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Educator's E-newsletter
| December 2, 2011
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 A Look at the Season's Main Events Virginia Barlow First Week of December Goldthread stays green all winter. It is a small plant with three-lobed, toothed, shiny leaves.
Raccoons and skunks are nomads with a limited sense of territorial ownership. They'll sometimes take turns using the same woodchuck hole for temporary shelter.
Beavers and muskrats must adjust the structure of their lodges to accommodate various water levels. Winter floods or, conversely, a significant drop in water level, combined with a hard freeze, can mean death.
Second Week of December
Dec. 13-14: The Geminid meteor shower peaks. This reliable, multi-colored shower is on a nearly moonless night this year.
December to March is a good time to look for bald eagles fishing in open water below dams. Bald eagles can live for over 30 years in the wild.
The brown upright seed stalks of Indian pipes often remain right through the winter and sometimes through the following summer.
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. |
The Future is Made of Rare Earth
Madeline Bodin
Tom Mortimer of Amherst, N.H., an avid amateur mineral collector, has the most complete collection of New Hampshire minerals anywhere in the state. Most of the time his tabletop-sized display case of nearly 300 minerals is stored in his home office, but several times a year he packs it up and displays it at mineral shows...
Full Article TextDownload the Article
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 Bird Nests in Winter
Sandra Murphy
Which Bird Made That Nest?, by Bernd Heinrich
Take your students on a winter woods walk to look for bird nests. Ask a member of your local Audubon Society chapter (or any other local birder) to accompany you and help select a site that will likely have nests. Though it would be nice to find someone who has familiarity with bird nests, it's not at all a necessity-this outing is about discovery and inquiry, not about knowing all the answers. Bring Heinrich's article with you to help with nest identification, as well as a camera and a bird nest field guide (see below). Bring binoculars for each student, if available, since they'll help students observe overhead nests. (The Audubon chapter may have binoculars to lend you). When you spot a nest, have students photograph it and identify its construction materials, size, and form. They can then use this information to identify the species that may have constructed each nest. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology manages the NestWatch program, which involves citizens in monitoring bird nests. While they are only interested in data on the active nesting season (spring and summer), their site can introduce students to the important ecological information that bird nests offer. You can also use this site in spring as a follow-up activity to the winter nest observations. Ask each of your students to select one of the locally occurring focal species listed on the NestWatch website (there are 24 listed, but some are only found in the western US.) Students can research its nest type, its habits and habitat, population trends, threats, and ways to address those threats. They can then create a multi-media presentation of their findings. Books: The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, edited by Chris Elphick, John B. Dunning, Jr., and David Allen Sibley. Alfred A. Knopf: 2001
by Paul J. Baicich & J. O. Harrison. Princeton University Press: 2005.
by Hal H. Harrison. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 1998. Websites: NestWatch is a citizen-science project and nest-monitoring database of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Download the Teacher's Guide (This activity is on page 2) Download the Article: Which Bird Made That Nest? Click here for the complete Teacher's Guide archive!
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WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT?
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 Our Biweekly Guessing Game!
Here's a little woodland mystery for you.
Reader Larry Mulligan has been investigating stone chambers in Putnam County, New York. This picture shows one of about 12 chambers on this particular property. Apparently they predate historical records in that area, so nobody knows for sure what they were used for. What's your guess? Since we don't know the answer either, we'll select a winner based on the most creative answer.
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.
This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, December 14, 2011. |
 Congratulations to our winner Randy Wilcox of Leicester, VT! Randy receives a copy of our book, The Outside Story.
With late November's trees free of leaves, things once hidden have been revealed. Laury Saligman shared this photo of clumps of leaves and twigs in a cluster of trees. What are they?
NW Answer: Bear nests.
These clumps of leaves and twigs were made by a black bear sitting in the crotch of a beech tree, breaking branches and pulling them toward her to get at the beech nuts. When the bear was done feeding and climbed down out of the tree, she left these nest-like structures behind. Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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If you are an educator who finds Northern Woodlands magazine useful in your classroom, you are eligible for a complimentary subscription. Simply e-mail your completed registration form to the NWGTS coordinator Emily Rowe.
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We Welcome Your Questions and Comments
Postal Address:
Northern Woodlands
1776 Center Road
P.O. Box 471
Corinth, VT 05039
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Phone: (802) 439-6292
Fax: (802) 439-6296
Email: emily@northernwoodlands.org
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The mission of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education is to advance a culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast and to increase understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region's forests. Our programs give people the information they need to help build a sustainable future for our region. Through Northern Woodlands magazine, the Northern Woodlands Goes to School program, and special publications, we make a difference in how people care for their land.
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