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 North Country's Unnoticed Green Machine
When most people think of powerful carbon sinks, they may think of the vast Pacific Ocean or the dense Amazon Rainforest, which is all true, but we often miss the true unsung hero of carbon sequestration - the quiet, soggy peatlands. You may be surprised to learn that these carbon storages are right here in the North Country. Peatlands, also known as bogs or mires, are ecological powerhouses that silently capture and lock down tons of carbon over thousands of years under mosses and half-dead logs.
Caught in the web
Each morning there is a new web from this marbled orbweaver on our porch, today I noticed a bee that had become trapped.
I wanted to get a picture of the spider, and when I came back the spider had begun to pull the bee towards it and proceeded to eat it.
I'm not sure if this was the stage when it's injecting the digestive enzymes, or if that was done earlier and it's now "drinking" the liquified meat.
But in either case, it was amazing to be able to see it so clearly.
Our Better Nature: Plants with a PR Problem
Names are important, as we often form opinions based on what we associate with them. Even if you’ve never watched an episode of the ’60s sit-com Gilligan’s Island, you could probably guess that the character Mary Ann Summers was not a millionaire on the show, and that Thurston Howell III wasn’t the down-home farmer from Kansas. Fiction writers like to play on common beliefs to convey good or bad through their characters’ names.
Bald Eagle at the Inaugural SLU Birders Meeting
SLU Birders is a new club on campus that I co-founded with a friend this year, aimed at connecting students to the world of birds and avian conservation. Our first meeting was a walk down the Saddlemire Trail to look for birds. We ended up at the horse barn in search of Barn Swallows. We were unsuccessful in this search, but only because we noticed something across the street at the composting grounds-- a Bald Eagle!
Annual Tooley Pond Rd. Waterfall Walk
If you haven't joined us in the past, please consider checking out these amazing waterfalls. Dr. Tom Langen and the St. Lawrence Land Trust will lead a family-friendly tour of waterfalls on Tooley Pond Road on Saturday, September 27th, just in time for the heart of the fall foliage. Participants should meet at the ADK Park sign on the western end of the Tooley Pond Rd. at 8:30 a.m. (about 1.5 miles up the road from Degrasse). The tour should be around 2.5 hours total. We will explore 4 different waterfalls along the road, weather and conditions permitting.
Harts Falls Clean Up Day
On Saturday September 20th from 10am to noon, join the St. Lawrence Land Trust to prep the trails for winter at our Hart's Falls Preserve. We'll clear trails and clean up any remaining summer debris. We'll have tools and equipment, but please bring gloves, and perhaps lunch to enjoy on the Falls. We've installed some new signage and improved the boardwalk - now we just need to do final mow and trimming to get everything just right for Fall. Everyone is welcome.
Barred Owl at Upper and Lower Lakes Wildlife Management Area
While driving in on the road, the owl flew across and set on branch right by the road. Stayed long enough (about 2 min) to slowly exit from my car and get my camera from the hatchback for some nice shots from behind the car on the road.