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!

DIY Valentine's Day Bird Feeders

By Amanda Brooks on February 17, 2017

Blog: Just Our Nature

Show some love to your local songbirds this Valentine's Day (or any time of the year) and make your own heart-shaped bird feeder! You can use any type of birdseed to attract different species. Cardinals tend to prefer black oil sunflower seeds, chickadees like sunflower and safflower, sparrows will flock to millet, or use a mix like we did in the video below to attract a whole range of birds.…

By Molly McMasters on February 17, 2017

Blog: Just Our Nature

As anyone who lives in the North Country knows, winter can be tough on drivers. Slick black ice and quicksand-esque snow are a danger to everyone on the road, and should be taken seriously. Aside from plowing and driving with care, the use of calcium chloride, better known as road salt, leads the charge in combatting dangerous road conditions. Keeping the roads safe, however, comes at a cost.…

Kids at Little River Community School playing in the snow

By Jenna Levandowski on February 17, 2017

Blog: In the Schools

Stumbling upon a group of grown-ups in the midst of a snowball fight is a seldom sight to see. As we get older, we so easily fall into this concept of “adulthood” where all of a sudden engaging in play is no longer commonplace. There is this idea that you can only play like a kid if in fact you are a child or are in the presence of one. Earlier this year I was able to visit the Little…

Old-fashioned well. Photo: TD, Flickr Creative Commons

By Paul J. Hetzler on February 7, 2017

Blog: Just Our Nature

If you don’t plan to send your water to college, why bother having it tested? Academic testing is in fact akin to water testing in the sense that they both can involve many diverse “subjects,” and that a passing grade in one department does not apply to other domains. Everyone knows that taking an algebra exam won’t determine your grade in anthropology, history or theatre class. But it isn’t as…

By Jacob Malcomb on November 16, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

We are pleased to announce that 2017 Nature Up North calendars are on sale. Our calendars feature some of our favorite photos that local folks have shared as Encounters on natureupnorth.org in the past year. They also feature Nature Notes highlighting interesting wildlife behavior to look out for each month. They make a great holiday gift! Proceeds from our calendar sales benefit Nature Up…

The Milky Way over an abandoned house in Pyrites. Photo: Nick Zachara

By nick zachara on November 6, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

For the past year I’ve been experimenting with night sky photography. I'm originally from suburban New Jersey, which is incredibly unfavorable for star photography -- you can hardly see the stars due to light pollution. But the clarity and perfection of the night sky around Canton, and near my family's camp in North Creek, inspired me to try capturing it on camera. In October 2015, at our…

Female black-legged tick. Photo: AFPMB, Flickr Creative Commons

By Paul J. Hetzler on October 26, 2016

Blog: Just Our Nature

Even though I was born and raised in New York State, I never cease to be awestruck by the beauty of our changing seasons, and cannot imagine living in a place where the years pass with scant visible change in the environment. Yet there is one season I cannot abide, and it has arrived with a vengeance: hunting season. Mind you, I have no problem with safety-trained folks traipsing through the…

Our fairy friends Blossom and Thimble reveal where they go in winter and share their knowledge about frogs, bees, and butterflies.

By Thimble & Blossom on October 25, 2016

Blog: Ask a Fairy

Our fairy friends Thimble Hickory and Blossom Dewdrop are back to answer the rest of your questions about North Country nature and the lives of fairies. While they're settled into the warmth of the tropics for winter, they're already excited to return to Canton, NY next fall! Click here to read Thimble and Blossom's responses in Part 1. Why do tree leaves change color? (Lucy,…

North Country residents young and old left nature questions for woodland fairies at three of their houses in Canton. Photo: Natalie Pritcher

By Thimble & Blossom on October 17, 2016

Blog: Ask a Fairy

Each year a group of migrating group of woodland fairies passes through Canton on its way south for the winter. Woodland fairies know all the North Country plants and animals, and this year they invited us to visit their houses and ask questions about North Country nature. If you were walking along the Kip Trail, exploring Heritage Park, or running through the Remington Recreation Trail last…

By Amanda Brooks on October 17, 2016

Blog: North Country Voices

Joel Howie is the owner of Canton Apples, a U-Pick apple orchard located on the corner of Barnes Road and County Road 25. He is originally from Rochester, NY, but moved to Canton in 2002 with his wife, Becky. Joel loves working outside all day long alongside his workers and friends and family who come to help out, and it shows in the quality of his product and the atmosphere on the orchard from…