Below the Surface- Rivers Have Mussels, Too!

…do they form large rafts or adhere to hard substrate like dock piers and rocks. Rather, they live partially submerged in the stream bottom where, during the cold winter months,…

It’s All About the River’s Water Quality

…of 1984. “Voluntary compliance” was replaced with “mandatory compliance with penalties.” The die was cast. Industries, farms, and individuals made the necessary investments. The Connecticut River rose from a Class…

Moose

…syrup makers complained that moose in their daily travels were readily walking through their expensive pipeline systems and the grim statistic of highway fatalities resulting from collisions with moose were…

Thornton W. Burgess

…food, fun, or simply their feathers. Many species common today, including ducks, Canada geese, and shore birds, were in trouble in the early 1900s. Mrs. Quack recounts her harrowing journey,…

Hydrilla

…from Greek mythology, Hydra. Once established, this perennial plant is known to completely displace native submerged plant communities. Hydrilla can alter fish populations, cause shifts in plankton communities, and affect…

Migratory Bird Act

…contentious and filled with adversity. He vainly searched for compromise solutions to get some semblance of his reform agenda passed, but in the end his reforms were defeated. He was…

Below the Surface: Spawning Below the Surface

…that use internal fertilization, and live offspring issue from the mother’s body (are born). For this article, we will concentrate on the common species in our river that are hatched,…

Whitewater Paddling

…on rainfall. This section, visible along Route 100, is home to Tunnel Vision, one of the most notorious expert rapids in New England, a precipitous labyrinth of rocks and holes,…

Hands on the Land

…but also examine the small and intimate parts of nature. They use their skills to inspect the natural world in micro—using a single specimen as their focus on the intricacies…

A Solitude of Space

…it with an invisible key, saying, “It’s just a turn, and freedom.” Being isolated forces us to think about freedom in new ways and consider meanings beyond the merely political….

Made You Look

…bronze symphony that took fourteen years to complete. I have seen the “original” on Boston Common, and another “copy” in the Smithsonian, as well as smaller versions in other museums….

The Elusive Bobcat

…us—myself included—have rarely seen in the wild. Maybe this comment explains why: “They have a behavior where if something is coming toward them (like you or me), and they don’t…

Moodus Noises

This article appears in the Summer 2024 issue\n\n It isn’t a groan, nor a crash, nor a roar, But is quite as bloodcurdling to hear, And has stirred up more…

Solving Environmental Problems

…Images Environmental problems can be complex and hard to resolve. The complexity arises because the components of the environment are linked, and their interactions may be separated by both time…

Monarch Butterflies Summer in New England

…evolution which conservationists are striving to preserve. Monarchs’ saving grace is their insect capacity to rapidly rebuild their numbers. Thus the high butterfly birth rate in our fertile northern meadows…

One Photograph: Writ Small

…for instance: it packs in both comedy and pluck. The Bufflehead is roughly the same size, but a dull duck he is, with nothing of the Ruddy’s arch, upright composure,…

Building Along the Lower Connecticut

…the silt fence required during construction for regulatory compliance. Also some trees were carefully removed to open the view to the river without completely exposing the bank. The Riverbend project…

Casting About: The Farmington River

…Epeorus vitreus typically favor fast water. With water temperatures hitting their highest, the dog days of summer bring the diminutive Tricos (Tricorythodes stygiatus). Expect this hatch in the early mornings…

The Beaver

…freezes. Shredded wood fibers are used for bedding to make the place comfortable for the family. A beaver family usually consists of a monogamous pair, mated for life, with kits…