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The Outside Story

The Outside Story is a series of weekly ecology articles that has been appearing in newspapers across New Hampshire and Vermont since 2002. The series is underwritten by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation - Upper Valley Region and edited by Meghan McCarthy McPhaul at Northern Woodlands. To suggest a topic for a future article, inquire about writing for the series, or learn how to bring the series to your local paper, contact Meghan.

Some of our favorite articles from the series have been collected in The Outside Story - local writers explore the nature of New Hampshire and Vermont and The Outside Story Vol.2, available in the Northern Woodlands online shop and at bookstores across the region.

“This is the finest, and most timeless, almanac I’ve ever seen. For those of us who cohabit northern New England with the bear and the grosbeak and the trillium, it is the single easiest (and most charming) introduction to our neighbors, to our place, and to the passage of time that’s yet been written.” - Bill McKibben

For White-throated Sparrows, Opposites Attract

In the wild, finding a suitable mate is no simple matter – and it’s an extra complicated affair for one familiar resident of the woods and underbrush. With its chunky build, boldly…


Maple Sugaring Adapts to a Changing Climate

Boiling maple sap into syrup is a time-honored tradition in the Northeast, to the olfactory delight of anyone who has spent time in a steamy sugarhouse while inhaling the sweet maple scent of…

A New Invasive Zigzagging Across North America

There’s a new invasive insect zigzagging its way across North America. First reported by citizen scientists in Quebec in 2020, the elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda) has now spread…

The Humble Acorn: A Feast for Wildlife

In a big mast year for oak trees, it seems like there’s a constant barrage of acorns thwacking roofs, parked cars, and – sometimes – unsuspecting humans. These falling nuts…

How Ebbing Snow Cover Affects Plants and Animals

When it comes to winter in the North Country, brown is not beautiful. Climate change has brought sudden and extreme fluctuations in weather along with a dramatic decline in the amount of…

A Tale of Two Grosbeaks

Last February, several evening grosbeaks, which we rarely see here, visited our feeder. About the size of robins, the males were yellow with black and white wings, a black tail, and a bright…

Red Velvet Mites in Winter

Bright red, soft, and velvety… no, I’m not describing a Valentine’s Day decoration, but a red velvet mite. Built like eight-legged, scarlet Beanie Babies, red velvet mites…

Discovering Orion

You know Orion always comes up sideways. Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, And rising on his hands, he looks in on me… So wrote Robert Frost in his poem The Star-splitter.…

Pine Cones: The Complicated Lives of Conifer Seeds

My yard is full of eastern white pine trees, and every three years or so, it is full of pine cones. This is one of those years. Pine cones have fallen all over the yard, the sidewalk, the…

The Phenomenon of Winter Light

In mid-winter 1988, I went contra-dancing at the Congregational Church in Lyme, New Hampshire. During intermission, I joined other dancers who stepped out of the overheated hall into a…

American Tree Sparrows: Hardy Winter Visitors

Most winters, a few sparrows visit my yard, feeding on the seeds I scatter on the ground near my bird feeder. These particular sparrows have long tails, rusty crowns and eye-lines on their…

Thundersnow: A Rare Type of Winter Storm

It’s deep in winter, and a nor’easter is dumping snow outside. In between the howling winds you hear a boom! Maybe a heap of snow fell from the roof, you think, or a giant icicle…

Six-Legged Creatures of the Winter Stream

One winter day, while teaching a winter ecology class, I pulled on waders and rubber gloves, grabbed a catch net, and led my “Minibeasts of the Stream” program, discovering a rich…

How Trees Prepare for Winter

Of all life’s synergies, I appreciate most the one between my propensity for domestic procrastination and my love of moving through the outdoors – countless adventures are born of…

Otters Among Us

In winter, river otters head upstream into the uplands, seeking areas of fast-moving water that remain open – at least open enough for an otter to slip into a stream in pursuit of fish.…

Looking Up for the Geminid Meteor Shower

I’ve always loved the idea of watching the sky for shooting stars. But I’m much more likely to be up to watch the sunrise than I am to stay awake past midnight, when most meteor…

Canada Yew: A Native Evergreen

For thousands of years, people have decorated their homes with evergreen boughs, a symbol of eternal life, during the darkest time of the year – around the winter solstice and Christmas.…

Pine Siskins Irrupting

If you are prone to looking up as you walk (or pedal or drive) among trees, you may have noticed a bumper crop of cones clinging to the highest branches of white pine trees this summer and…

Muscling Through Migration

During the autumn months, many birds migrate from their summer breeding grounds in the Northeast to warmer wintering areas south of our region. Migratory birds include many species of raptors…

Buckthorn: A Tenacious Invasive

Of all the non-native, invasive plants in the Northeast, buckthorns are among the most hated by forest stewards. There are two types of invasive buckthorn in our region: glossy buckthorn…