What's Your Nature?

Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!

Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights

Ask a Fairy Fall 2020

Fairy house
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Our fairy friends Thimble Hickory and Blossom Dewdrop are back to answer your questions about North Country nature and the lives of fairies. While they're settled into the warmth of the tropics for winter, they're already excited to return to the North Country next spring!    #1: Cal Lock Morgan, 7, How many clovers are there in the world? Hi Cal! Wow! Although sometimes we like to count the…

Ask a fairy: The fairies are back!

Image of a white birch fairy house nestled against a rock with a poster attached to tree
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Besides the fall foliage and fresh apple picking available in the fall season, there’s one other thing we all look forward to - the return of the fairies! Each fall Thimble and Blossom migrate through the North Country on their way south for the winter. During their travels they spend a lot of time chatting with chipmunks, lounging with ladybugs, playing with plants. Through all their woodland…
Image of a brown fairy house at the base of trees with a poster attached to a tree

The Secret World of Fireflies

Poster with the title of blog, The Secret World of Fireflies, and the Nature Up North logo over a picture of fireflies glowing in a dark forest
By Kayla Edmunds on
Blog: Just Our Nature
If you look outside on a warm North Country summer night, you’re likely to see tiny blinking lights floating through the sky, disappearing and then reappearing a few feet away. These fireflies (Lampyridae) are not made of fire nor are they flies! They’re actually a member of the beetle order, Coleoptera, the largest known order of organisms in the world with over 350,000 beetle species described…
Photnius pyralis (Common Eastern Firefly) on a white fence

Virtual Nature Coloring Book

Virtual Nature Coloring Book Cover
By Valeria Maldonado Ortiz on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North presents a virtual nature coloring book! This coloring book features different animals and plants that you can find in the North Country. It includes fun facts about each species, tree identification, and more. Post and tag us in your finished coloring book pages on social media and use the hashtag #colorwithnun. Stay tuned for more coloring pages coming soon!
American Goldfinch Coloring Page Aster Coloring Page Red Fox Coloring Page Do you know your leaves Coloring page Common Easter Firefly

Herb Gardening for Beginners

Herb Gardening for Beginners
By Valeria Maldonado Ortiz on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Are you interested in building a small garden at home, but don’t know how to start? Or are you simply looking for a new hobby during quarantine? Keep reading to learn how to get started and the benefits of having a herb garden at your disposal. These herbs are ideal for beginners because they’re easy to grow and take care of!  Find a home for your herbs You can start your herb garden by placing…
Planted Herb Planted Herb

A Beginner's Guide to Summer Stargazing

A long exposure shot of stars the movement of stars throughout the night sky.
By Alyssa Watson on
Blog: Just Our Nature
As we approach the three-month mark of quarantining at home with our families and loved ones, it is more important than ever to get into nature in creative ways. If you’re working from home with little ones running around, a college student looking for a creative outlet, or simply looking to expand your own horizons, follow our guide to explore the summer night sky. In the North Country, hiking…

Nature Up North Photo Contest for 2021 Calendar

2020 first place photo and calendar cover
By Madison O'Shea on
Blog: Just Our Nature
July 1st, 2020 to August 9th, 2020 Calling all North Country nature photographers! Got your camera at the ready? Nature Up North is once again hosting our annual calendar contest for nature photos that will be featured in our 2021 wall calendar. At Nature Up North we hope to inspire exploration and appreciation of the North Country environment. One way we do this is through the Encounters feature…
2020 calendar winner photos

Ask A Fairy: Spring 2020 Answers

Purple Violet
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Thank you for visiting the fairies this spring! You had some really great questions and Thimble and Blossom had so much fun answering them. It was especially nice to stay connected while we were apart. The fairies are already up in Canada where they'll be spending the summer, but are excited to come back next fall! Keep reading below to find Thimble’s and Blossom’s answer(s) to your question(s).…
Nature explorer Nature explorer

"Love Your Mother" Bingo

Love Your Mother Bingo
By Madison O'Shea on
Blog: Just Our Nature
May 15, 2020 - May 22nd, 2020 Join us for a game of "Love Your Mother" bingo! We've created a virtual bingo game that you can participate in over the next week by completing a variety of outdoor, hands-on and on-line activities all while social distancing. How to Play: 1. Download the bingo card attached below to choose the activities you would like to participate in to complete a row or column…

The fairies are back for spring 2020!

Home in Stone Valley
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Come visit our fairy homes! Each spring we migrate through the North Country on our way home for the summer. We live in the woods, where we spend our days bonding with birds, talking with trees, buzzing with bugs, and getting friendly with fungi. As you might guess, we've become expert naturalists. At any time between now and May 26th, find our homes using the clues below. This year, to help us…
Toadstool home Paper birch home