtle shell. T...

Vermont millipedes have two basic body plans -- "round-backed" and "flat-backed". This is Rudiloria trimaculata (i...

There are two species of Bellwort common to our area.  They are distinguished by the relationship between the stems and the leaves. In L...

In a shameless act of self-promotion, I was showing off my blog to a friend.  As we were talking about snakes, I searched the blog for Ga...

I have been watching a Masterclass by the adventure photographer Jimmy Chin.  He relates that for one spread of 10 to 15 photographs publ...

I have become somewhat obsessed with submitting nature observations to iNaturalist.  So, much so, that I have set a goal of photograph...

It is the first of April and I have been remiss in getting out and taking photographs.  But, then again, it still feels like winter. Th...

There was quite the commotion brewing on the front lawn.  An American Mink ( Neovison vison ) was taking on a full grown Cottontail Rabbi...

The recent rains and cool weather are putting a damper on my ability to tackle a long list of fall clean-up projects. But in elating co...

I often wonder who gets to name wildflowers... Slogging through ankle deep mud and waist high swamp grass, I come upon this odd looking...

Several weeks back, we were going for our evening swim in the lake.  The water was like glass.  As I waded out from shore, I saw a bug fl...

There are three sounds that remind me that we are in the midst of high summer. The first, is the constant chirping of the field cricket...

I'm sitting on the bank of "Folsom Pond" looking for dragonflies and damselflies that might be playing amid the reeds and c...

It is a hot, humid summer day.  My shirt and pants are soaked with sweat as I wander through the meadow.  Cicadas sing in the distance tr...

It is that crazy time of summer... The list of chores seems to be growing as fast as the weeds in the garden. Had just enough time to...

I have been reading Niko Tinbergen's classic book Curious Naturalists in which he describes his research studying the behavior of va...

A early July heat wave has now entered its sixth day.  Daytime temperatures have routinely been in the nineties.  Humidity levels have be...

I was cleaning up a pile of old wooden fence railings in the backyard -- in the process, disturbing the many pillbugs, centipedes, carpe...

It is the time of the year when the Common Snapping Turtles ( Chelydra serpentina) are on the move -- either to and from nesting areas...

Gathering information about the things I find in the woods can sometimes seem like a "wild moth chase"...  Especially, it seem...

I don't have a formal list of favorite flowers.  But, if I did, Blue-eyed Grass ( Sisyrinchium montanum ) would certainly be on that ...