American robins in winter
A robin eats from a sumac tree. (Photo by Mary Holland) Editor’s note: This column by longtime former Harvard Press contributor Mary Holland first…
It’s Only Natural: Out with the old; in with the new
Male rose-breasted grosbeak. (Photos by M.S. Henszey) Imagine if you spent both day and night outdoors and wore the same shirt and pants every…
It’s Only Natural: A look at the marsh-dwelling muskrat
Roughly the size of a house cat, the muskrat inhabits marshes, where it occasionally appears during the day in the spring and early summer.…
It’s Only Natural: You say dead tree, I say snag
A wood duck on a snag. (Photo by Mary Holland) If someone were to propose razing the most populated high-rise apartment building in New…
It’s Only Natural: The trout lily
Trout lily flowers open during the day as they follow the sun, and close at night, protecting their pollen when insects are least likely…
It’s Only Natural: Harbingers of spring
A killdeer. (Photo by Mary Holland) March is one of the most anticipated months for naturalists, for it never fails to bring back the…
It’s Only Natural: American robins in winter
A robin eats from a sumac tree. (Photo by Mary Holland) How exactly do they do it? American robins—earthworm connoisseurs—routinely overwinter in Massachusetts—in all…
It’s Only Natural: Life with lichens
British soldiers: One of the best known lichens in the Upper Valley is British Soldiers, named for the British redcoats. Fungal spores are produced…
It’s Only Natural: Seed dispersal
A milkweed pod. (Photo by Mary Holland) What is the point of a flower, its raison d’etre? Although flowers enrich our landscapes, they do…
It’s Only Natural: Bird migration
Five hundred to 2,000 feet above our heads, 24 hours a day, one of Mother Nature’s greatest magic tricks takes place this time of…
It’s Only Natural: Autumn’s burst of blue
Bottle gentian with bumblebee pushing into flower: Bumblebees are strong enough to push their way into bottle gentian blossoms in order to collect pollen.…
