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

“Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem.” – William Hamilton Gibson January reminded us of what winter can really be like here in Southern New England when it dumped one to two feet of snow on The Last…

I first noticed the large gathering of mourning doves under our bird feeder earlier this winter. We frequently see a pair year-round, but this winter we were visited by a flock of more than 15 for the first time I can remember. It was fun…

“The way a crow Shook down on me The Dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I rued.” –“Dust of Snow,” by Robert Frost When the hills and valleys are…

On Jan. 7 we woke to almost a foot of snow and the first good dump of the white stuff of the new year. My week kept me busy with no time to walk around our property in the snow until Jan. 14. By then…

Monday evening brings the Wolf Moon, the first full moon of the new year with peak illumination at 6:51 p.m. Look for it to rise from the northeastern horizon around sunset. In New England, and all the way west to Lake Superior, we use the…

In my column last week, I shared my 2022 bucket list of places to explore our region’s amazing natural resources. Some of the hiking and outdoor locations I want to explore this year are new to me and others are locations I have not visited…

Welcome to 2022. A brand new 12 months and four seasons stretching out before us, providing new outdoor experiences and places to explore. Today we’ll explore my list of interesting locations in The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor I have yet to explore, as well as…

The house where I grew up was a one-level modern house with large windows my folks called “picture windows.” It was on a dead-end road and surrounded by tall trees of mostly oaks, some birch and maples, with the windows affording a panoramic view into…

The morning of Dec. 9 we woke to a dusting of about 1 inch of snow that had me scraping the windshield and brushing off my truck before heading to the office. For some folks winter starts with the first snow, but for me it…

Outside my kitchen window, about 20 yards from the house is a bald-faced hornet’s nest. Suspended by a single thin branch on an old sugar maple tree, it hangs seven feet off the ground and is remarkable for its size and beautiful shape. The nest…

Star gazing is a wonderful activity any time of year, but something about a cold, clear and moonless winter night makes it seem even more magical. There is science behind the magic of winter star gazing; lower humidity in the winter atmosphere means clearer, crisper…

The season of dazzling hillsides ablaze with vivid, colorful, autumnal foliage is all but over. There may be three more weeks before the winter solstice, but already most of our trees are showing their bare, skeletal branches, foretelling the approaching season of cold. At this…