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 Posts

Consider a Gift to Nature Up North

Huckleberry Lake in late autumn. Photo by Bill Hill.
By Erika Barthelmess on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Dear friends and neighbors, It's that time of year again; the snow is flying, the geese have (mostly) left.  Must be time to consider making a contribution to support Nature Up North!  We'd be delighted and appreciative if you made a donation to help environmental education here in the North Country.  Specifically, your gift will help to support activities such as: Free or low-cost environmental…

2019 Nature Up North Calendars

Cover Photo: Mt. Arab at Sunrise by Maya Williams
By Emlyn Crocker on
Blog: Just Our Nature
*Update: As of February 1st, 2019, we only have a handful of calendars left. If you would like one for $5, please email us at info@natureupnorth.org.  We are pleased to announce that 2019 Nature Up North calendars are on sale through early 2019!  These printed calendars features some of our favorite photos shared by community members as Encounters on natureupnorth.org in the past year. Plus, we…
2019 Calendar backcover

Happy Biology

Gray Squirrel. Photo: Flickr Creative Commons, Ehpien
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Happiness may be elusive, but it sure has spawned a lot of aphorisms. Folk-wisdom indicates one can be happy as a pig in poop—or in mud, which makes me wonder if those two hogs are equally content, and if they had other options. It also suggests you can be pleased as a pig in a peach orchard, which would make sense unless harvest season was over. Additionally, one might feel happy as a pup with…

Run, Dorothy—Emerald City is Falling

emerald ash borer
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Watertown is poised to become an Emerald City, but that’s not good news. Jefferson and Lewis will soon be Emerald Counties, and St. Lawrence County began the process of change two years ago. Unfortunately, this kind of transformation does not involve happy endings. When the emerald ash borer (EAB) kills an ash, something happens never before seen—the tree becomes brittle and hazardous very…

Plant a Tree, or Rent It?

Maple trees at St. Lawrence University
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Planting a tree isn’t rocket science, which is good thing. If it were that complex, I’d wager we’d have a lot fewer trees lining our streets. It may not take a scientist to plant a tree correctly, but a lot of money is spent each year to buy and plant trees which may as well be leased, because they will only live a fraction of their expected lifespan. When trees decline and die after 15, 20, or…

The First Shall Not Last

A maple tree near a school with a bright orange top and green leaves below.
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Seems like competitiveness may be part of human DNA, but it does not always pay to be first. No prize awaits the fastest car that passes a radar patrol, or the first person to come down with the flu at the office. And for trees, the first ones to turn color in autumn are not envied by their peers. If trees experience envy, which no one knows. The first trees to show orange and red and drop their…

Hottest summer on record for the North Country

The Grasse River near Taylor Park, Summer 2018.
By Alexander K. Stewart on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Are you younger than 96 years old?  Did you spend your summer here in the North Country?  If you answered yes to both, then you just experienced the hottest summer on record (1922-present)!  Yes, the summer of 2018 was a hot one.  Now, this might depend on how you define hot; is it the maximum temperature reached?  Probably not.  Instead, the best metric of “hotness” is probably the mean summer…

Become a citizen journalist!

St. Lawrence Citizen Journalism Incubator
By Erika Barthelmess on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North is proud to be working with the Weave News, North Country Public Radio, and The Hill News to sponsor the first annual St. Lawrence Citizen Journalism Incubator (SLCJI). The St. Lawrence Citizen Journalism Incubator is a new initiative designed to provide North Country students and residents with the opportunity to receive training and support for conducting independent,…

Summer Intern Farewell

By Emlyn Crocker on
Blog: Just Our Nature
  Summer in the North Country is a special thing - we live in a beautiful place, and enjoy the company great people and warm (but usually not too warm!) weather. Plus, there is an abundance of good swimming holes, if you know where to look. Here at Nature Up North, summer is a chance for us to put extra energy into creating interesting workshops and events to support community and family outdoor…

I have an ash tree! What now?

Compound ash leaves against a bright blue sky
By Allison Pilcher on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle that has killed tens of millions of ash trees since its discovery in Michigan in 2002. EAB reached St. Lawrence County in 2017. If you have ash trees on your property, it is important to plan for EAB. Read more about Emerald Ash Borer Ash trees are frequently found along our streets and as shade trees in our yards. Besides aesthetic value, they clean our…