Environment

Headwaters Sketchbook — Cicadas buzz-saw through the silence of a sweltering August mid-afternoon.

Cecropia moths: Strange and wonderful phantoms of the twilight world.

Lured by warm weather and a bonanza of insects, warblers return from tropical realms. By Don Scallen.

The mellifluous trilling of toads resonates through our hills at this time of year. The tranquil sound wafting through an open window on a warm mid-spring eve is delightful.

On warm evenings in April and May our hills awaken to the life affirming voices of spring peepers. Their shrill calls stir the winter weary soul.

Don Scallen introduces us to three species of salamanders that are starting to appear in our hills. The first half of April is salamander time in our hills.

Should the Greenbelt be expanded? The central purpose of the plan is to protect farmland and environmentally sensitive land on the urban fringe.

In recent years farmers have been subjected to a plethora of regulations related to environmental protection and food safety. Has the pendulum swung too far?

Herons and egrets wading in local wetlands or silhouetted against blue skies, excite people whenever they are seen. They speak to us of grace, elegance and regal bearing. We would do well to listen to what they have to say.

Beer diets, beans diets, Icelandic banks (on a crash diet?), pets, paws and small farm producers. Miscellany from Douglas G. Pearce’s Countryside Digest.

On the way to our one-room primary school, we often picked the first spring flowers to present to our teacher.

Border Thaw “Climate change has led to the introduction of one of the world’s first ‘mobile borders,’ between Switzerland and Italy. The border was originally defined according to where the…