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

Celebrate 10 Years of Nature Up North With Us!

background image of maple tree flowers with woods over it that say Nature Up North, 10-year anniversary, come celebrate with us this spring!
By Kayla Edmunds on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary this year! 2013 marked the launch of natureupnorth.org (this very website) and the first year we hired a cohort of summer interns and hosted free events for the community all summer long! In the 10 years since that first summer we've hosted over 175 public events, hired and trained 95 St. Lawrence University students, launched 3 citizen science…

Nature Up North 2023 Calendars For Sale!

wide river with trees on edges and man in green kayak with two dogs paddling into the setting sun
By Erika Barthelmess on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North calendars are on sale at local businesses through early 2023! These printed calendars feature our favorite photos shared by community members as Encounters on natureupnorth.org in the past year. Calendars also include Nature Notes highlighting the phenological changes and happenings of flora, fauna, and more local to the North Country region. Proceeds from calendar sales benefit…
all featured photos for calendar

Ask A Fairy: Fall 2022 Answers

A small brown house with rocks on the roof sits in front of a tree with a poster that says the fairies are here!
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
The leaves have all fallen and as the nights drop below freezing Thimble and Blossom are continuing on their journey south for the winter. Although they enjoy a few frosty mornings, they’re ready to bask in the warm sun rays again. But, before they left they made sure to write back to all of your wonderful nature questions! They wanted us to tell you that they loved answering your questions, and…
A brown-toned fairy house sits on a mossy log in front of a forest

New posts coming soon

Black bear walking through the woods
Blog: North Country Wild
North Country Wild, a new Nature up North blog, is coming soon.

Ask A Fairy: The Fairies Are Back Fall 2022

A brown-toned fairy house sits on a mossy log in front of a forest
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Exciting news from the forests! Thimble and Blossom, our favorite migratory fairy naturalists, are back in the North Country! In the fall they like to take a break from flying and glide around on falling leaves, forage for berries and seeds with chipmunks, and enjoy a warm cup of acorn soup! Through all of their woodland travels they’ve become excellent naturalists, and are now here to answer any…
A small brown house with rocks on the roof sits in front of a tree with a poster that says the fairies are here!

2023 Calendar Submissions Are Open!

Foggy sunrise over green hills and valleys with a lake in the middle
By Kayla Edmunds on
Blog: Just Our Nature
September 8th through October 23rd 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 2023 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…
Back cover of 2022 calendar featuring the 12 months

Tree Sign Language: Early Fall Color

a rainbow of maple leaves on a gray stone
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Deciduous trees, ice-cream stands, and marinas close each fall for the same reason: as daylight dwindles and cold creeps in, they become less profitable. When income dips down to equal the cost of doing business, a wise proprietor will turn out the lights and lock the doors until spring. Some enterprising holdouts stay open longer. Perhaps they have less competition, or a better location.…

North Country Summer: A Photo Essay

By Abigail Lateer on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Do you know which nature center in the North Country is home to this (and other) spooky and beautiful tree carvings?As a summer naturalist intern for Nature Up North, one of the things I was most excited about was getting to live in the North Country for the summer. I feel so lucky I got the chance to explore this beautiful place, and I made this photo essay to capture some of my favorite places…

North Country Nature Noises

Image taken on the Little River of the evening sunlight against the trees
By Leslie Herold on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North has spent the summer getting back outside after a hiatus from summer activities due to COVID. We have really focused on being outside as much as we can and encouraged ourselves and other North Country community members to connect with nature this summer. There is so much to see, but our sight is only a small part of how we can really connect. Using all our senses when we are…

Ask A Fairy: Spring 2022 Answers!

smiling person in front of a fairy house
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
After a lengthy stay on North Country trails and in our backyards, our favorite naturalist fairies decided to continue north for the rest of the summer. But, before they left they made sure to write back to all of your wonderful nature questions! They wanted us to tell you that they loved answering your questions, and they hope you keep exploring and being curious about all the wonderful things…
small child in front of a fairy house on the ground fairy house covered in bark and moss in a tree three small houses hanging from tree branches in front of a larger fairy house on the ground