Outdoor Radio

Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra head to central Vermont in search of the Timber Rattlesnake.

The evening chorus of crickets and katydids can evoke childhood memories of summer as we pause to listen to their distinct sound. But most of us know little about these insects. Known to biologists as Orthoptera (or-THROP-tir-ah), they can be found all over the world, except the poles.

Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra head out to West Haven, Vermont at dusk to brave a cloud of mosquitoes in search of the song of the threatened whip-poor-will.

Hard hats in hand, Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra head to the docks at Lake Champlain. They are taking a boat to Papasquash Island, owned...

Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies recently took a trip to the Bolton Cliffs in search of a mighty bird.

On an early spring day, biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra stand in front of a vernal pool in Strafford. It’s noisy. “The wood frogs are going berserk behind us,” says McFarland. “The sunlight has come down out of the clouds and warmed them up – they are ready to go.”

On an early spring day, biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra stand in front of a vernal pool in Strafford. It’s noisy. “The wood frogs are going...

On a balmy, 25-degree afternoon in winter, three Vermonters go to the tiny town of Victory in the Northeast Kingdom in search of the fearless Gray Jay.

Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra glide out on to the ice covering Lake Morey in Fairlee. “It’s February in Vermont and it’s pond hockey time,” says McFarland.

When you're on the ski lift or hiking up Vermont's mountains, take a look around to see the life zones of the trees on the mountainside. Biologists Sara Zahendra and Kent McFarland of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, rode the gondola at Stowe Mountain Resort for the view from Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield.