Sylvie Stanback

Of all birds, kingfishers number among my favorites.  They are patient fishers, perching stock still on a branch out over the water, hovering intently, peering straight down along their beaks like a sight, and launching into a dive when they’ve locked onto their target.  They’re wonderful to watch.   However,…

Towards the end of fall term, and into winter break for those who remained in Northfield, Lyman lakes were covered in an enormous honking mass of waterfowl, the majority of which were Canada geese.  But now that the last of the water is frozen over, they are gone from campus,…

If you’ve ever walked along the Cannon River, or spent time on its sandy banks near the entrance of lower arb, you may have seen what look like large clam shells scattered about.  These are the shells of freshwater mussels, a subclass of bivalves that have played an historically important…

The temperatures are drifting upward, and you know what they say about April showers!  Spring is here, and spring wildflowers are on their way to blooming in the Arb.  April marks the beginning of wildflower season and even now the first few spring ephemerals are peeking up through the soil…

While walking through the arb, especially in the mornings and evenings, you may have stumbled upon a herd of white tailed deer.  These creatures, while exciting to see out in the wild, have a rapidly growing population in the United States and require strict and responsible management. These are a…

Winter is the time of year when a lot of animals hunker down for hibernation or migrate to follow food and warmer weather. However, there are some that stick around all year long, and can be seen around campus on cold winter days. One that we all see a lot…

You probably know that autumn is a time for the trees to change colors and drop their leaves. Now that we’ve had our first cold snap on campus and a nice big windstorm to follow, it really is looking like fall around here. But sometimes we need to stop and…