Wild Side: Knowing how to play the game
The sight, as I’ll explain, is hardly an unusual one. But seeing a great blue heron in winter on Martha’s Vineyard always jars my mind. These gawky birds invariably look miserable in cold weather,...
Wild Side: Unintended consequences
As a kid growing up in Lexington, I took to nature study generally, and birdwatching in particular, with overflowing enthusiasm and at a very early age. One of my favorite days of the year...
Wild Side: Butterflies, insects, and birds
Every piece of the natural world is important, playing a role in supporting other pieces and keeping the whole shebang stable and resilient. But some species seem to do more than their share.
A good...
Wild Side: Migration chaos
Looked at in the most general terms, avian migration is a simple phenomenon. Certain bird species avoid winter conditions that they are poorly equipped to handle, fly South in the fall to new quarters,...
Wild Side: Poised for the plunge
The days grow shorter, the sunshine weaker and more oblique. On a nice day, there may be an hour or so either side of noon that’s warm. But soon, on most days, even that...
Wild Side: The secondary screwworm fly
As the growing season winds down, insect activity fades as well. After all, many insects associate closely with plants, either as pollinators or as herbivores. But some insects remain active through the fall and...
Wild Side: Aster bee
Regular readers of this column will know that there are very few species that I don’t like at least a little. I even give ticks a certain grudging respect for the effectiveness of their...
Wild Side: Assassin bugs
Every so often around the BiodiversityWorks office, where I hold my real job, somebody finds something cool, and we all flock outdoors to see it. Most recently, my colleagues Rich Couse and Robyn Graygor...
Wild Side: The vulnerable yellow-winged grasshopper
One question that I keep coming back to is, “Why are rare species rare?” This query often inspires a related one: “If it’s rare now, was it always rare?” I never expect simple answers,...
Wild Side: The handsome Trigonidiidae
I didn’t begin paying serious attention to Orthoptera — that is, grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids — until 2010. But in the 15 years since then, a total of 70 species in this order have...
Wild Side: The far side of the really great pond
This Wild Side column comes to you from Kent, England, where I’ve been sampling the local wildlife for the past week or so. From our base in the seaside town of Whitstable, we’ve been...
Wild Side: The Smiths’ conundrum
The following is not my story, but it’s still a good one, with a lesson to teach about how the human mind interprets the natural world. The principals in the story have been kind...
Wild Side: The ligated furrow bee
Among the 204 bee species known from Martha’s Vineyard, there are many rare or specialized species that you’re unlikely to encounter unless you make a point of searching. But there are also many bees...
Wild Side: Wet sand biodiversity
Ranking high among the Vineyard’s ecological treasures are our great ponds — those shallow basins, fed by groundwater and penned in by barrier beaches, that line the Island’s southern shoreline. Of great scenic, recreational,...
Wild Side: Breeding Bird Survey
For more than 20 years now, I’ve covered a route on Martha’s Vineyard that is part of the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) project. Now 60 years old, this continent-wide, long-term monitoring...
Wild Side: Distraction display
The killdeer, an interesting and atypical plover that nests in coastal open areas with sparse vegetation, is one of my favorite birds. I devoted a column to this species back in March 2021. So...
Wild Side: Peak time for interesting bee species
The second half of May is peak season for one of the Vineyard’s most interesting bees, Colletes thoracicus, sometimes called the red-backed cellophane bee. Not exactly rare on the Island, the species certainly isn’t...
Wild Side: Evolution is especially creative
The easiest and most rewarding group of flies for amateurs like me to study is the family Syrphidae — that is, hoverflies or flower flies. True to the latter common name, adult flies in...
Wild Side: Very Definitely Spring
This spring is the 26th I’ve spent on Martha’s Vineyard. From the very start of that run, Correllus State Forest established itself as my favorite place for spring naturalizing. And the third week of...
Wild Side: The indestructible seaside goldenrod
Today’s subject is a bit unseasonable, since the plant I’m discussing doesn’t bloom until the shortening days of early autumn. But like most of our native vegetation, it’s breaking dormancy as you read this....