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!
ice storm 2013
Wanted to capture the beauty of nature from the ice storm 2013!
Harper Falls Winter
8-10 inches of fluffy powder transformed the landscape last weekend, creating true winter hiking conditions. Along the way to Harper Falls we encountered a porcupine in a small beech tree. It had stripped nearly all of the bark off the upper third of the tree. I'm always impressed by the resiliency of winter wildlife. The tree, on the other hand, will not be long for this world.
Let's Talk Turkey!
In honor of Thanksgiving, I’m going to pause and give thanks for a North Country native, the wild turkey. Likely you’ve seen these large birds traveling in flocks along the side of the road. But did you know that they were once rare in these parts? And across the country? The abundance of wild turkeys across North America is a real conservation success story. And, oddly enough, the story of the domesticated turkey that many of us will feast on this weekend is related.
Azure for Sunrise
A few weeks back a friend and I ventured out to Azure and climbed the trail by headlamp. We summited and climbed up the fire tower just in time for a view of the rising sun!
A War on Crows
At this time of year crows flock to US cities by the thousands to roost in urban trees. The North Country is no exception, as illustrated in recent news stories about Watertown’s efforts to scare off more than 30,000 crows from city landmarks. In previous years, Watertown has hired private contractors to chase crows from their roosts using
Sunrise Fun Facts
We are happy to share this guest blog from Aileen O'Donoghue, an astronomist from the Physics Department at St. Lawrence University!
To Keep the Towers?
If you’ve climbed nearby mounts Arab or Azure, you can attest to the view-enhancing benefits of a summit fire tower. The climb to a fire tower’s observation deck affords a commanding 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape. Adirondack fire towers are relics of Park history.
Fall at Harper Falls
Harper's Falls is on the North Branch of the Grasse River, and it may be my favorite spot in the North Country (though to be honest, my favorite spot changes all the time). The falls cascade through a narrow chute, and empty into a lovely stretch of the river, which you can walk parallel to on the River Trail. It was an ideal fall afternoon, with comfortable temps, blue skies, and some great foliage.