Notes from the Fields and Forests of Upstate New York

MARCH — Change is upon us. At 5:15 on Wednesday evening, the first traveler of the season was crossing the road.

A red eft no bigger than your pinky was making its careful way across the pavement toward a vernal pool. The tiny amphibian, the wandering juvenile stage of the eastern newt, moved slowly but with unmistakable purpose.

You could easily drive past it without ever knowing it was there.

But its appearance meant something.

After months of frozen ground and snow-quiet forests, the seasonal movements had begun again.

As evening settled in, other signs followed.

Just outside our door came the nasal peent of American woodcocks. Though we could not see them in the darkening sky, the males had begun their courtship display, lifting off from the ground and spiraling upward before tumbling back toward the same patch of earth where they had started.

And with the sudden warmth of a 60-degree night, the ground itself seemed to stir. The rapid melt had saturated the earth and forced earthworms to the surface, and across the lawn they appeared by the hundreds.

These small moments mark the turning of the season.

And they are easy to miss if you are not paying attention.

Old-School Naturalist begins here.

It begins with attention to what is present when everything else has quieted. It is about learning to read the ground in January. About noticing which trees hold their dry leaves and which stand bare, a phenomenon naturalists call marcescence. About hearing a single crow cross open air and understanding how far that sound now travels without foliage to muffle it.

Hard winter slows you down whether you intend it to or not.

Trails become impassable. Ice forms in the low places and holds there. The woods feel wider without leaves. You see deeper between trunks. You see patterns that were invisible in August.

You begin to recognize consistency.

Where the deer cross most often. Where turkeys gather before moving together at first light. Where the wind scours one open stretch and leaves another drifted and sculpted.

And then, almost without announcement, the woods begin to wake again.

Whether you live in Washington County, Schoharie, Columbia, Greene, Albany or Rensselaer, the same quiet truth applies: wildlife is not that distant. And if you stop to look, you will see it woven into our daily lives.

The wild is moving across the same ground you shovel, the same road you drive, the same woods you pass each day without looking twice.

In a culture that moves quickly and scrolls endlessly, winter imposes its own rhythm. Short days. Early dark. Long stretches of quiet.

Being an old-school naturalist does not require pristine wilderness or expensive gear. It requires repetition. Walk the same stretch regularly. Look at the same trees after each snowfall. Notice what changes and what does not.

You begin to see individuals rather than abstractions. The deer that favors a path that begins, somewhat surprisingly, right in your own backyard. The porcupine who returns again and again to the same black locust tree. The turkeys that move as a single unit across open ground, leaving their orderly record behind.

Consider this an invitation.

In the months ahead, Old-School Naturalist will explore the creatures who share our upstate forests and roads, the changing rhythms of the seasons, and the simple ways we can become more observant neighbors to the natural world around us. Some stories will be practical. Some will be reflective. All will begin in the same place: paying attention.

Step outside.

Stand still longer than feels necessary. Look down before you look up. Let your eyes adjust to the reduced light.

Winter has cleared the page.

The wild is writing on it every night.

We only have to learn how to read it.

Old-School Naturalist will return next week.

Between now and then, step outside once at dusk.

That is where it begins.