Author: egawarkiewicz

“Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, lightning bugs.

Hello, Hello.

I am glad to see you, lightning bugs.

You glow, you glow!”

– from Larry the Lightning Bug by Bill Walker (1953 recording from Miss Frances of Ding Dong School)

Heather has loved fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, since childhood when her dad told her stories about a lightning bug named Larry who sang a little song.

Fireflies are neither flies nor true bugs. Rather, they are beetles, but their name is accurate in describing their ability to produce light. While not all of the around 2,000 firefly species worldwide flash, all firefly larvae  (aka glowworms) display bioluminescence. Fireflies likely evolved the ability to light up as a way to ward off predators, but now they mostly use their “lightning” to find mates. Each firefly species has a unique light pattern. Generally the males fly and display their specific flashes, while females on the ground respond with the matching pattern. Although some female fireflies, “femmes fatales,” prey on male fireflies of a different genus by copying their light signals. 

How do fireflies make light? They have a special organ in their abdomens that combines the chemical luciferin, luciferases enzymes, and oxygen to produce light. This “lantern” organ contains lots of air tubes and reflector cells, and the firefly can regulate the amount of air coming in through the air tubes. Fireflies are extremely efficient—somewhere between 90-96% of their chemical energy is converted to visible light.

Warm June evenings bring the bright and brief firefly season. The next few weeks is the time for adult firefly observations. Just before dark, can you see them emerging from their daytime hideouts? Can you notice different flash patterns? How about creating your own flashlight firefly language?

What are these small pineapple-looking structures at the end of white pine branches? 

White pine male cones are opening and releasing pollen! While these clusters of male cones are roughly pineapple-shaped, the word “pineapple” was first used in 14th century English to describe female pine cones (medieval botanists often used “apple” to refer to any unfamiliar fruit). Then “pineapple” was used by European explorers in the 1600s as they thought the tropical fruit resembled a large pine cone. 

White pines bear male and female cones on the same tree. Male cones have papery scales that open to disperse loads of light yellow pollen to the wind. You may see it on the edges of puddles or covering your windshield.

White pine male cones are only around in late spring/early summer, while female cones develop over two summers. After the pollen is dispersed, look below white pine trees for a carpet of shed male cones.

“Hilloway, holloway, willowy wee, let’s make the teacher a honeybee!”

Four Winds Nature Program students at Barstow Memorial School in Chittenden, VT recently explored honeybees and other pollinators. They learned about honeybee anatomy by dressing up their teachers – complete with a head, fuzzy thorax, and abdomen; four wings; two antenna; six legs with pollen baskets, pollen combs, and brushes; compound eyes for excellent flower-spying and simple eyes for seeing in the dark hive; a long proboscis for sipping nectar; a honey stomach to carry nectar back to the hive; wax glands; and a stinger.

Students practiced being pollinators by using cotton swabs to gently gather and transfer pollen among dandelions, some wondering if they brought pollen from one species of flower to another, would they create fun new hybrids to find next year?

Students had the most fun practicing the “waggle dance” used in honeybee hives to communicate the location of distant flowers. They took turns gathering “flowers” of different colors and bringing them back to their “hive” then letting their fellow foraging “bees” know how far away and in what direction the flower patches were located. Many agreed with Nellie-Bee from the puppet show, exclaiming, “Being a bee is hard work! We just want to eat honey!”

Upon watching a bumblebee buzzing among the dandelions, the students discussed our very important native pollinators. “I understand how honeybees fly”, said one student, “but how do big ol’ bumbles do that?!”

Honeybees (an introduced species brought to North America by settlers from Europe in the 1600’s for honey and to pollinate crops) are just one of many pollinators. Keep an eye out for some of the around 400 native bee species in the Northeast!

Faces are all around us if we begin to look for them. Humans brains perceive familiar patterns (often faces) on random stimuli – a phenomenon known as pareidolia. This inclination to recognize patterns and apply meaning likely served as a survival mechanism, enabling people to quickly identify threats.

As you look around outside, what faces do you see? What stories do these faces have to tell?

Why is this mossy creature feeling glum? 

What is this otter grinning about? 

Why did a beaver make this self portrait? 

How did this moose get inside the library? 

Here are some children’s books about pareidolia:

As we’re entering black fly season – approximately between mother’s day and father’s day in northern New England – consider reasons to appreciate them.

-Black flies are a sign of good water quality. Female black flies lay their eggs in running water. When the eggs hatch, the larvae, which look like wormy bowling pins because of their bulbous rear ends, attach themselves to submerged stones and branches and filter the bacteria, algae, and organic matter with hairy fan-like mouth parts. Most black fly species will not tolerate pollution.

-Black flies are an important part of the food web. Larvae and adults serve as food for fish (including trout), birds (notably nesting northern ducks), insects, and bats.

-Of the 40 species of black flies in Vermont, only 4 or 5 bite humans, most species feed on birds or other animals. Only female flies seek to bite warm-blooded animals with their serrated, scissor-like jaws. They need a blood meal to lay viable eggs. Males do not even have mouth parts that can bite; they only sip nectar.

To protect yourself from black fly bites, wear light-colored clothing that does not have buttons (the flies can crawl in through the spaces between the buttons), tuck your shirt into your pants, wear a second layer, and perhaps a head net. Black flies are most active during the day—especially on cloudy, still, humid days—and do not like to go indoors.

Celebrate black flies at the annual Blackfly Festival in Adamant, Vermont on June 6th! 

