Third Week 

Tree bats are returning; migration may be synchronized with the first moth hatches of spring.

Baby opossums will be weaned soon. Their first 60 days were spent in the mother's pouch.

Starflower, a low plant that is found in the north all around the globe, is blooming.

Fourth Week 

White-spotted sawyers are beginning to fly. They will be out through the summer and are often mistaken for Asian longhorned beetles. They have a white spot at the top of the wing covers, where the covers meet in the center of the body, which the Asian beetles lack.

The season's first spotted fawns are born. Mature does that entered winter healthy and well fed will produce twins.

White ash leaves are finally opening, well after most other trees.

These listing are based on observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on your latitude, elevation - and the weather.

On the fourth day of spring, fifteen kindergartners rejoiced in a sunny field a few blocks from downtown Montpelier, Vermont. It was Friday, a school day, and Mrs. Koch's morning lesson, acting out a favorite native species, had just begun...

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Bats on the Brink, Madeline Bodin  

Bodin's article starkly illuminates the fact that entire species within the forest communities we inhabit are at risk. Help students more fully comprehend the nature of this loss by celebrating bats. Have students divide into nine groups, and have each group select one of the nine species of bats that lives in your region. Within their groups, each student should research a different aspect of their bat's natural history. Students will work together to create an exhibit that celebrates their bat and then give an in-class presentation. Place the student exhibits on display in the school library or in a public venue in your community, along with an additional display, created by the class as a whole, as to the impact of white-nose syndrome on these bats.

Though the outlook for many northeastern bat species is grim, students can supplement habitat for bats by building bat houses.  

Website: Penn State offers an on-line publication, "Homeowner's Guide to Northeastern Bats and Bat Problems," which provides information on bats and instructions for building bat houses.

Download the Teacher's Guide 

(This activity is on page 4)  

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Bats on the Brink      

Click here for the complete Teacher's Guide Archive! 

Our friend Alfred Balch submitted this picture of a nest he found recently. What kind of bird made it?

Every other week we run a photo of something unusual found in the woods. Guess what it is and you'll be eligible to win a copy of The Outside Story, a paperback collection of our Outside Story newspaper columns. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in next week's column. 

OK, gastronomes, what are they?

 
Morels, along with ramps and fiddleheads, are part of the holy trinity of ephemeral, springtime wild foods. We asked our staff forager, Ginny Barlow, to share her favorite morel recipe. She said: "sure, fry them in butter." For those looking to further complicate their lives, check out the following websites: http://thegreatmorel.com/recipes.html or http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/cooking-morel-mushrooms.html.