State Biologists Call on Public to Report Bobcat Sightings
By Jude Mead Have you seen a bobcat lately? Have you spotted a footprint of one in the snow? If so, then Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), would like to know. Hawley said the state is conducting a bobcat study to evaluate the habitat and […]
Trouble Comes Disguised as a Beautiful Ornamental!
By John Anderson As mid fall approaches, the leaves of many plants senesce and change color. White ash trees are some of the first woody plants to drop their leaves, followed by the glorious colors of maples, birches, blueberries and spicebush. But amongst them are invaders, which can outnumber and choke out the natural […]
It’s Only Natural: An Owl Encounter
By Eric B. Anderson Driving up the slight incline on Rt. 44 near Bazzano’s Oil on October 30, I saw a good-sized bird rapidly descending in front of me. I applied the brakes as hard as I could, but unfortunately, the bird still bumped into the top of my cab and fell backwards onto […]
Jellyfish in Tobey Pond?
A Norfolk high school senior makes startling discovery By Katherine Kasacek Craspedacusta sowerbii? No, it’s not a galactic spaceship of science fiction movies or a fantastical monster found in books. Think more along the lines of a mop-head or Medusa, or maybe an invertebrate of the cnidarians family. In short, a jellyfish, a freshwater […]
It’s Only Natural: All You Wanted to Know About Wild Turkeys
By Leslie Watkins For the past few weeks, I’ve observed 30 to 40 wild turkeys as they pass through my yard each day; three adult females and their broods. I want them to keep coming around, but don’t want to encourage deer by putting out food. I did some research on what foods will […]
Marble Cliffs, Open Fields and River Walks
Visiting Bartholomew’s Cobble By Susannah Wood Less than half an hour away from Norfolk is a little gem of a place where walking ferns trail their way down marble outcrops, a miniature grove of white trillium marks a recent burn, and neo-tropical migrants fly in to rest along the banks of the Housatonic. Bartholomew’s […]
Our Native Wildlife Needs Native Plants
By Shelley Harms Ah, spring in Norfolk! Frog choruses, birdsong, green leaves and . . . burgeoning invasive plants. It’s time to pull up the garlic mustard and chop out those invasive shrubs like honeysuckle, barberry and burning bush. Alien invasive plants are spreading all over town—they are probably growing in your own backyard. […]
Aton Forest Holds Annual Census of Early Winter Birds
By Wiley Wood Although she has been taking part in Christmas Bird Counts for over 50 years, when Ayreslea Denny describes her bird encounters on the morning of December 31 in Aton Forest, her voice is full of excitement. “The number of birds we got was just unbelievable,” she said. A small group, […]
Autumn Bewitchment
By Hans M. Carlson I took a walk south of Yale Camp yesterday, enjoying both the warm weather and the beautiful fall leaves. Despite dire predictions that the drought would hurt the colors—made as much by me as anyone—the season has been spectacular thus far. And as I walked the old Chattleton Road, I caught […]
It’s Only Natural—October 2016
Geography Over the Guardrail By Hans M. Carlson I am a connoisseur of secondary roads, because they give the up-close view of the human and natural landscape that I have highlighted so often when writing about things in and around Norfolk. Interstates by contrast are not really of the places they cross, and for […]
