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By BILL DANIELSON

It appears as though winter has finally arrived. November and December (most of which is technically autumn) were very mild and all through the Christmas break the high temperatures were consistently above freezing. This resulted in little to no snow...

By BILL DANIELSON

Every winter I get a few emails from readers who want to know if it is normal to see American Robins in winter and every winter I send out responses that indicate that the presence of these birds is quite normal. I then go on to discuss various...

By BILL DANIELSON

Dear Reader: I can’t believe that 2023 is almost over. Next week I am going to work on my traditional Year-In-Review column, but today I have decided to give myself permission to go back to one of my favorite photos of 2023. This is a photo that I...

By BILL DANIELSON

As I write this column I am looking out my office window at a world that is enduring its first winter storm of the season. Back in October we saw the first flakes of snow, but that wasn’t really enough to describe as a storm. It was thrilling to see,...

By JAMES PENTLAND

With deer activity peaking as they move into their breeding season, officials are warning motorists to be careful to avoid colliding with the wandering ruminants, particularly during the evening commute.Vehicle-deer collisions in Massachusetts are...

By BILL DANIELSON

“One has only to sit down in the woods or fields, or by the shore of the river or the lake, and nearly everything of interest will come round to him, — the birds, the animals, the insects; and presently, after his eye has got accustomed to place, and...

By DOMENIC POLI

Experts say that if you encounter a bear it is important to immediately make yourself look big, talk very calmly and slowly back away.But after that, if you saw the carnivoran mammal in Massachusetts, you can go to bit.ly/3raabc8 to report the...

By BILL DANIELSON

The first week of September was appalling. The highest combination of head and humidity that we had experienced all summer all presented in a heat wave that lasted for four days. Then, even though the temperatures moderated somewhat, the humidity...

By MADDIE FABIAN

EASTHAMPTON – Flora Majumder, age 88, enjoys taking a 20-minute walk every day. Where she lives — at Lathrop Retirement Community in Easthampton — paths, trails and exercise classes that accommodate the use of a cane or walker are plentiful.But, due...

By JULIAN MENDOZA

MONTAGUE — Anywhere from 100 to 10,000 species go extinct each year, a rate 100 to 1,000 times faster than historic extinction rates, according to the American Museum of Natural History. Other species see their habitats condensed by urban development,...

By BILL DANIELSON

Although summer has only really just begun it feels like “deep summer” has already arrived. We already have the heat and the humidity and the almost daily threats of thunderstorms, but if you go out into nature and use your eyes and ears, then it...

By STEVE PFARRER

As spring gets ready to segue into summer, the outdoor music scene is beginning to heat up. And in the Valley, there’s no bigger outdoor music event than the Green River Festival, set to take place June 23 through 25.Now in its 36th season, Green...

By Max Bowen

With the Quabbin Reservoir in the background, friends and supporters celebrated a day two years in the making.The Quabbin Reservoir Visitor Center in Belchertown has been renamed the Les and Terry Campbell Quabbin Visitor Center, to honor the two...

By BILL DANIELSON

To celebrate our anniversary, my beautiful wife Susan and I decided to spend the first weekend of May in Newport, Rhode Island. This is where we were staying when I proposed to her and every now and then we like to head back to the scene of the crime...

By BILL DANIELSON

Three or four times last week I noticed an enormous raccoon on my deck in the moments just before dawn. This was clearly a raccoon that was scrounging for any scraps left over from the meal that I had set out for the birds the evening before and I...

Dear EarthTalk: How are environmental advocates using TikTok to raise awareness and gather support for their causes? — B.K., Seattle, WASocial media has become a powerful tool for environmental activists to raise awareness and advocate for change, and...

By BILL DANIELSON

It was the Friday of my spring break week and the weather had finally improved. The previous weekend had been beautiful with record-setting high temperatures, but I had been fortunate enough to pick up a case of strep throat from one of my students...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — It’s springtime in Northampton again, and that can only mean one thing — the bears are back.A crowd of onlookers gathered around the Hampshire County Courthouse Sunday to catch a glimpse of a black bear that made its way up one of the...

By BILL DANIELSON

I am sure that some of you may have looked at today’s photo and thought, “That’s not a plant.” I know that I had made a New Year’s resolution to focus more attention on plants this year, but Nature herself threw me a curveball when this gorgeous male...

By BILL DANIELSON

It was Wednesday afternoon of last week and I had just returned home from a long day at work. I spent most of the drive home pondering the topic of this week’s column and reflecting on just how tired and worn out I felt. By the time I pulled down my...