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!

Warm Up the Organs to Make Music

Spring peeper calling. Photo: Joel Danko

By Paul J. Hetzler on April 4, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Every spring, Mother Nature takes the choir out of the freezer. And sometimes, this year for example, she pops them back in for a while. The choir to which I refer is that all-male horde of early-spring frogs: spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs. Even while an ice rind still clings to the pond edges, untold numbers of these guys roust themselves from torpor to sing for female attention.…

Wood frog. Note the distinctive black mask across its eyes. Photo: Justin Dalaba.

Wood frog egg mass in a vernal pool. Photo: Justin Dalaba

By Anna Hughes on April 4, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

On a clear late-winter day a man walks through a birch forest, his ash-framed snowshoes crunching over the crusty snow. Swinging by his side is his shooting pouch holding black powder, and in his left hand is a flintlock muzzleloader. He stops, takes out his black powder and loads the rifle while eyeing up the nearby targets. As he aims there is a brief pause as if everything in the woods…

Aspen and birch species, such as those seen lining this trail, are among the first to regenerate a new forest. Photo: JJ Losier, Creative Commons

By Paul J. Hetzler on March 24, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Senescence is the decline in vigor that happens to all creatures great and diminutive as they close in on the life expectancy of their species. People my age suddenly find they require reading glasses to see the phone book. Though I suppose by definition anyone still using a phone book is old enough to need glasses, right? The onset of this process varies—you probably know of families whose…

Sugar maples are long-lived species. Photo: David Pynchon

By Lizz Muller on March 15, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Transitions between seasons often seem drab and monotonous. The glistening snow and ice sculptures of winter are left behind, and summer's vibrant palette has not yet arrived. But beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and March has more to give then it might seem. Patches of green can be spotted nestled in the thawing ground, and melting ice leaves reflective mirrors in its place. Spring is a…

Flooded trails next to the Little River in Canton - March 11th, 2016.

By Alexander K. Stewart on March 10, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to retire and become a snowbird—move south for the winter, maybe Florida or South Carolina, dodge the winter bullet? Heck, some of you might be reading this from those warmer climes, wondering about the winter you missed out on. In short, we’re coming out of the 2nd warmest winter on record. Well, for those of you wondering about…

NASA Worldview image of the Northeastern US on March 12th, 2015. One year ago the North Country was still blanketed in snow.

Summarized winter temperatures for Canton, December 1st - February 29th.

By Justin Dalaba on March 7, 2016

Blog: Farmed and Foraged

Don't miss New York State Maple Weekends, March 23-24th and 30-31, 2019! Visit https://mapleweekend.nysmaple.com/ for details. Maple syrup and maple sugar production have deep roots in the North Country, and for some it has been a way to make a living for generations. Imagine for a moment how the maple syrup on your pancakes made it to the table. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to…

By Lizz Muller on March 1, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Driving through St. Lawrence County, no matter what time of year, it's not uncommon to see herds of livestock along the roadsides. The strong speckled bodies of cows stand together in groups, their hooves barely denting the frozen ground beneath them. Sheep gather around mounds of hay, some of them practically camouflaged under the piles of snow that accumulate on their backs. Most North…

Emerald ash borer. Photo: Leah Bauer, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Bugwood.org

By Paul J. Hetzler on February 22, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

February 21-27 is National Invasive Species Awareness Week, not to be confused with New York State’s Invasive Species Awareness Week, which happens in July. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer a Blissful Ignorance Week when it comes to creepy insect pests. But since I can only keep my head in the sand so long before my ears get itchy, what the heck—bring on this “Awareness” stuff. Naturally,…

Asian Longhorn beetle. Photo: Donal Duerr, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Sirex wood wasp. Photo: David R. Lance, USDA Aphis PPQ, Bugwood.org

Glistening trees in Canton. Photo: Justin Dalaba

By Paul J. Hetzler on February 19, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

The willows are weeping, but then so is every other flavor of tree in northern New York right now. The storm that hit the northeast on President’s Day brought significant ice to New York state’s northern tier, ice which has persisted for nearly a week now. If your birches are bent, spruces sagging or crabapples crooked, don’t let the ice get you down as well. As long as we don’t get a heavy snow…

Icy trees and an icy Grasse River. Photo: Justin Dalaba

Cedars encased in ice. Photo: Jacob Malcomb

Clifton-Fine Arena. Photo: Justin Dalaba

By Justin Dalaba on February 18, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Sub-zero temperatures and the first blizzard snowstorm of 2016 greeted the Adirondack Whiteout Weekend in Clifton and Fine, which kicked off on Friday, February 12th. Several of the outdoor events were cancelled or rescheduled due to the extreme cold, but that didn’t seem to stop attendees from making the best of their day. The planned events stretch from Cranberry Lake to Star Lake, drawing in…