Winter Owls
Week of February 23, 2025 – March 1, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator Winter often feels like a mysterious, quiet time, especially at night. Fresh snow absorbs sound, but as it melts and refreezes sounds become amplified as their waves bounce off of icy surfaces. Unlike during warmer times, many nocturnal creatures are quiet. Frogs and insects that live through winter are huddled silently out of sight and cocooning themselves [...]
The World of Wildlife Courtship
Week of February 16, 2025 – February 22, 2025 by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator While wildlife certainly do not celebrate Valentine’s Day, this is a fun time to think about the captivating world of mating in the animal kingdom. Every species on Earth has a unique courtship ritual, each one more fascinating than the next. Some species do a little dance to get a lady’s attention, others may build an intricate [...]
Winter Observations
Week of February 9, 2025 – February 15, 2025 by Elizabeth Suzedell, Environmental Educator With frigid temperatures, frozen lakes, and very little bare ground, it seems like we’re finally having a real winter again in Central New York! I’m glad that the weather has been more normal, but as always in February, I really miss the warmth and liveliness of summer. However, on a recent winter hike around The Woods, I [...]
Under the Frost Line
Week of February 2, 2025 – February 8, 2025 by Catherine McLaughlin, Environmental Educator Many mammals hoard food caches or bulk up during this time of year. We can easily see animals moving around with the tracks they leave behind. But have you thought about what happens below the snow? There is a complex balance of the creatures that live below the soil to survive winter. It can be hard to [...]
Appreciating Tree Bark
Week of January 26, 2025 – February 1, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator With most leaves gone from deciduous trees during winter, this is the perfect time to appreciate tree bark. Without the distraction of greenery everywhere, you might notice the great variety of bark protecting the trees around us. It can be smooth like a beech, platy like a sycamore, rough like a maple, or shiny and peeling like [...]
Feline vs. Canine
Week of January 19, 2025 – January 25, 2025 by Kaylen Iorio, Environmental Educator Here in Central New York we have many different species of animals, some more elusive than others. We often see White-tailed Deer grazing in open fields, Turkey Vultures soaring above a park, or Eastern Cottontails scurrying to get out of your way. But, for our more sneaky and stealthy creatures, we must look for the tracks they’ve [...]
Lake-Effect Snow
Week of January 12, 2025 – January 18, 2025 by Elizabeth Suzedell, Environmental Educator The past few winters in the Syracuse area haven’t been very snowy, but this winter has been feeling at least a little bit closer to normal. The Syracuse Hancock International Airport has had 44 inches of snow so far this season as of January 10th; last year at this time, it was only at 22 inches. [...]
Planting Ahead
Week of January 5, 2025 – January 11, 2025 by Catherine McLaughlin, Environmental Educator The new year has already arrived? What happened? I feel like we just ended summer camp not long ago. But here we are, new day, new month, and a new year, and I have been planning my garden since… October for this year. Why do I start planning ahead so early though? I often find myself following [...]
Critter Signs
Week of December 29, 2024 – January 4, 2025 by Anna Stunkel, Environmental Educator These days, the weather can be rainy and in the forties one minute and freezing cold and snowy the next! Constant snow cover isn’t a near guarantee the way it used to be in the winter, but we can still search for other critter signs when tracks are difficult to spot. Our Nature’s Little Explorers group of [...]