A HABITAT APPROACH TO BECOMING A NATURALIST:

A YEAR AT CRANBERRY LAKE

                                                                Patrick Louis Cooney, Ph.D.

This website shows you how to become a naturalist by tracking a selected natural area, this one in Westchester County, New York.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.  A HABITAT APPROACH TO NATURAL AREAS

CHAPTER 2.  UNDERSTANDING NATURE THROUGH AN UNDERSTANDING OF EVOLUTION AND SPECIES CLASSIFICATION

CHAPTER 3.  AN HISTORICAL APPROACH TO A NATURAL AREA

PART I. WINTER

CHAPTER 4.  JANUARY:  GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHOSEN AREA THROUGH THE STUDY OF ITS GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY

CHAPTER 5.  FEBRUARY:  STUDYING THE EVERGREENS AND WINTER BIRDS

CHAPTER 6.  MARCH:  WINTER ENDS

PART II: SPRING

CHAPTER 7.  LATE MARCH: MORE SIGNS OF SPRING

CHAPTER 8.  EARLY APRIL:  SPRING EPHEMERALS AND THE START OF WARBLER MIGRATION

CHAPTER 9.  LATE APRIL:  LEAFING AND FLOWERING OF FOREST BUSHES

CHAPTER 10.  MAY: LEAFING OF THE TREES

CHAPTER 11.  EARLY JUNE: SWAMPY AREAS AND MOUNTAIN LAUREL

PART III. EARLY SUMMER

CHAPTER 12: LATE JUNE AND EARLY JULY: MEADOWS WITH BUTTERFLIES

CHAPTER 13.  JULY: BOG AND WET MEADOW ENVIRONMENTS

CHAPTER 14.  EARLY TO MID-AUGUST: FOLIAR FRUIT FLAGGING FOR FALL MIGRANTS

CHAPTER 15: LATE AUGUST: DRY MEADOWS AND SEED DISPERSAL

CHAPTER 16.  SEPTEMBER: INTO-THE-FALL BLOOMERS

PART IV. FALL

CHAPTER 17: LATE SEPTEMBER: EARLY COLOR CHANGES

CHAPTER 18.  OCTOBER: DRAMATIC COLOR CHANGES

CHAPTER 19.  NOVEMBER: REMNANT IDENTIFICATION

CHAPTER 20.  DECEMBER: WINTER TREE IDENTIFICATION

PART V. WINTER

POSTSCRIPT AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

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