By Ted Watt
Every fall when I go into the woods I look for the flowers of our native witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. The scarlet leaves of the red maples are already littering the forest floor and sugar maple leaves are starting to drop. The comforts of summer are giving way to the coming of the cold. And witch hazel is just beginning its annual journey of reproduction.
By Charley Eiseman
The monarch butterflies have left us for the winter and are well on their way to Mexico. Most people know that as caterpillars these remarkable creatures feed exclusively on milkweed leaves. A lot less attention is paid to the food choices of other insects, so you might think it’s unusual for a species to be this finicky.
By David Spector
As the nights chill in October and November, vast numbers of waterfowl pass over us on their routes from prairie and arctic breeding grounds to the Atlantic coast. Most familiar to many people are the Canada geese, honking as they fly south in long diagonal lines and chevrons. The persistent observer can occasionally see or hear other species also moving south.
By Mark Elbroch
Oportus took refuge in the thickets that paralleled the main road. With little thought, I dropped to my hands and knees and penetrated the thicket. Catching the cat was all that mattered. Over and over, I wiggled close to the hounds and puma, but more often than not, the great cat heard my approach and ran. Finally, I managed to arrive on scene undetected. I saw Oportus through a lattice of branches, perhaps 30 feet away, lying comfortably in the open vault formed by arching bushes. The two hounds were not so foolish as to attack him, and sat at the safe distance of several meters, barking lazily. All was serene until someone crashed into the edge of the brush on the far side of the trio.
By Daniel Greenberg
Humanity is at an unparalleled moment, not just in our own history, but in planetary history. From the war on terrorism to the war on rainforests, from global markets to global warming, the challenges are overwhelming. It’s clear we must learn to live in ways that honor all life.
By Katie Koerten
Look up in the sky on almost any fair day. If you see a large bird gliding in circles and its spread wings form a nearly straight line, you’re probably looking at a red-tailed hawk. If the bird is close enough that you can see pink to light-red tail feathers, it’s definitely a red-tail. In addition to admiring them from afar, I had an opportunity to work very closely with these birds.
By David Ahlfeld
Where is the land that produces your food? For many of us, some of what we eat comes from local sources. We have our own gardens or know the farmers who grow our food; we can visit the land where it’s raised. But where is the land that produces our electricity? For a few, rooftop solar photovoltaic panels or small solar farms provide electricity for household needs. But for most of us, our electricity is derived from coal or uranium mines or from mined natural gas. Though we use electricity locally, the environmental impact of its production occurs more in distant landscapes than in our own.
By David Spector
At this time of year, I expect an email from my father reminding me that the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of August 13. My father remembers watching a spectacular meteor shower, perhaps the Perseids, from a dark beach with his own father in the 1930s, and he continues to share the memory of that experience through these annual reminders.
By Mark Protti
Sometimes we come to appreciate what we have by hearing what people outside our everyday lives say about it. At the Institute for Training and Development (ITD), which I co-direct, I often experience this as my staff and I bring together students and professionals from around the world to learn about American institutions and exchange ideas.
By David Spector
What makes for a good bird walk? As someone who has both participated in and led many bird trips, I have often had occasion to consider this question. Below is one answer, in the context of a woodland bird walk that I led for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment a few years ago.
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax