Honestly walking a trail through the woods is so pretty sometimes it’s hypnotic. Fall today in the Appalachian foothills. #Hiking #NewYork

Massive #fungus in the forest! On a decaying log. No idea what it is. Kind of like a chicken-of-the-woods (what a sad name for a mushroom, how undignified 😭) but this one is all white. Not orange or yellow. Some kind of big shelf mushroom. #FungusSky #Hiking #NewYork

Hiking through the misty abandoned forest today. Nobody hikes during a light drizzle. It’s my favorite time for solitude on the trail. #Hiking #NewYork

He didn't come to steal food - He came because there's nothing left in the forest.

Bees are small miracles – without them, there would be hardly any life on our planet. They pollinate over 80% of all plants, secure our food supply, and maintain the natural balance. When we protect bees, we protect ourselves – because their buzzing is the heartbeat of nature.

That's my night sorted www.netflix.com/au/title/820...

Jane Goodall offers sage advice for the rest of us. #3E

Did you know there is a #cactus native to New York? Honestly I would have laughed at you. The low prickypear. Here is one today, hanging out and enjoying the sun on New York City’s #Highline wilderness area. Exploring #NewYork

Biodiversity is vanishing fast due to pollution, habitat loss and climate change. But you can help by planting native wildflowers! 🌼 Native plants restore ecosystems and support pollinators. Pick up your free seed packet and help grow a greener, more vibrant NYC! 🌿

Rest in eternity, Jane Goodall. A scientist, a leader, a conservationist for the ages. May your gentle and courageous spirit help guide us forward. 😢 1934-2025. #JaneGoodall

A really cool story about the #milkweed plant and the monarch butterfly who needs it … right here in #NYC! Ps: I’m a “guerilla gardener” also. People spot me scattering milkweed and other #native seeds in NYC all the time. We can rebuild a green Eden. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

I am in a meeting about whether the cemetery board should hire some goats - and one sheep - to mow. This is the best meeting I have ever been in.

"Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact." -Carl Sagan

Spent a little time in a wet forest with trolls.

Watching the Katmai National Park fat bear live cam. You? explore.org/livecams/bro...

Look at how cute these teddy bear (Madeleine?) cookies are. At “Laughing Man” coffee and tea shop in Tribeca.

My small but growing collection of fierce alpha predator—Wild Turkey!—feathers found on the trail. 🦃 No joke though, don’t mess with a group of wild turkeys. Little terror birds, they’ll mess you up. Leave them alone, they leave you alone. Beautiful expressive feathers! #Hiking #Exploring #NewYork

Sphagnum moss, treeskirt moss, this is a #moss and #fern appreciation post in the incredible range and blend of species in every square foot of a healthy forest. Not sure if this “panorama” floor pic will display on BlueSky properly. But take a moment to appreciate the ground as you hike. 💚🌳

Today on the trail I met a sensitive #fern. 😌 Yes that’s its name. Have you used a plant ID app? They improve every year. Some apps also tell you what is native to your area and what is “introduced” (sometimes also invasive). This is the “Seek” app. It identifies insects, animals, fungi too.

Each time I find my FAVORITE spot by a lake, I keep getting topped. This little campsite has a boulder for diving—and someone carried over a massive slab of rock for a fireside bench. Hammock time. #Hiking #NewYork

Just finished the hike, headed home. Views like this remind me it’s good to be alive. #Hiking #NewYork

Kermit, Caturday, and cookies, in that order.

The Hudson valley area is the epicenter of a Japanese #barberry invasion in the Northeast … barberry literally covers a forest floor with dense spike-thorned shrubs that no animal can get through. Except mice. People planted barberry as deer-proof decoration, and then it escaped into the forests.

#Diversity of species is what makes a forest great, a healthy and beautiful bioreservoir of life and variety. I took these photos of a forest floor before, and after, an invasive species arrives. This is Stiltgrass creating a monoculture. It aggressively crowds out anything else.

@okcahi.bsky.social the muppets posters are great 🤣 AI?

Fresh salsa…it’s nice having a garden.

A few moments from a babbling brook on the trail yesterday. The footbridge washed out long ago but I don’t mind—stepping across stones wakes me up. This trickle will be gushing little monster come Spring. #Hiking #NewYork

I’ve been hiking 4 hours and just made it to the lake. My peaceful place. #Hiking #NewYork

Cute as a button! #PincushionMoss. Saw this little guy on the side of the trail just now. We are rapidly losing biodiversity in our forests, covered over by invasive species. Protect these little guys! 💚💚

I LOVE animals, but the over abundance of white tailed deer in NY (and eveywhere) is a huge problem. We need bears and wolves and predators back and … plus these natural fences are a hugely successful. Interesting read! It helps the birds too. All connected. 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌 www.audubon.org/magazine/sur...

Prints available here! www.cougarmagic.com/Prints/i-n7K...

I gave myself a reading project to finish within the year. It’s coming in the mail. I figure the #DeclineAndFall is actually *very* relevant? Not joking, am excited. I studied Ancient Greek and some Latin at university, I love the world of antiquity and love a challenge. #BookSky

Morning Run! Gray chilly morning with rain coming. I ran through the pine forest. I love the smell of pine. Ran 6.5 miles in 46m:09s. #Running #GrayDay #PineForestRun #RunningFitness

Wet Tribe’s coastal cleanup efforts are essential for protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife from pollution that causes entanglement and poisoning by ingestion. #WetTribe #TidetotheOcean #CoastalCleanup #Entanglement #Ingestion

Hiking in New York State, upstate. Such a beautiful place. I’ll be camping soon. Hiking and scoping out spots. This one looks good.

Rock royalty Freddie Mercury, was born on this day in 1946. He died of AIDS in 1991, aged just 45. AIDS not only robbed us of friends and lovers, it also robbed us of all they could have, would have achieved had they lived. #FreddieMercuty

The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.

Invasive plant species are destroying many parks and wilderness areas, but you can do something about it! Join a volunteer work crew! Protect our parks for generations to come. This Saturday 9/6 I’ll be up in Black Rock Forest with the NY/NJ trail conference. www.nynjtc.org/events/

Be a peaceful turtle, resting on a log in a quiet mountain lake. A photo from my hike yesterday. It’s a bit blurry as I kept my distance, the turtle was nude sunbathing—

I really recommend when hiking to bring a hammock with you. Yesterday at the lake. #NewYork #Hiking

Hiked up to the lake today again. Packed my hammock. It’s peaceful. #NewYork #Forests #Hiking

The bark of a chestnut oak is so cool and chunky. It’s like nothing else in the forest. Thick and wavy. #NewYork #Trees

😮. New Helmet. Sturdy, good for the environment, and it compacts/folds to fit in your pack.

This is #PorcelainBerry. An horribly invasive, destructive vine. Covers and kills everything underneath it, trees and all. Makes me sad. Not many people care to do anything about it! The beautiful berries also kill native birds: they eat their fill and starve over winter. Zero nutritional value.

30 seconds of swinging in my hammock, out near the abandoned Black Ash mines. Now peaceful wilderness of NY. #Hiking #Exploring #NewYork

Walking under a forest canopy today, dappled sunlight—this is my happy place. #Hiking #NewYork And tonight I go home and play with my Legos. Life is good. 😘

#Glamping tonight in the Catskills. Rented an airstream. Sleeping in a tent is great but a boy needs some luxury too. #Exploring #NewYork

30 seconds of waterfall peacefulness on the Watkins Glen “gorge trail” yesterday. The moss covered stone steps feel almost as old as the gorge itself. The geology of upstate New York is fascinating! #Hiking #NewYork

Ithaca Falls today. Each waterfall in the area is more beautiful than the next. Goodness. #Exploring #NewYork

Hiking the “Grand Canyon” of #Pennsylvania today. Very pretty. No relation to the granddaddy GC out west.