By now, well into spring, all of our songbirds have returned to Essex and surrounding fields and woodlands, many of them having spent the last six or seven months in Central or South America. Songbird Populations Decline Migratory songbirds are less bountiful than they were … [Read more...] about Songbird Mysteries
Skinks at Split Rock Wildway
If Split Rock Wildway does not have skinks, it may soon. I’ve seen Ground Skinks (Scincella lateralis) on my rambles in the Southeast, and I’ve heard rumors of Five-lined Skinks (Eumeces fasciatus) here on the Adirondack Coast, but I’ve never seen a skink north of Kentucky. Have … [Read more...] about Skinks at Split Rock Wildway
American Eels in the Lake Champlain Basin
Just as salmon are indicator and keystone species for the health of watersheds draining to the Pacific Ocean, eel are indicators and keystones for Atlantic watersheds. American Eel are native to most major freshwater systems from the St. Lawrence River (and even farther north) … [Read more...] about American Eels in the Lake Champlain Basin
Spring Song: Frogs of the Adirondacks
Spring Peepers have began warming up for their mating choruses along the Beaver pond near my home in Split Rock Wildway. Wood Frogs began singing—if duck-like quacks be song—from vernal pools in the eastern Adirondacks even before the ice was all melted. Gray Treefrogs, … [Read more...] about Spring Song: Frogs of the Adirondacks
Gratitude to Beavers
The beaver, our region’s largest rodent, is also one of its most important ecological players. Beavers are what ecologists consider a "keystone species", meaning they have disproportionate importance to their natural communities – effects far greater than their modest numbers … [Read more...] about Gratitude to Beavers