5/11/2024 Aurora over Northampton

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We’ve had an immature Red Tail Hawk hanging around our feeder this week. He/she seems quite content to observe without making any effort to catch any of the songbirds working our feeders. The Red Tail did however have a “go” at some creature in the deep grass nearby. It had been perched in a tree overlooking the feeders when it suddenly leaned forward into a silent glide down to the side-hill where it pounced on the prey in the grass. The hawk danced around for a minute or so trying to get either a look at, or a good grip on dinner. All this action however drew the attention of nearby humans who got a bit too close and spooked the hawk into flight—without its intended repast.

Tags: Redtail

A fews days ago one of the three remaining trees that stand overlooking Beech tree park fell without betraying a moments notice of its peril. Many of us saw its last moments via a video captured by a doorbell camera—swaying ever so slightly—then leaning toward the camera with no recovery and accelerating downward to the ground. The brief, intense crash, was followed by a slightly shocked quiet. The photo at the top of this page shows the three Beeches together last summer, with a setting sun silhouetting them. Even then the tree on the left appears thinner and not quite as robust as the other two.

We used to live in eastern MA in a heavily wooded town. It was rare that you could find an open area large enough to see the entire dome of the sky. Because of that I’m always captivated by the expanse of sky that opens just as I step out our front door. This gallery shows a small sampling of the kinds of treats that are visible all the time.

Electric vehicles—like so many topics these days—tend to have proponents and opponents. My observations are the result of owning an EV for the past four years. Count me as a proponent! Read More…

This morning (after a long pause in updates) I went for a stroll to see how the environs have changed after all the recent rain. The fungi have certainly been happy! Check out the gallery to see today’s catch.

Did you know that Fragrant Funnel is poisonous? Or that Ghost Pipes aren’t fungi after all? They’re herbaceous perennials! Who knew? It’s actually sort of easy to tell which ones are edible, because animals have been eating them. The Fragrant Funnel was untouched because they critters all know better.

This spring I was thinking about the remarkable range of wildlife that lives on, or passes through Village Hill in Northampton. I remembered seeing a trail cam video online from Westhampton that someone had posted a few years back. It featured the regular cast of characters such as coyote, fox, deer, bear, and such, but it also showed a Bobcat. It got me wondering if Bobcat made their way up on the hill too. I know there have been many sightings of Bobcat in the area, but nothing that I was aware of around here.

Today my neighbors Tom & Beth sent us a video captured by an outdoor camera (watch it here) at their house. It was recorded recently on May 5th at 4:30 am. The Bobcat slips into the field of view on the left, passes in front of the tree in the mid-ground and then melts into the darkness of the woods.

So now we know! They live among us!

I AM MOST CERTAINLY A WEATHER GEEK. Here's why!

• Today the temperatures climbed from 67.5° in the early morning to 85° at noontime.

• Between 12 and 1 PM the temperature plummeted sixteen degrees to 69.5° as an approaching line of cumulonimbus clouds pushed all of the atmosphere on top of us out of their way.

• There are 570 million tons of air in every square mile of atmosphere, and that all had to be moved to lower the temperature so quickly. The line of thunderstorm clouds stretched from Hartford to Brattleboro—about 85 miles.

• That means about 48.5 trillion tons of atmosphere were bulldozed across southern New England.

• The thunderhead that passed over Village Hill dropped just over a half-inch of rain in 15 minutes—as much as 8.7 million gallons of water.

• It is estimated that one inch of rain falling over an area of one square mile is equal to 17.4 million gallons of water.

• That much water would weigh 143 million pounds. If you multiply this by the recent storm on July 2nd that dropped 3.48 inches of rain—up to 60 million gallons of water may have fallen in a one square mile area around Village Hill. And the cloud that floated over us, carrying that water, weighed upward of 480 million pounds.

• Twenty five minutes after today's storm hit us the clouds had cleared and sunlight was again burning into us full force with 850 watts of energy per square meter. This in turn was adding heat and energy to create more weather and keep the cycle moving.

The kinetic, electrical, and solar energy that created that one brief storm was immense—likely enough to power thousands of homes for dozens of years or even more. When you think about what happens around us every day because of the weather you of have to admit—it's pretty awesome.

© 2021 Ross Vinocur

This week Ross Vinocur was walking on the path near the co-housing property when he encountered this little creature. It's an Eastern Newt and can be identified by the five orange "dots" bordered in black on either side of its spine. Wikipedia says: "The eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is a common newt of eastern North America. It frequents small lakes, ponds, and streams or nearby wet forests. The eastern newt produces tetrodotoxin, which makes the species unpalatable to predatory fish and crayfish.[2] It has a lifespan of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and it may grow to 5 in (13 cm) in length. These animals are common aquarium pets, being either collected from the wild or sold commercially. The striking bright orange juvenile stage, which is land-dwelling, is known as a red eft."

So this one must be a youngster as it remains fully orange still. Hopefully we'll be seeing it around for another dozen or so years.

