The Naturalist’s Blog

Week of September 7, 2025 – September 13, 2025 by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator Shaking off the daze of summer feels like settling down on a cozy Sunday evening; feeling tired from the long days of sunshine and preparing for all that autumn has to bring. That first crisp autumn breeze whispers past with scents of nostalgia, bringing back memories of grade school and jumping into leaf piles with siblings, and [...]

Week of August 31, 2025 – September 6, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator As summer winds down and transitions into early fall, I’ve been reflecting on memories of one special group of insects– the dragonflies and damselflies, also known as odonates. These creatures have fascinating lives, including some very impressive adaptations. Around local ponds, streams, and open fields, I enjoy pausing to watch them dart quickly back and forth in [...]

Week of August 24, 2025 – August 30, 2025 by Lizzy Suzedell, Environmental Educator When we think about the weather, measurements like the temperature, clouds, rain, and wind always come to mind. However, to make a forecast, one of the most important considerations is the air pressure. We hear meteorologists talk about it all the time on TV as high and low pressure systems approach, but what does that actually mean [...]

Week of August 17, 2025 – August 23, 2025 by Katie McLaughlin, Environmental Educator Have you heard of the 3 R’s? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This camp season at Baltimore Woods, campers had a wonderful opportunity to learn about the recycling rules for Onondaga county! While many of us know our basics of what to recycle like paper and plastic – there are certain rules that go along with each of those [...]

Week of August 10, 2025 – August 16, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator After a sweltering summer day, you might enjoy spending some time outdoors in the cool night air. Night is a lovely time to have a cookout, enjoy a summer park concert, or search for nocturnal critters who are also active. About a week ago, we set up black lights for our night buggin’ program at Baltimore Woods. [...]

Week of August 3, 2025 – August 9, 2025 by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator Here at Baltimore Woods we have some very special staff members (in addition to the humans) that will usually greet you with a smile! I’m talking about our ambassador turtles: Fern, Geronimo, Lucy, and Mr. T! Ambassador animals play an integral and unique role in any nature center, allowing visitors to closely observe them and form meaningful connections. [...]

Week of July 27, 2025 – August 2, 2025 by David DuBois, Director of Stewardship Late summer is the time of goldenrods. From every highway verge and overgrown edge, their golden colors erupt onto the scene, brightening up the space with yellow so vibrant it can only be described in a self-referential way, as goldenrod. Their affinity for common spaces and unignorable hue have given this amazing plant a reputation as [...]

Week of July 20, 2025 – July 26, 2025 by Katie McLaughlin, Environmental Educator This year I had a few of my Trail School students tell me that they want to be me, teaching others about nature, when they grow up. Yes- I totally teared up when they told me that, but it got me thinking about the story of how I came to be an Environmental Educator. I was always catching frogs, [...]

Week of July 13, 2025 – July 19, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator I recently went on a trip to the coast of Maine, which included a visit to my college campus. It had been a few years since my last visit, but many things remained the same. I especially enjoyed visiting my tree friends! There is a very old, castle-like stone building in the middle of campus, and in [...]