Who is this emerging plant? 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit is unfurling! Named for the resemblance to a preacher in a canopied pulpit, “Jack” is a spadix (a spike with many small flowers) and “the pulpit” is a spathe (a modified leaf bract that surrounds the spadix). 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit bears male flowers for the first year or two, then the sex of “Jack’s” flowers depends on the amount of fall food accumulated in the corm (underground food storage organ). With ample food, a female plant, usually with two leaves, arises in the spring. With less food, a male plant, usually with one leaf, emerges. If the corm is starved, only a leaf develops.

Take a peek inside the “pulpit” to confirm the sex of Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Male plants have stubby purple projections with stamens dusted in yellow pollen. Female plants have a cluster of small green berries, which will mature into brilliant red fruits in late summer.

Male Jack-in-the-Pulpit left (Laval University, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons) and female Jack-in-the-Pulpit right (Homer D. House, New York State Botanist. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
– Troilus and Cressida, William Shakespeare

Tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket Day! This celebration of literacy and culture originated in 2002 in New York City and has expanded across the United States. On this day, during National Poetry Month, you’re encouraged to select a poem, carry it on a slip of paper in your pocket, and share it with others throughout the day. 

Other ways to share a poem include: reading a poem aloud to family and friends, or to the animals and plants outside your door; adding a poem to your email footer or posting one on social media; printing a poem and illustrating the blank space.

Here are a few of our favorite nature poems. Which poem will you select for Poem in Your Pocket Day? Share it with us in the comments!

A haiku from a Four Winds naturalist educator:

Single black cricket
Loves singing, dancing, night life
Seeks music lover

Dear Oak,
I am round and ready. Bursting
with hope, crammed with possibilities.
I know I must drop and sleep and
sprout and grow. So Slow! But then,
Oak, I’ll stretch up my arms,
strong and true. I’ll be your
friend, the one who rises
up beside you.
Love,
Acorn
– Dear Acorn (Love, Oak) Letter Poems to Friends by Joyce Sidman

Today is the 56th anniversary of a worldwide movement in support of this beautiful blue planet. One way to celebrate Earth Day is to go for a “be free-ing” spring ephemeral walk. 

Now is the special time between snow pack melt and canopy closure when spring ephemeral flowers bloom. The plants produced compact leaves, stems, and flower buds within their bulbs this past fall. So with the soil temperature and light cues of early spring, the ephemerals are ready to burst through the leaf litter. This rapid growth can cause emerging leaves and flowers to get choked in decaying leaves.

When you notice this, gently remove the old leaves and let the spring ephemerals be free – a small gesture of care and connection in celebration of Earth Day.

The Four Winds Nature Program is open for enrollment for the 2026–2027 school year — discover the wonders of the natural world right outside your school door.

What is the Four Winds Nature Program?

Four Winds offers monthly natural science workshops in communities across Vermont and neighboring states. Designed for adult volunteers who want to share nearby nature with school children, each workshop blends natural science with hands-on activities — and plenty of joy and wonder along the way.

With over 40 lessons organized into five year-long courses of study, each concept focuses on a different key science standard. The program’s whole philosophy is simple: get kids and adults outside, together, learning about the natural world.

How does it work?

Four Winds educators meet volunteers outdoors — at the school or a local public space — for monthly training workshops. Volunteers then go into classrooms in teams of two or more, taking children outside to look, discover, and learn. It’s collaborative, community-driven, and grounded in place.

Each volunteer commits around 5 hours a month: roughly 2 hours of training, 1–2 hours of preparation, and 1–2 hours teaching alongside a partner. The adult training sessions are fun, collegial gatherings — and the children’s lessons are filled with questions, discoveries, laughter, and learning.

Who can volunteer?

No science degree. No teaching certificate. Just an enthusiastic interest in learning and sharing. Four Winds volunteers are parents and community members who value the chance to discover nature alongside children. Enrollment in the Nature Program includes training workshops for volunteers, teaching materials, and password access to online resources, including Nearby Nature from Home for in-class or at-home extensions of volunteer-led lessons.

How do I bring the program to my school?

If you are a parent or community member, start by sharing information about the Nature Program with your school’s principal and/or Parent-Teacher Organization. Once there’s interest and support, the next step is deciding how many workshops your school would like and filling out an enrollment form.

To get started, reach out to Nature Program Coordinator Hilary Redman at tnp@fwni.org — she’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have.

What people are saying about the program:

Reflections from a teacher:
“Last week we had another incredible session with our Four Winds instructors. We got the chance to learn and see some really interesting owl and grouse wing and talon adaptations as well as dissect owl pellets in groups of 2-3. This was a wonderful lesson and I remain ever grateful that we have Four Winds at [our school] this year.”

Reflections from a parent:
“I really appreciate my kids having hands-on nature education that is focused on the wonders in our backyard, because I think it helps to ground them with a strong sense of place. And, they say it’s fun! It is amazing to hear that about something that happened at school.”

Reflections from a volunteer:
“Through curiosity and hands-on experiences in the natural world, Four Winds allows our love of nature and wildlife to shine!”

Reflections from students:
“I love that my dad teaches my class.”
“I love that people volunteer to come in and teach kids about all these amazing, cool things and I really appreciate it.”
“I think it’s a really fun way for people to learn about more animals and how they develop and their adaptations.”
“I think it’s really cool because you [the volunteers] spend your time with us and teach us some new things.”

Why are these snakes all intertwined? 

This is a mating ball of common garter snakes! After spending the winter communally brumating in the protection of a chipmunk burrow, woodchuck den, or other cavity where they won’t freeze, garter snakes emerge from their winter dens to bask in the spring sunshine (usually in April). Males come out first in groups and later females emerge singly. The males, sometimes over a hundred, will wiggle around a female forming the mating ball. The females incubate the developing embryos within their body until around August when they give birth to live young. 

In areas of Canada, like Narcisse, limited den sites lead to snakes migrating and gathering together in groups of tens of thousands!