The Naturalist’s Blog

Week of July 7, 2024 – July 13, 2024 by Catherine McLaughlin, Environmental Educator As we have been preparing for summer camp this week, I find myself looking back on what I did as a kid. From the age of 4 or 5 I was at a summer camp somewhere in CNY or exploring the creek near my parents’ house. A few memories always make me smile. I remember having nets [...]

Week of June 30, 2024 – July 6, 2024 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator Throughout this past spring, Syracuse third graders had the special opportunity to explore the waters of Furnace Brook in Elmwood Park as part of the Baltimore Woods Nature in the City program. This field trip is one of my favorite things that we do each spring, in large part because it’s wonderful to see the joy that students experience. [...]

Week of June 23, 2024 – June 29, 2024 by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator From the times we’re brushing off the snow from the winter and dusting off the pollen of the spring, to when the weather becomes warmer as we enter summertime, our days are becoming longer. The summer months bring an entirely new set of activities as the weather grows hotter and lakes, oceans, beaches, and green spaces become [...]

Week of June 16, 2024 – June 22, 2024 by Catherine McLaughlin, Environmental Educator If you missed it, June 7th kicked off a month long Bioblitz that is happening here at Baltimore Woods. From now until July 7th 2024 we are collecting data of every living thing that is on the preserve, and you can easily help! Take some photos of what you see when you’re hiking here and upload them [...]

Week of June 9, 2024 – June 15, 2024 by Elizabeth Suzedell, Environmental Educator Do you have a favorite kind of cloud? One of my favorites is the cumulonimbus cloud- it’s huge, with dense puffs stretching from relatively low to the ground to above the troposphere. They store an enormous amount of energy, producing lightning, heavy rain, hail, and at its most severe, tornadoes. Whenever I see a cumulonimbus cloud, I [...]

Week of June 2, 2024 – June 8, 2024 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator On a warm late spring night just before a torrential downpour, some of our staff recently went on an adventure to explore the shores of Phillips’ Pond. I arrived a bit after Tom and Katie, and immediately heard a screech-owl tremoloing by the lower parking lot. As I walked up the hill, crickets chirped and a couple [...]

Week of May 26, 2024 – June 1, 2024 by Catherine McLaughlin, Environmental Educator What do you take notice of when you are outside? Do you hear the symphony of nature with frog and bird calls, the mellow humming of insects pollinating, or the wind moving plant life gently in the breeze? Can you smell petrichor, that smell when rain lands on dry soil, or the flowers in bloom? What do [...]

Week of May 19, 2024 – May 25, 2024 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator Tomorrow, May 20, is an internationally recognized holiday in celebration of our pollinator friends, the bees! As I type this blog on the back deck of the nature center, the area is abuzz with activity. The familiar hum of bees is a welcome soundtrack of spring. When many of us think of bees, honeybees might be the [...]

Week of May 12, 2024 – May 18, 2024 by Elizabeth Suzedell, Environmental Educator Ruby-throated hummingbirds are returning! After an unbelievable 2000+ mile journey from Central America, these birds were spotted this week at Baltimore Woods. With their emerald-green back and iridescent-red throat (on males), the ruby-throated hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird species in the eastern United States. It is an incredible bird, and for me, the first sighting of [...]