The Naturalist’s Blog

Week of March 12, 2023 – March 18, 2023 by Anna Stunkel , Environmental Educator One of my favorite signs of spring starts on March 1, when the hawkwatch season begins at Derby Hill Bird Observatory and many other North American hawkwatches. A great variety of raptors, or birds of prey, can be seen from this hill overlooking Lake Ontario.Spring raptor migration in the northeast includes hawk, vulture, falcon, eagle, [...]

Week of March 5, 2023 – March 11, 2023 by Elizabeth Suzedell , Environmental Educator One evening about a month ago, I saw a huge flock of big, white birds flying around above a distant field. They were snow geese, who are winter visitors to Central New York. I decided to head over in their direction. As I got closer, I saw that there were hundreds of snow geese landing [...]

Week of February 26, 2023 – March 4, 2023 by Bridget Jones , Environmental Educator This week, students from across the Syracuse area came to Baltimore Woods for Winter Break Camp. At the heart of the camp experience is the chance to learn about nature through free play and exploration. As an Environmental Educator and camp counselor, I love seeing the campers experience moments of discovery and connection with nature. [...]

Week of February 19, 2023 – February 25, 2023 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator This past weekend, I visited the Morgan Road marshlands at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge around sunset. As I watched flocks of Snow Geese, Trumpeter Swans, and ducks flying to their roosts on whooshing wings, the mild daytime temperatures began to drop. Beavers and Muskrats were swimming busily around me, and I thought about how chilly the [...]

Week of February 12, 2023 – February 18, 2023 by Bridget Jones, Environmental Educator This past week, we had a spectacularly sunny day in between the clouds, snow, and rain. Temperatures warmed up enough to melt most of the snow and ice on the trails, providing a brief glimpse of spring in the middle of winter. Although the warmth was unusual for this time of year, I couldn’t help but [...]

Week of February 5, 2023 – February 11, 2023 by Sunny Guyette, Environmental Educator The Baltimore Woods Nature in the City program visits every K-5 grade classroom in the Syracuse City School District three times a year for a one-hour hands-on/minds-on natural science lesson. The current lesson that we give to Kindergartners is “Animals in Motion”, where the educators have the pleasure of introducing how and why non-human animals move certain ways [...]

Week of January 29, 2023 – February 4, 2023 by Elizabeth Suzedell, Environmental Educator Winter can feel bleak. With frigid temperatures, everything covered in snow and ice, short days, lifeless plants, and an apparent lack of animal activity, I am longing for the summer, when everything is so vibrantly green and the sun is bright all day. While I do feel down during this season sometimes, I can’t help but [...]

Week of January 22, 2023 – January 28, 2023 by Sunny Guyette, Environmental Educator The Harrison Trail is one of our newest additions (extending the Harrison Loop) and was one of the last trails that I had explored since starting at Baltimore Woods. Recently, I decided to take my first stroll along the whole Harrison Trail to find inspiration for writing a social media post and what I noticed was [...]

Week of January 15, 2023 – January 21, 2023 by Bridget Jones, Environmental Educator Phillip’s Pond is a favorite summer spot for many campers, hikers, and visitors at Baltimore Woods. However, in the winter, the pond transforms into a new world with its own fascinating experiences to offer. On a cold day last week, I took a walk to the pond to see what I could find. While the summer [...]