It’s Only Natural
Spring amphibians: they slither, they hop, they are small and slimy, and they are important to Norfolk’s ecosystem By Susannah Wood We’d been watching the weather, and Monday night, April 7, looked like it might be good—about 40 degrees and wet. Wiley and I set off at 10 p.m. with flashlights and rain gear. The […]
Face Plant!
The wing span of 36 inches and the absence of ear tufts suggest that the owl that made this impression in the snow was a barred owl (Strix varia). They feed on rodents, which they take from the air, mostly at night, seizing them with their powerful talons. The photograph was taken with an iPhone […]
Winter Birds
By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Most of us, at one point or another, question why we stay in the Icebox of Connecticut throughout the winter months, but do you ever wonder why the birds do? When observing a little black-capped chickadee chipping away at a backyard feeder with four inches of snow on it, do you […]
It’s Only Natural
I Break For Insects By Shelley Harms October is the time when woolly bears cross the road. I mean the caterpillars (though a large actual bear was killed on Route 44 this summer). And yes, I watch for the little crawly bugs and, if I don’t brake, I at least try to steer so the […]
It’s Only Natural
Connecticut Biologists Create Habitat for the Endangered New England Cottontail By Wiley Wood “You can’t miss it. It’s a 57-acre hole in the forest,” says Paul Rothbart, a project manager with the Connecticut State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. He is giving directions to a tract of state land in Goshen that, with the […]
It’s Only Natural — May 2013
By Star Childs A good old-fashioned winter has come and gone here in the Icebox of Connecticut. Asked to comment on how our local forest ecosystem fared in a winter like this, I would simply have to say “quite well.” The forests throughout the state entered the dormancy of winter with more than enough precipitation […]
Uptick in Lyme Disease Expected in 2012
Significant increase already being seen By Joel Howard Northwest Connecticut is no stranger to Lyme disease, but experts are predicting a significant increase in cases during the coming months. The convergence of several events, including increased populations of white-footed mice and blacklegged ticks, are coalescing to create a situation whereby residents should be extra vigilant […]
Community Based Conservation of Migratory Amphibians
It’s Only Natural By Martha Klein In our highly mobile society, there are four million miles of roads and 200 million vehicles, so it’s not surprising that there are several million deaths of vertebrates every year on United States roads. For some species of animals, roadkill can take out 20 percent or more of their […]
Bad and Beautiful, Purple Loosestrife Threatens Norfolk’s Wetlands
By Shelley Harms Purple loosestrife has been spotted this summer in wet spots along Norfolk roadsides. A showy plant with spikes of magenta flowers, it spreads very rapidly. It can take over large areas, suppressing native plant communities and actually altering a wetland’s structure and function. Purple loosestrife (lythrum salicaria) is a perennial that can […]
A Striped Menace Threatens Our Ponds and Lakes
By Star Childs As summer approaches and thoughts turn to boating on freshwater lakes and rivers, everyone must be vigilant of a new ecological threat to our bodies of water. Zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, have made their way from the distant Black and Caspian Seas of Eurasia and Russia to our Great Lakes and other […]