©2021 Allison Snow/Peter Curtis

SPRING TIME IN New England is always a rollercoaster ride. I guess that's part of what makes it attractive (in a masochistic way!) One day you have to wear your warmest gear to deal with sub-zero wind chill temps, and the next day it's too warm for a flannel shirt! It's sunny—then gloomy. It's calm—then gale force wind. It's no wonder people like me get fixated on weather. It can make or break your day. Read More…

Tags: Skunk cabbage

HOAR FROST is what results when weather conditions are just right. It usually forms when the air is dry, skies are clear, and temperatures drop so quickly that the surfaces of leaf litter, grasses, even snowfields cool more quickly than their warmer, moister interiors. The warmer, moister air migrates outward toward the dry air but the freezing cold exposed surfaces cause the water vapor to condense directly on them as ice crystals. Once the process begins the crystals grow until the air and ground temperatures equalize and the moist flow ends.

The name originates from Old English where hoar is defined as “showing signs of old age.” It was thought to make trees resemble a white beard through its feathery or hairy appearance.

For some reason Hoar frost is a common sight along the Mill River. I'm guessing the liquid water is always warmer than the supercooled air over the fields making the perfect conditions for this crystal enrobement.


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RECENTLY WE WALKED THE TRAILS IN ARCADIA. It was shortly after a heavy rainfall that brought the water level of the Connecticut River up high enough to block adjacent roads, including Pynchon Meadow Road through the fields. When the water level was still high the temperature dropped and ice formed around every tree, twig and blade of grass that was surrounded by water. Slowly the water receded creating a series of stepped layers in the ice skirt. And the ice was remarkably transparent. Eventually the paper thin "skirts" were suspended in the air as the water level dropped far below them. While we were walking we kept hearing crackling, tinkling sounds as the skirts warmed in the sunlight and broke away shattering on the ground below. It was magical.

This fall I was understandably upset when so many trees were cut down on the site of the new North Common TCB project. I walked among the horizontal trunks one evening and was just shocked to look at the cross sections that betrayed the ages of the fallen. I took some pictures because I knew it would not be a simple affair to count rings right there.

The tree in the photo below was 165 years old. It began growing on "Hospital Hill" approximately one year before construction of the State Hospital began. Somehow it evaded being cut back then and it grew to tower behind the main hospital building for its entire life. There was another tree I photographed that had over 220 rings. That tree was growing on the hill when Thomas Jefferson was elected president (but only after 36 ballots of the electoral voters!).

So many trees around us have histories that we cannot imagine.

CALLING A PRAYING MANTIS a "bug" is a bit crass I guess. They're actually strikingly beautiful insects. They have slender streamlined bodies in a variety of glistening greens. They move with calculated caution and predatory stealth. If you get close to them they turn their heads to look directly at you, as if to say 'yes human, I see you clearly…" Provoke them a bit more and they'll start swaying their bodies side-to-side the same way hawks do with their heads when hunting. They're both measuring how far away their prey is, and exactly when to strike at you. No fear in them at all.

This 5-6" beauty was sitting in my driveway in September when I opened my garage door. I decided I had to move her since I needed to use the car. I coaxed her onto a shovel and carried her to the tall weeds beside my house. She was more than willing to scramble into a tangle of branches. What struck me immediately was how perfectly she blended into the environment. If I hadn't know she was there I'm sure I would never have seen her, despite her enormous size compared to most insects. As I walked away she opened her wings and like a miniature helicopter lifted off from the weeds and glided downslope to the woods and fields below.

Tags: Mantis

ABOUT 200 MILLION YEARS AGO dinosaurs the size of kangaroos walked through mud beside Lake Hitchcock leaving footprints with tail-drag marks in the mud. We can still see those tracks today as fossils in the exposed rock layers. Last week a field mouse skittered across the snow down by the Mill River leaving its tiny tail-drag marks in the snow. From the time-standpoint of the known universe which is 13.8 billion years old, these two events were separated by the briefest of moments in time.




Photo © Beth Lovejoy 2021

Tags: field mouse

Carolina Wrens amuse me endlessly. There's something about their bulbous bodies and perky up-angled tails that's sort of comical. The fact that they can dart and zip around in the air proves they are nonetheless very aerodynamic. We have a couple of Wrens that frequent our feeder each day. They avoid a crowd and usually show up when the bluebirds, sparrows and (damn) starlings are elsewhere. (BTW…it's not that I dislike Starlings, but they are gluttons of the highest order. And they're bullies). Wrens on the other hand are quite polite and very tidy eaters!

Tags: wrendogs, cats, bears, coyotes, birds

Recently I was on a walk with friends and we came upon a plant somewhat unique to the Connecticut river valley. It's also found in coastal regions in eastern MA too. Square Pod Water Primrose, aka Seedbox is a plant that favors rivers, lake shores, marshes and wet fields. We found it in the old Pine Grove golf club on a slope near a small pond. It's easy to spot in winter because of the distinctive square seed pods that look like little boxes on each branch end. I guess this refutes the old claim that you'll never observe right-angles in nature! It's also a lovely little wildflower in summer. We found it at the red dot located on the map image below.

Tags: Seedbox