What's Your Nature?
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Just Our Nature Posts
It's Better When It's Wetter: Four Reasons to Get Out in the Rain
By Molly McMasters on
Blog: Just Our NatureIt may feel like these dreary days of rain will never end, but don’t fret! Rain brings many hidden gems out of the natural world that we usually don’t see during dryer weather. So, throw on your rain boots, grab an umbrella, and step out to explore our soggy wonderland!
1) Cast a New Light on Canoeing
Typically, canoeing is perceived as a sunny day activity. But sometimes, a paddle in the rain…
No Hitchhikers
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureThese days, walking on water is not the big deal it once was. Back a long time ago, it required a miracle, but now all you need is a bad infestation of invasive aquatic plants. Anyone who has viewed a serious case of European watermilfoil, water chestnut, or hydrilla knows that a solid mat of vegetation stretching across a once-open waterway is a barrier to swimming, fishing, and boating. And…
Woodland Fairies Visit the North Country
By Molly McMasters on
Blog: Just Our Nature*There's still time to visit the fairies! Our Fairy Friends will now be staying in the North Country until July 7th, 2017.
The fairies are coming, the fairies are coming! Each spring a merry group of fairies migrates through the North Country on their way home for the summer. These aren't just any fairies – these fairies live in the woods, where they spend their days bonding with birds, talking…
An In-Tents Infestation
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureUpdate: Tent-caterpillar outbreaks occurred in our region in June 2017, 2018 and again in 2019 with increasing severity. This article was originally published in 2017.
Given the cool rainy weather of late, one wouldn’t think tenting would be popular. But tents are everywhere this spring. They do not seem to respect sanctioned camping areas in NYS forests, and many have even invaded posted lands…
2017 Earth Day 7K Recap
By Emlyn Crocker on
Blog: Just Our NatureSpirits were racing and spring was in the air last Saturday April 15th as excited runners and walkers hit the SLU trails at the second annual Nature Up North - St. Lawrence Land Trust Earth Day 7K in Canton. Despite a forcast for rain, the 71 participants enjoyed beautiful spring weather, with high clouds and a bright sun shining down on the wooded trails. The course followed the St. Lawrence…
Springtime Vernal Pools
By Amanda Brooks on
Blog: Just Our NatureApril showers bring May flowers, but they also bring something else to the North Country: vernal pools. Vernal pools are small wetlands that temporarily form in spring and dry up by late summer. They form in woodlands and backyards in small depressions in the ground and are ecologically important for a variety of reasons.
In early spring, amphibians such as wood frogs, spring peepers, and…
Spring Pruning: As Easy as 1-2-3.
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureAs far as trees are concerned, the optimal time for pruning in northern NY is from early March until the buds start to open; usually mid-April. And given that early spring is often a pretty enjoyable time to be outdoors, you may tend to concur. Tree pruning may be done any time in the dormant season (or in late summer—more on that below), but during the four to six weeks leading up to bud-break,…
Snow Job
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureIt is nice to know Mother Nature hasn’t forgotten how to make snow, but I suspect the recent dump we got was supposed to have been delivered in January. Probably it got held up at the border, or the packing slip got lost and the whole shipment has been sitting on a loading dock somewhere. Here we are a few days from the official start of spring, so maybe if we can find a tracking number we can…
Leprechaun Trees
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureMy earliest memory of St. Patrick’s Day is how angry it made my mother, who holds dual Irish-American citizenship and strongly identifies with her Celtic roots. It was not the day itself which got her Irish up, so to speak, but rather the way it was depicted in popular American culture: Green-beer drink specials at the bars and St. Patrick’s Day sales in every store, all endorsed by grinning,…
An Ill Wind
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureBad-hair days might be a personal frustration, possibly even a social calamity, but bad-air days can send the population of a whole region into a tailspin. Literally. By “bad air” I don’t mean urban smog, although that certainly merits an article, if not an actual solution. And while the fetid pong in one’s dorm room after an Oktoberfest all-you-can-drink bratwurst bash and sauerkraut-eating…