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Newsletter
| October 31, 2014
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 EDITOR'S BLOG
The lab (okay, garage) here at Northern Woodlands was the scene last week of some high-tech testing. Using the latest in scientific hardware - a small glass vial purchased on Amazon for $12.54 - we conducted a series of experiments to test the ethanol content of different gasoline samples...
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 THE OUTSIDE STORY
What (F)lies Beneath: Avian Blood-suckers
Meghan Oliver
When you find a bird feather in the woods and stoop to pick it up, does your mom's voice echo in your brain? Can you hear her say, birds have lice, don't pick that up? Mom was mostly right. Birds can have lice...
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Woolly Bears: Forecast Flops?
Barbara Mackay
Autumn is coming to a close. The brilliant fall foliage is past peak, if not already layered in the compost bin. The last geese are honking their way toward winter homes...
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Tracker Lynn Levine sent along this neat shot. She knows what made the tracks, do you?
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 one of our Season's Main Events Day Calendars. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner's name, will appear in our next e-newsletter.
This week's contest deadline is 8:00 AM, Wednesday, November 12, 2014.
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 Previous Contest Answer
Congratulations to our winner Peter Rzasa of Seymour, CT! Peter receives a Season's Main Events Day Calendar.
This small black patch was seen on the forest floor in early October in southern Vermont. What is it, and what helped cause it?
NW Answer:
Sooty mold on the leaf litter under a beech tree. Above this spot, a branch of the beech is infested with beech blight aphid. The aphids suck the sap but they can't process all of it and the excess "honeydew" drips down and supports the growth of the sooty mold.
Visit our What In The Woods Is That? contest archive.
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 NORTHERN WOODLANDS NEWS
Our cup runneth over. Actually, our inbox spilleth over. Either way, we have a lot of interesting news stories that cross our desks. Here were some of our favorites:
NATURE
The National Audubon Society is once again conducting its world-wide Christmas Bird Count (between December 14, 2014 and January 5, 2015) and needs citizen surveyors. What if saving a forest means changing it? Speaking of changing forests, a new study says it's "disturbances" rather than climate change that's made the most impact. Ancient history, written on birch bark. Pine nuts are expensive, and valuable. And scientists discover the awkward origins of sex (now that's an attention-grabbing headline).
INDUSTRY
A radio discussion about Vermont's family-owned forests. A look at the history - and future - of southern Maine forests, and some rare good news for the state's paper industry. There may also be a future there in "green" paper towels. Will there be another pellet shortage this winter? Slowing global warming by improving logging techniques. The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a free webinar on the development of automated woodstoves.
STORIES YOU'VE SHARED
We heard that the AMC is looking for a trails supervisor in Maine. Also that the Kennebec Land Trust, along with the Maine Forest Service, GrowSmart Maine, CEI, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the Kennebec Woodland Partnership are holding a conference on advancing sustainable forest-based local economies. The public and woodland owners, large and small, are invited to attend the event on Friday, November 14, at the Augusta Civic Center. Finally, we were alerted to this neat story of a New Hampshire hunter who bagged his first moose at age 78.
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We Welcome Your Questions and Comments
Postal Address:
Northern Woodlands
1776 Center Road
P.O. Box 471
Corinth, VT 05039
Toll-Free: (800) 290-5232
Phone: (802) 439-6292
Fax: (802) 368-1053
Email: mail@northernwoodlands.org
General inquiries form
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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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