Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger

“Every night the owl with his wild monkey-face calls through the black branches, and the mice freeze and the rabbits shiver in the snowy fields— and then there is the long, deep trough of silence when he stops singing, and steps into the air.” —…

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”  — Rachael Carson, The Sense of Wonder Saturday, March 20 at 5:37 a.m. is the vernal equinox and the first day of…

“Now is that sweet unwritten moment when all things are possible, are just begun. The little tree has not quite leafed. The mate is not yet chosen. To the rambler in the woods all that he can find in heavy books will be of less…

“I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” — Henry David Thoreau, from “The Dispersion of Seeds,” 1860-1861 One of the joys of winter is the arrival of seed catalogs in…

This winter I’ve noticed a variety of winter bird species gathering in flocks at my feeder. Each year I expect to see several dark eyed juncos scouring the grass under our feeder. This year they arrived in late fall, right on time from nesting grounds…

“The next day, Friday morning, Brother Simpson took me down to the steamboat and started me for New York, giving me a letter directed to David Ruggles, of New York.”  From the Autobiography of James L. Smith, published in 1881 and reprinted by the Society…

And then the owl called, and I wondered why that sound had ever inspired fear or horror. It was bird song and I thanked God for it, in the night and the silence and the cold winter’s nadir. Bird song in February darkness! A voice,…

Every season of the year brings an opportunity for an enjoyable day outdoors, whether it is spent exploring forest or field, river or lake. Months and weeks turn purposefully through the lifecycle of our natural world. Our encounters and experiences change within that annual cycle…

For folks looking to get outdoors with family, friends, or just a solo hike in nature, let me suggest a letterboxing activity as a fun way to explore. If you have youngsters and would like to spark their interest in nature, then the enticement of…

Every January for the past 11 years I’ve visited the Quinebaug Valley Trout Hatchery to look for eagles. Last Saturday I returned again, this time with seven other eagle searchers. We were there to take part in the annual Midwinter Eagle Survey organized by the…

Jan. 1 dawned with temperatures in the low 30s, low hanging clouds and the occasional peeks of sunlight. My wife and I have a tradition of a hike or walk to begin the new year. “First Day” hikes are a fun tradition for many people,…

“On this day of bleak cold, the earth seems dead. Yet every northern field and hillside, like a child, has seeds and powers of growth locked within it. From cocoon to bur on a winter’s day, there is everywhere life, dormant but waiting,” By Edwin…