Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger
Famous rodent neither chucker of wood nor meteorologist
“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
″…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
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
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
“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
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
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…
Stock Up on Seed To Help Birds Weather the Winter
My interest in wild birds was a gift from my parents. I grew up in a woodsy Boston suburb with lots of trees and wildlife in and around our neighborhood. We always had a bird feeder, and one of my chores was to check it…
Fenton River a Beautiful and Essential Resource
“A river comes from somewhere, flows past my wondering eyes, and goes on to some other place. It has movement, change, and there is a sense of both time and eternity in it. The river tells me that so long as there are heights and…
Northern Red Oak is Mighty and Reliable
“The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground.” Anonymous – fortune cookie There is a giant in our forests. Not only is it rooted deep here in The Last Green Valley and New England, but it can be…
Bobcats Alive and Well in The Last Green Valley
I saw a bobcat for the first time as a 10-year-old, visiting family friends in Sudbury, Mass. They had an old farm, and the bobcat was walking on a stone wall separating a hay field from a corn field. My dad spotted it, pointed it…
Veterans’ Life Stories Important to Remember
Saturday is Veterans Day, our national holiday to honor veterans of all wars. Originally called Armistice Day, the day marks the end of hostilities in World War I, which occurred on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Veterans Day is…