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

Snowshoe Hare Hop Around Northern Parts of the State

March 14, 2018

Last month, I ventured to my family’s property in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Located in the Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire, Fitzwilliam is about 90 minutes from where I live in Putnam. My grandparents bought the property in 1933, my father took it over in…

First Woman of Dentistry Practiced in Killingly

March 8, 2018

Over the past six months I have spent several hours in a dentist’s chair. My teeth have endured three crowns and paradental gum procedures. Luckily, I have dodged the dreaded root canal (so far). While I appreciate receiving much-needed and excellent dental care, getting to…

Mansfield Hollow Worth a Visit Any Time of Year

February 26, 2018

The morning of Feb. 10 was bright and sunny, with temperatures rising into the 30s and heading for the 40s. As I pulled into the parking area at Mansfield Hollow Lake and State Park, I found a dozen or more ice fishermen already set up…

Celebrate Presidential Visits to The Last Green Valley

February 20, 2018

Monday is Presidents’ Day, a national holiday held on the third Monday in February to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present. For me, and I think for most folks my age, I remember the holiday as a birthday celebration of both George Washington (Feb.…

We Can All Work Together to Protect Bird Populations

February 19, 2018

Why do birds matter? As author Jonathan Franzen wrote in the January edition of National Geographic, “they are our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding.” As a subscriber to National Geographic, I was pleased to get my January issue and…

Famous rodent neither chucker of wood nor meteorologist

February 5, 2018

“How much wood could a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could chuck wood? As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck, If a woodchuck could chuck wood.” – Mother Goose Friday was Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of…

White Birches Offer Many Uses

January 29, 2018

″…I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree, And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, But dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back. One…

Christmas Bird Count an Educational Experience

January 24, 2018

What do 1,185 birds of 43 different species all have in common? They were all counted in one small slice of The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor as part of the annual Christmas Bird Count. I participated in the count for the first time…

Difficult to Catch a Glimpse of the Shy River Otter

January 16, 2018

It was a freezing cold January morning in 1979. My job at Old Sturbridge Village that morning involved feeding and watering a dozen sheep, two cows, one calf and General Lee (a horse). Maggie, the cow, had been milked and was happily munching the last…

It Was 300 Years Ago When a State Hero Was Born

January 16, 2018

“Passenger, if thou art a soldier, drop a tear over the dust of a Hero, who ever attentive to the lives and happiness of his men dared to lead where any dared to follow.” – inscribed on Israel Putnam’s tomb in Brooklyn On this day…

Creating New Tradition with Christmas Bird Count

January 2, 2018

Do you have a holiday season tradition that you have maintained for many years? For some, a tradition might be antique Christmas tree ornaments passed down through the generations, or grandfather’s amazing eggnog recipe (which you can share with me, if you have one). For…

Christmas Colors Found in the Winter Woods

December 20, 2017

This Thursday, at exactly 11:27 a.m., marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It will be the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight. The winter solstice is when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away…