This Week in the Woods

26 01, 2017

This Week in the Woods: Who’s been chewing this tree?

2017-01-26T10:17:29-05:00January 26th, 2017|Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, News, This Week in the Woods|

Hey, who did that?! While walking in the woods this week, we noticed freshly scraped-off bark at the base of this yellow birch tree. It looks a little bit like abstract wildlife artwork, but in these cold winter months, our Vermont woodland animals are more concerned about… food! The scraping reached about two feet above the snow pack, about the height that a snowshoe hare might reach- our first suspect. But upon closer inspection we found marks from very small teeth, in randomly alternating directions. These marks are characteristic of voles, [Read More...]

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24 03, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Sugaring Season

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00March 24th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, This Week in the Woods|

Warm days and cold nights make that sap run! But why? During the day, when temperatures rise above freezing, pressure develops inside of the tree. This pressure wants to release, and can do so by pushing sap out of an opening (such as the ones that we create). As temperatures fall during the night, suction (or negative pressure) develops within the tree. This causes the roots to take in large quantities of water, which can be used to replenish the sap. This replenished sap will flow again during the next warm [Read More...]

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24 03, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Winter Precipitation

2016-12-13T19:11:47-05:00March 24th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, This Week in the Woods|

This winter we have seen a lot less snow, and a lot more rain, than usual. While the immediate effects of this weather difference are apparent, especially recreationally, the long term impacts may be harder to see. As spring arrives, there will be less snow melt (due to minimal snow) than what we may be used to. Snow melt from alpine zones, which lags behind lower elevations, serves as an important water source for many places (especially in the western United States). Precipitation falling as rain is available for only a [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: the Polar Vortex

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

A polar vortex, as intimidating as it sounds, is really just a pocket of cold air and low pressure surrounding both the North and South poles. It is actually always there, though it is rare that we, here in New England, get to experience its chilling effects. The “Vortex” refers to a counter-clockwise spinning of the pressure system which acts to centralize it over the poles. I say “over” because this weather is actually occurring tens of thousands of feet above the earth’s surface. Every so often, the polar vortex swells [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: A Look Through the Ice

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|Highlights, News, This Week in the Woods|

It may be common knowledge that water freezes at 32°F, and that water, unlike most things, expands as it freezes. We, as residents of winter, have a complicated relationship with ice. What glory it brings when fishing and skating, and what frustration, when it covers our roads and windshields. What you may not know is that the ice on our ponds and lakes (though lately it has been looking a bit thin…) actually began to form in late summer of 2015. As temperatures begin to drop, the top layer of water [Read More...]

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23 02, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Snow Roller Phenomenon

2016-12-13T19:11:48-05:00February 23rd, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

Have you ever been lucky enough to witness this rare phenomenon? It appears as though children have been hard at work creating dozens of snow balls, yet leaving behind not a single footprint. These formations, known as “snow rollers”, form when the top layer of snow picks up and is blown across a relatively flat surface. Optimal conditions for snow rollers include sticky (but not wet) snow, and astrong and steady wind. The wind must be strong enough to continue to push the snow, but not strong enough to destroy the [Read More...]

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25 01, 2016

This Week in the Woods: The Journey of the Snow Bunting

2016-12-13T19:11:54-05:00January 25th, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

Most commonly we may think of winter as a time when birds migrate AWAY from the chilly Northeast, but there are actually some species that migrate south TO Vermont as their desired place to spend the winter. The Snow Bunting is a small songbird with mostly white plumage with some brown and black on the back and face. The males will leave Vermont in early April to establish their breeding territories. The females won’t follow until about six weeks later. Their preferred winter habitat is in open weedy or grassy fields. [Read More...]

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11 01, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Winter Tracks

2016-12-13T19:11:54-05:00January 11th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News, This Week in the Woods|

Have you ever walked outside in the morning to find that someone, or something, has been quite busy while you were asleep? Here are some hints to help you narrow down your suspects. There are four main ways that animals move: Walk/Trotters (cat family, dog family, and hoofed animals) move on their toes, front foot on one side, followed by hind foot on the other side. Typically you will only see the hind tracks as they place them on top of the front tracks. Waddlers (Bears, Beavers, Porcupines, Raccoons, Opossums, Muskrats, [Read More...]

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11 01, 2016

This Week in the Woods: Freezing Frogs

2016-12-13T19:11:54-05:00January 11th, 2016|Conservation Corps, Education, Forest Stewardship Institute, Highlights, News, This Week in the Woods|

There are five species of frogs that are able to enter a “frozen state” as they hibernate for the winter: the Wood Frog, Cope’s Gray Tree Frog, the Eastern Gray Tree Frog, Spring Peepers, and the Western Chorus Frog. Even in their protected winter homes, temperatures are sure to drop below freezing. This causes the water in their outer cells to begin to freeze. Once this begins, their liver starts producing glucose, which the heart pumps through the blood to all vital organs. This glucose helps prevent the tissue from drying [Read More...]

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4 01, 2016

This Week in the Woods: The Winter Solstice

2016-12-13T19:11:54-05:00January 4th, 2016|This Week in the Woods|

While it may be common knowledge that the winter solstice is the shortest day(light) of the year in the northern hemisphere, there are some other details that are less commonly mentioned. All of the darkness we are experiencing is due to the fact that the sun is shining farthest to the south, directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. This phenomena actually occurs at a specific time, rather than for an entire day, and that time differs from year to year. This year it occurs at 4:49 UTC on December 22nd (which [Read More...]

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