An online resource based on the award-winning nature guide – maryholland505@gmail.com

WELCOME TO A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE FIELDS, WOODS, AND MARSHES OF NEW ENGLAND

Find more of my photographs and information similar to that which I post in this blog in my award-winning book NATURALLY CURIOUS

Latest

Who Benefits From Woodpeckers’ Hard Work Besides Woodpeckers?

As mentioned in a recent post, this is time of year when woodpeckers are excavating nesting cavities.  Once a woodpecker’s young are raised and have fledged, the entire family abandons the cavity, but its usefulness is far from over.  As shelters, cavities are prime property for all kinds of animals — they are off the ground and thus easier to defend from predators and they provide protection from the elements. 

Because woodpeckers typically excavate a new cavity every year and rarely reuse an old one, many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects have access to ready-made homes.  A multitude of species of wildlife rely on the holes left behind by woodpeckers for nesting, roosting, and shelter. Squirrels, owls, salamanders, wood ducks, bats, nuthatches, grey treefrogs, mergansers – animals incapable of making their own cavities – benefit from the weeks of work that woodpeckers devote to creating them.  (Photo: female Pileated Woodpecker removing wood chips during cavity excavation)

 Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  April 17, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Boxelder Bugs Emerging From Hibernation

With the warmer weather, adult Boxelder Bugs (Boisea trivittata) are emerging from hibernation and congregating on the sunny side of trees, buildings and rocks just as the buds on Boxelder trees are starting to open.  They suck sap from the leaves, tender twigs, and developing seeds of the tree they are named after with their piercing/sucking mouthparts, inflicting little damage to the trees.  In mid-July they move to female Boxelders where they lay eggs in bark crevices; bright red juvenile Boxelder nymphs hatch in a couple of weeks.  Come fall these bugs congregate on the south sides of trees and buildings before settling into protected hibernacula such as attics, cellars and other protected areas.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  April 13, 2026 | Categories: Insects, April, Bugs, Invertebrates, Boxelder Bugs, Boxelder | 2 Comments

Skunk Cabbage Marauders

Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of the earliest flowers to emerge in the spring due to its ability to create its own heat (a process called thermogenesis).  The maroon, speckled spathe (a hoodlike modified leaf or bract) and the flower-bearing, nob-like spadix within the spathe appear before the green leaves.

All parts of the Skunk Cabbage plant contain calcium oxalate crystals which cause a burning sensation when ingested.  Because of this, Skunk Cabbage is considered inedible, at least by most humans.  There are, however, several creatures which are either unaffected by the crystals, or are simply hungry enough to tolerate them.  The flowering parts of the pictured remains of a Skunk Cabbage were probably eaten by a hungry black bear or snapping turtle emerging from hibernation, or possibly a muskrat or Canada goose.  (Photo by Sadie Brown)

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  April 10, 2026 | Categories: April, Black Bears, Canada Goose, Flowering Plants, Muskrats, Skunk Cabbage, Snapping Turtles, Spadix, Spathe, Thermogenesis | 10 Comments

Male White-tail Yearlings Starting To Disperse While Females Remain With Their Mother

Pictured are a doe and her two yearlings who were grazing on the first green shoots of spring grass.  While fawns are weaned around 2 to 4 months of age, they remain with their mother through the fall and winter to learn foraging and survival skills. When males are a year to a year-and-a-half old they disperse, establishing new ranges as far away as 20 miles. Female yearlings often remain with their mother for up to two years, departing when she gives birth in the spring.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  April 6, 2026 | Categories: April, Dispersal of Young, Mammals, Uncategorized, Ungulates, White-tailed Deer | 1 Comment

Red-bellied Woodpeckers Excavating Cavities

Approximately 20% of the songbirds in the Northeast are cavity nesters.  Some, like woodpeckers, are primary cavity nesters – they create their own holes.  Secondary cavity nesters, such as Eastern Bluebirds, use existing, empty holes.  As a rule, most cavity nesters begin nesting earlier than open nesters, as cavities offer shelter, while open-nesting birds tend to wait for foliage coverage.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been extending their range north and west since the early 1900’s, and have reached southern New England and the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York. They generally select dead trees or dead limbs in live trees and characteristically return to the same stub or limb to nest in successive years, excavating a new cavity beneath the previous year’s cavity. 

