Nature

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Winter Tree Walk & Potluck Lunch

by DonInGuilford | Nature

Saturday, March 9th at 10 a.m. Winter Tree Walk & Potluck Lunch, sponsored by Windham Regional Woodlands Association.

Bill Guenther, who recently retired as Windham County Forester, will lead a winter tree identification walk in a Halifax woodlot. Bill will show us how to use characteristics such as habitat, growth form, branching pattern, and bark to identify about 20 species of native Vermont trees. This includes a special spot from where we can view four different species of birch tree.

Slideshow Presentation on the Spring Bird Migration in Spain

by Not Signed In | Nature

Join Mary Lea, Connie Woodberry and Putney’s Bob Lawson for a photo presentation of their birding trip to southern Spain at the Southeastern Vermont Audubon Society meeting on Tuesday, November 20. They observed some 150 species, including those moving from Africa to Spain and further north.

Playground Install Hacks at Crowell Park Trees

by rootrunner | Nature
roots

New playground apparatus set up under park’s Old Spruce Tree’s root system severely hacked away on one entire side, couldn’t this have been avoided working to preserve established root span area in combination with planning new equipment? poor planning of placement and excavation work by rec park.

The Green Leaves of Autumn

by tomaidh | Nature

It’s already the end of October, and the leaves have just started falling. BUT, they’re almost all still green. What’s up? Is this due to global and local warming?

Bears Ears

by tomaidh | Nature

Monument Valley, on the Arizona-Utah border, is one of the most beautiful places in the whole United States. Its magnificent mountains and beautiful buttes are unmatched in America. You will recognize it if you follow John Wayne westerns. The views have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West.

An Excess of Roadkill in Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Nature

I’ve had an opportunity to drive around a bit more than usual, and one thing that pretty clear: there are a lot of dead animals on the road right now.

Skunks and squirrels seem to be the primary victims. They are all over, but also concentrated in some places. There’s a spot on Putney Rd where quite a few have failed to make it all the way across. There’s a place along Rt 30 near the bridge that also seems to have a bit of a pileup.

Rain

by Not Signed In | Nature

I have a rain gauge but until recently had not kept track of totals.  On July 16 I started entering my daily readings into a simple spreadsheet.  These storms are very hit and miss so totals are for my location on South Main Street only.  For the second half of July I recorded 10.8 inches. and so far in August have received 5.25 inches.  16.05 inches total in about a week under one month.  I don’t think we are dry anymore.

SeVWA’s 2018 E. coli Monitoring of Local Rivers Continued July 18th

by sevwa.wqmp | Nature

The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) continued its monitoring program for the summer of 2018 on Wednesday, July 18th. Volunteers will be collecting samples from 33 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.

It’s So Hot In Brattleboro…

by cgrotke | Nature

…Brattleboro chickens are laying omlettes and the cows are giving powdered milk.

It’s day three of the heat wave. The forecast shows 90+ degree days all week until Friday, with heat indexes even higher. As I type this, there is a Heat Advisory, Hazardous Weather Outlook, and Air Quality Alert underway.

The Luxury of Summer

by Lise | Home & Garden, Nature
Luxury of Summer

With the arrival of Spring at our house, we become like the Russians who throw their doors and windows open to the fresh air as soon as it warms up.  We go outside a lot, for no particular reason.  Stroll up and down the driveway, perhaps, or check on the transplants in the side yard. Pull a weed or two, contemplate the grass that probably needs mowing.

Bouncing Baby Brattleboro Squirrels

by cgrotke | Nature

I had an exciting squirrel Friday. It turns out that “our” squirrel – the one that hops over to say hello to us – is a female. And she’s a new mom, too!

Friday afternoon, one of her youngsters made the daring decision to follow her out of the nest for the very first time. It watched her hop to a branch, and did the same.

For the next three or four hours, the little squirrel alternated between sitting very carefully on the branch, and trying out some squirrel skills. Mom squirrel helped a bit, but also was tough and made the little one try things on its own.

Windy Day in Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Nature

Wednesday evening was the beginning of some rather strong wind gusts in Brattleboro, leaving many without power, phones, internet service, trees, or some combination of the above by Thursday morning.

We had a meeting in West Brattleboro earlier today. Along the way we passed repair trucks from just about every telecommunications provider.  I counted six trucks parked with employees conferring just beyond the Farmers’ Market. There were others.

Nice Description of Spring in Today’s History 3/20/18

by BusyMom | Nature

1858: “The mild and balmy breezes of Spring are at length upon us. The snow banks, in which all moisture has been suspended for weeks, have commenced discounting freely while their deposits are daily diminishing, indicating a very free circulation. There is less inquiry for mud; occasionally a patch of ground grows a shade firmer, while ladies dresses are slightly on the rise. But this state of things cannot last.”