Ice Climbing

Many of the secluded gullies of New York become winter playgrounds for ice climbers. Waterfalls turn into majestic sculptures that can be climbed with the proper equipment. It's amazing that each year all of the ice will disappear with rising temperatures, and then reform the next winter.

Mystery Bird

Can any of you nature enthusiasts tell me what kind of bird this is? I mean other than a dead one?

Meleagris gallopavo

A wild turkey almost gave me a heart attack last summer. It was early August, and I was standing in a sunny spot in the woods with thick undergrowth. It was completely silent, until a big turkey flew up from a spot inches from where I was standing. I looked down, and saw a nest with eggs! Hopefully she came back to her brood.

Ambystoma maculatum

The Ambystoma maculatum, or spotted salamander, is seldom seen most of the year. It's reclusive lifestyle is broken for a brief time in the spring, however, when adults will migrate to breed in vernal pools or other bodies of water that lack predatory fish. During this time of unusual activity, spotted salamanders can be seen crossing roads in large numbers. The rest of the year you will have to do some searching if you are to meet one of these beautiful animals. I found this one under a rock near a secluded gully in July.

Megalania prisca

What would it be like to encounter a two-ton lizard in the wild? How about just finding the fossilized bones of such a monster? I would be happy with either.

Old Trail, New Hike

How many of us have a favorite hiking spot that we visit more than any other? I would bet most do. It's a combination of proximity, beauty, and perhaps low traffic from other hikers that draws us to these areas. My favorite place to hike is just six miles from home. I try to hike that trail at least once a week during the milder months. Although it's the same trail every time, it's never the same hike. The changing seasons always add a new element to the experience. In July, I feel like I am walking through a jungle. The woods are filled with foliage, insects, and other living things, and each hike involves an encounter with a seldom seen plant or animal. In the fall, change is everywhere. Secluded stands of sugar maples filter the sunlight to create a colorful new world below the canopy. Each day in the spring seems to offer a gift, whether it's a colony of emerging may apples or the sudden green haze of expanding buds on deciduous trees. The winter is its own world, clean and silent, and the tracks of wildlife serve as telling signs of winter activities. The seasons, however, are still just one source of novelty.
If your favorite hike follows an established trail, and you want to add some freshness to the experience, try leaving the trail for a moment, and making a C-shaped path off into the woods that will bring you back to the main trail. This method provides some of the excitement of bushwhacking, without the danger of getting lost. You will find some of the most interesting plant life just a few feet off the beaten path.

Lizards in New York?

As a child who loved reptiles, I often wished I lived further south. The occasional garter snake or snapping turtle was always an exciting find, but during trips to South Carolina or Florida I was amazed by the abundance of lizards and other fascinating reptiles. Imagine my suprise when, after over twenty years of exploring the woodlands of New York, I found my first lizard: a Coal skink. The habitat was unusual as well - a very desert-like rocky slope on the north side of a stream. I have since returned to the exact site many times, and have found nothing.