Newly hatched bumblebee queens will winter over in their nests; the rest of the colony dies.  

Moths of the hemlock looper will be on wing from now until the end of the month. 

Third Week of September

Deer mice eat the meat from the pits of black cherries. Sometimes robins get drunk on the fermented fruit.   

Fluffy white stuff among shrubs and low trees might be the plumed fruits of virgin's bower, a vine of moist areas.

Newly hatched bumblebee queens will winter over in their nests; the rest of the colony dies.

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. 

There were times, during Tropical Storm Irene, when the rivers in Vermont and New Hampshire seemed to be made out of something other than water. Whatever it was was viscous and liquid, sure, but that roiling, furious, chocolate-colored mass was unlike anything many of us had ever seen before...

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Challenge your students to be Localvores for a week (or longer!), eating as many locally grown and produced foods as they can. Have them record all the foods they eat during the week and note where they come from. They can then write a brief report on their findings, including percentage of foods purchased locally, transportation distances for non-local foods, and their conclusions after participating in the week-long challenge.

Website: The Locavore Network: This site offers an overview of eating locally, plus a state-by-state listing that provides some useful links to local-eating information in your state.

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(This activity is on page 3)

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Know Your Fungus

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We gathered these seeds from members of the maple family. Clockwise from top, what species are they?    

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. 

Not even our deceptive use of the word "flower" fooled our savvy readers. Hophornbeam, the common name of Ostrya virginiana, was bestowed because its seed pods - technically, they are strobiles -  resemble those of the hops used for flavoring beer (pictured below). Hophornbeam seeds stick around well into winter and many are eaten by ruffed grouse and wild turkeys.