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Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights

The Hunt for Winter Wildflowers

By Winter Ecology at St. Lawrence University on
This winter Nature Up North is featuring a Winter Ecology Series, in which St. Lawrence University students in Dr. Karl McKnight's Winter Ecology course share their observations from a weekly field trip to Glenmeal State Forest in Pierrepont.  We hope you enjoy their accounts from days spent in the woods examining the fascinating ways plants and animals endure the North Country winter. By…

North Country Gold

By Emma DayBranch on
Now is the time to relish the unique flavors of North Country syrup. Maybe you have noticed the North Country's eager response to the March weather in the form of blue tubing, metal buckets or the sweet smell of condensed sap-water boiling away. Although starting late, the sugaring season is now in full swing. This weekend is MapleWeekend in the North Country. For the next two weekends, March…

A modern Adirondack Amazon

By Emma DayBranch on
I had my doubts about a tracking workshop staged the day after a rain-turned-ice storm in the middle of February. How little I knew! Although small in stature, Andrea and her dog Jasper (who regularly runs with coyotes!) commanded the conference room this Saturday in the Wachtmeister Field Station at St. Lawrence University for the sixth segment of the spring North Country Folk Series. She held…

An Old Rusty Trap

By Winter Ecology at St. Lawrence University on
This winter Nature Up North is featuring a Winter Ecology Series, in which St. Lawrence University students in Dr. Karl McKnight's Winter Ecology course share their observations from a weekly field trip to Glenmeal State Forest in Pierrepont.  We hope you enjoy their accounts from days spent in the woods examining the fascinating ways plants and animals endure the North Country winter.…

Fresh Powder, New Tracks

By Winter Ecology at St. Lawrence University on
This winter Nature Up North is featuring a Winter Ecology Series, in which St. Lawrence University students in Dr. Karl McKnight's Winter Ecology course share their observations from a weekly field trip to Glenmeal State Forest in Pierrepont.  We lost much of our snow last week, but hope you enjoy this account from the snowstorm in early February.   By Kim Haab 6 February 2014 Wednesday…

Fight Those Late Winter Blues

By Jacob Malcomb on
Blog: Just Our Nature
  Has winter weather got you down? Do you find yourself daydreaming about warm spring days? North Country folks may be known to embrace winter, but even the hardiest among us aren’t immune to the late winter doldrums. Fortunately for us, a growing body of evidence suggests that the cure for cabin fever may be just outside our (frosted) windows, in the snowy fields and forests across the…

Tracking, Trees, and Tranquility: An Afternoon in Glenmeal

By Winter Ecology at St. Lawrence University on
This winter Nature Up North is featuring a Winter Ecology Series, in which St. Lawrence University students in Dr. Karl McKnight's Winter Ecology course share their observations from a weekly field trip to Glenmeal State Forest in Pierrepont.  We hope you enjoy their accounts from days spent in the woods examining the fascinating ways plants and animals endure the North Country winter.…

First Day of Class

By Winter Ecology at St. Lawrence University on
This winter Nature Up North is featuring a Winter Ecology Series, in which St. Lawrence University students in Dr. Karl McKnight's Winter Ecology course share their observations from a weekly field trip to Glenmeal State Forest in Pierrepont.  We hope you enjoy their accounts from days spent in the woods examining the fascinating ways plants and animals endure the North Country winter.…

Walking in a North Country Winter Wonderland

By Allison Paludi on
As temperatures creep back to the 20s and 30s, I can’t picture a better way to enjoy the weather than hiking around the North Country. Whether you head to the Adirondacks or stay closer to home, the experience is 100% worthwhile. Part of what makes winter hiking fun is the element of uncertainty. Changes in elevation become much more apparent as the snow increases and the wind intensifies.…

Let's Talk Turkey!

Wild turkey hens
By Erika Barthelmess on
Blog: Just Our Nature
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…