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!
The Double Defense of the Milkweed Tiger Moth
This week we were gifted with the finding of caterpillars of the (admittedly common) Milkweed Tiger Moth (or Milkweed Tussock Moth, Euchaetes egle) on a milkweed plant in our yard.
These fascinating caterpillars chow all day long on milkweed plants and store ingested toxic cardiac glycosides in their bodies to make them…unpleasant…to predators such as birds. Just like Monarch butterflies do. And notice that they have similar color patterns. It’s no coincidence – the color patterns warn birds and other predators that they carry the toxin, so the predators pass them by.
Butterflies at Stone Valley
A short walk at the end of the day at Stone Valley Area yielded an assortment of birds showing signs of breeding activity, plus some fun dragonflies and butterflies.
Saying Goodbye to Summer
Whether you're paddling on the Grasse River, visiting one of our countless waterfalls, or picking up fresh veggies at a farmer's market, summer is one of the best times to be in the North Country. This summer, the four college students interning with Nature Up North got to experience that firsthand.
Garlic Festival at Birdsfoot Farm
We had a wonderful Garlic Festival this year at Birdsfoot farm, with many friends and community members stopping by to help peel and bunch our garlic harvest. The garlic crop was late this year by nearly two weeks due to the spring/summer rains, and there was some concern over getting all the garlic in and harvested. All worked out in the end though, and we're looking forward to garlic all winter, as are many happy CSA members!
Snowy Paddle
I went out for a short hike with some friends and we stumbled upon the boat and canoe in the middle of the woods. Later on we met the person who put them back there and they said the boat and canoe are for public use, just bring your own paddle. It started snowing heavily after we got there which made for some great photos.
Nature Up North website scavenger hunt
This word document presents a series of questions that ask the user to find and use different aspects of the Nature Up North website in order to become familiar with the website's features.
Monitor My Maple Teacher's Guide
This Teacher's guide is a how-to guide for including the Monitor My Maple project in a high-school science curriculum. The guide walks you through the steps of using the Monitor My Maple project in your classroom, and includes the associated next generation science standards, a curriculum outline for both fall and spring, and a procedure guide.
Guide produced by SLU Alum Madison O'Shea ('19)
Happy as a frog
While enjoying a peaceful gorgeous day at Lampsons Falls I saw this little guy sitting beside me in a shallow pool of water. It was like he was my side kick taking in all the beauty around us and the sounds of the falls. He sat there as long as I did. He was still there when I left a few hours later.
Lovely Lily Flower
While enjoying a beautiful early morning kayak with my cousin on Trout Lake I love looking for turtles and the beauty of the water flowers!
Carbon cycle diagram
Carbon cycle diagram shown during workshop as an example of place-based learning