Initially a process of “mutual tapping” takes place, where the male taps the tree softly and shows his mate a prospective site or the beginnings of an excavation.  If she approves, she joins him in tapping, giving him the green light. Both male and female then proceed to excavate a cavity roughly 9”-13” inches deep.  After 20 minutes or so of excavating inside the tree, the woodpecker fills its beak with the miniscule wood chips it’s produced and appears at the entrance hole, opening its beak wide as it flicks the chips into the air.  Quickly it disappears back into the hole and repeats the process until the wood chips are gone and it’s time to do some more excavating.  Eventually its mate appears and there is a changing of the guard. Most cavities are completed within a week or two, and an average of four eggs are laid within the next week.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  April 3, 2026 | Categories: April, Cavity Nesting Birds, Eastern Bluebird, Nests, Primary Cavity Nesters, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Secondary Cavity Nesters, Uncategorized | Tags: | 11 Comments

Canada Geese Landing

Congratulations to Lucy, the first of many NC readers to correctly identify Canada Geese as the creators of the markings in the Mystery Photo’s pond ice. Canada Geese, harbingers of the changing seasons, are crowding the skies, lakes and flooded fields as spring approaches.  They are very versatile birds, in that they can take off and land on both water and land. When landing, they perform a series of coordinated maneuvers that involve using their wings, tail, and feet as aerodynamic brakes.  Wings are extended and held rigid, acting as parachutes to slow their speed as they drop rapidly in elevation. Their tail is fanned out and their feet are stretched out, acting as air brakes.  They land feet first, skidding into a sitting position (on water/ice) and running (on land) until coming to a full stop.

If you look closely at the accompanying photograph, you can see the two lines that their extended feet made in the ice when they were first landing, and then the impression their body made upon settling on the ice.  Tracks lead from their landing spots to nearby open water.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  March 30, 2026 | Categories: Canada Goose, Flight, March, Uncategorized | Tags: | 2 Comments

Mystery Photo

Do you know what happened on the surface of this icy pond?  Share your thoughts — go to www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and then scroll down to “Comments” and solve the mystery!

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  March 27, 2026 | Categories: March, Mystery Photo, Uncategorized | 45 Comments

Black Bears Emerging From Hibernation

Black Bears in northern New England have started emerging from hibernation, with males usually becoming active before females and their cubs.  You might think that they would be ravenous upon waking from a four- or five-month period of no eating or drinking, but it takes two to three weeks for their metabolism to return to normal.  During this time of “walking hibernation” bears eat and drink much less than normal.  Many have lost a significant amount of body fat, and they are sluggish with reduced appetites. When their appetite returns, Black Bears typically head for forested wetlands, beaver ponds, and along streams and riverbanks where tender new grasses, sedges and a variety of succulent plants can be found.

(Photo: Black Bear mother and three yearlings shelter at the base of a large White Pine shortly after emerging from hibernation. Black Bear young stay with their mother until they are nearly a year and a half old. In May or June of the year after their birth they disperse and she mates.)

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button. 

Posted by  |  March 23, 2026 | Categories: Black Bear Yearlings, Black Bears, Hibernation, March, Uncategorized, Walking Hibernation | 9 Comments

Amphibians On The Move

Every spring, frog, toad and salamander lovers await the first warm, rainy night in early spring in hopes of observing hoards of amphibians awakening from their winter hibernation and migrating from their upland hibernacula to wetlands to breed.  For many in the Northeast the start of this migration began this week.  Monday evening temperatures hovered around 60°F. in the Champlain Valley Basin in Vermont and it was raining lightly.  Hundreds of Blue-spotted Salamanders, Spotted Salamanders, Wood Frogs, Four-toed Salamanders, Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, Spring Peepers, and Eastern Newts were rescued from moving cars as they crossed roads in order to get to their breeding grounds.

 Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.  

Posted by  |  March 20, 2026 | Categories: Amphibians, Blue-spotted Salamander, Eastern Newt, Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Four-toed Salamanders, March, Spotted Salamanders, Spring Peeper, Uncategorized, Wood Frog | 3 Comments

Bud Scales

Bud scales are modified leaves that cover and protect immature leaves, stems, or flowers within a woody plant bud from dehydration and damage during dormancy. They are present from the development of buds in the summer until spring, when they are shed as the new growth within them emerges.

 During the winter months, the appearance of buds and the arrangement, color and number of their bud scales can be helpful sources of tree and shrub identification. Most woody plants, including American Beech, have “imbricate” scales which overlap like shingles. Others, like dogwoods and Nannyberry have two or three scales that meet in the middle without overlapping (“valvate”).  Still other buds, like those of Hobblebush and Witch Hazel, lack any bud scales and their buds are referred to as “naked.”  Willows, whose buds are just beginning to swell and open, are unusual in that they have only one bud scale which consists of two fused scales. 

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to http://www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Posted by  |  March 16, 2026 | Categories: American Beech, Bud Scales, Buds, Hobblebush, Nannyberry, Uncategorized, Willows, Woody Plants | 7 Comments