Monthly Archives: November 2014

Signs of Winter #3: Ecological Premonitions

There are many amazing things about nature that are both observable and explainable. One that probably isn’t, though, involves organisms like oak trees and woodpeckers and spiders forecasting, many months ahead of time, the intensity of a coming winter. For … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter #2: Spruce Flats Bog

The visual image and history of the Spruce Flats Bog are important (to the left is a summer picture of the bog). First, like the top of most of Laurel Hill, the overall topography of this site is remarkably flat. … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter #1: Hiking Wolf Rocks Trail

Wolf Rocks Trail is in Laurel Summit State Park about five miles east from the Grove Run Trail that we hiked last month. This area, like that around Grove Run, was extensively logged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth … Continue reading

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Signs of Fall 11: Robins and Ring-necked Snakes

I hadn’t seen (or heard) a robin (good old Turdus migratorius) in several weeks. Over the early weeks of the Fall small flocks had passed over our hilltop on their south and west trajectories. Every once and a while one … Continue reading

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