Field Guide

WHO Bill Thompson III WHAT Bill Thompson III is editor of the bimonthly Bird Watcher's Digest and author of "The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of North America. " He lives in Ohio and will be at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge on May 26 for "Watch Out for Vulture Vomit and Other Adventures in Bird Watching. " (2 p.m. 617- 495-3045. www.hmnh.harvard .edu) Q. Why did you write a bird-watching guide for kids? A. I first sparked on bird-watching in 1968 when a snowy owl came into our yard in Iowa.

WHO Bill Thompson III WHAT Bill Thompson III is editor of the bimonthly Bird Watcher's Digest and author of "The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of North America. " He lives in Ohio and will be at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge on May 26 for "Watch Out for Vulture Vomit and Other Adventures in Bird Watching. " (2 p.m. 617- 495-3045. www.hmnh.harvard .edu) Q. Why did you write a bird-watching guide for kids? A. I first sparked on bird-watching in 1968 when a snowy owl came into our yard in Iowa.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- You haven't tasted ice cream until you've tasted Jeni's. Located at the historic North Market in Ohio's biggest city, Jeni's Ice Cream is boutique frozen confection at its best, hand-crafted in small batches with exotic sounding ingredients like Madagascar vanilla bean, Vietnamese cinnamon, and varietal chocolates from Venezuela and around Africa. Owner Jeni Britton supports local farmers as well, insisting on fresh Ohio dairy, and Ashland County honey and fruits from the Ohio countryside.

Ruth Kassinger had been hit hard by her sister’s cancer death at 45, followed closely by her battle with breast cancer. She never liked gardening and was repelled by worms, but after visiting the conservatory of the US Botanical Garden on the Washington Mall in winter, she astonished her family by announcing she would build her own private conservatory, “the perfect antidote to the losses and changes of middle age.’’ She did that and also...

Summer has just landed and with it comes bugs. Legions, hordes, swarms of bugs. They’re coming to eat our lettuce, spread our pathogens, gnaw our roofs, raid our cabinets, presage our plagues, and drink our blood. Who needs ’em? We do, actually. Without insects we’d have no vegetables, no birds, no flowers, no hamburgers, no cotton, no trout. No ice cream! No rose bushes! Terrestrial ecosystems would collapse. Dead bodies would rot in the streets. So we take the bad with the good, the stings with the honey.

Ruth Kassinger had been hit hard by her sister’s cancer death at 45, followed closely by her battle with breast cancer. She never liked gardening and was repelled by worms, but after visiting the conservatory of the US Botanical Garden on the Washington Mall in winter, she astonished her family by announcing she would build her own private conservatory, “the perfect antidote to the losses and changes of middle age.’’ She did that and also...

Some romantic souls believe that the Inn by the Sea, built in the '80s and a youngster among New England lodgings, is already haunted. They talk about an empty elevator that goes up and down and table settings that are mysteriously rearranged overnight. Guests have even reported awakening to find the imprint of a visitor on the foot of the bed. Maybe the gray shingles, sloping rooflines, and low profile fooled the ghost: The inn looks as if it could have been squatting on the bluff above the marshes since Roosevelt was president.

As the lazy days of summer wind down and the first red leaves signal fall's imminent arrival, high school seniors begin mulling the often angst-filled question of where to apply to college, and parents begin mapping out college tours. In an attempt to ease the pain to psyche and wallet for both generations, I visited four university towns in Massachusetts and compiled a list of reasonably priced and strategically located places to sleep and dine. WORCESTER Assumption College, Becker College, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross,...

The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong By Donald Kroodsma Houghton Mifflin, 482 pp., illustrated, $28 Why Birds Sing: A Journey Into the Mystery of Bird Song By David Rothenberg Basic, 258 pp., illustrated, $26 Birds occupy a world much like ours: They see in color and inhabit territories filled with sound. Cats come alive when we're going to bed; dogs move through a universe inconceivably rich with smells. Birds, though, sleep at night, speak in dialects, love springtime, music, and bright...

WHEN SHE WAS SHOPPING for a house, Melissa Cicaloni told her real estate agent something a broker seldom hears: "I want a ranch. " It was a surprise even to Cicaloni, who had not started her search with a ranch in mind. "I'm much more of an Arts and Crafts/bungalow kind of person," the 43-year-old says. "Actually, my ideal house would be a huge Victorian, but I could never afford that. " After looking at several bungalows, though, she came to the realization that the style wasn't what she wanted at all. "They're kind of small, and they have tiny closets," she says.

Summer has just landed and with it comes bugs. Legions, hordes, swarms of bugs. They’re coming to eat our lettuce, spread our pathogens, gnaw our roofs, raid our cabinets, presage our plagues, and drink our blood. Who needs ’em? We do, actually. Without insects we’d have no vegetables, no birds, no flowers, no hamburgers, no cotton, no trout. No ice cream! No rose bushes! Terrestrial ecosystems would collapse. Dead bodies would rot in the streets. So we take the bad with the good, the stings with the honey.

As the lazy days of summer wind down and the first red leaves signal fall's imminent arrival, high school seniors begin mulling the often angst-filled question of where to apply to college, and parents begin mapping out college tours. In an attempt to ease the pain to psyche and wallet for both generations, I visited four university towns in Massachusetts and compiled a list of reasonably priced and strategically located places to sleep and dine. WORCESTER Assumption College, Becker College, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- You haven't tasted ice cream until you've tasted Jeni's. Located at the historic North Market in Ohio's biggest city, Jeni's Ice Cream is boutique frozen confection at its best, hand-crafted in small batches with exotic sounding ingredients like Madagascar vanilla bean, Vietnamese cinnamon, and varietal chocolates from Venezuela and around Africa. Owner Jeni Britton supports local farmers as well, insisting on fresh Ohio dairy, and Ashland County honey and fruits from the Ohio countryside.

The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong By Donald Kroodsma Houghton Mifflin, 482 pp., illustrated, $28 Why Birds Sing: A Journey Into the Mystery of Bird Song By David Rothenberg Basic, 258 pp., illustrated, $26 Birds occupy a world much like ours: They see in color and inhabit territories filled with sound. Cats come alive when we're going to bed; dogs move through a universe inconceivably rich with smells. Birds, though, sleep at night, speak in dialects, love springtime, music, and...

Some romantic souls believe that the Inn by the Sea, built in the '80s and a youngster among New England lodgings, is already haunted. They talk about an empty elevator that goes up and down and table settings that are mysteriously rearranged overnight. Guests have even reported awakening to find the imprint of a visitor on the foot of the bed. Maybe the gray shingles, sloping rooflines, and low profile fooled the ghost: The inn looks as if it could have been squatting on the bluff above the marshes since Roosevelt was president.

Trinity College has started a special project to display every page of its rare edition of "Birds of America," John James Audubon's illustrated field guide on identifying and documenting birds. The large book is in a protected display case at Trinity's Watkinson Library, where its head curator will turn one page each week for viewing until the last one is displayed. That will take more than eight years, and the process will start again in 2020. Fewer than 120 copies of "Birds of America" remain in existence, including one that sold for more than $11.5 million last year in...

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Alaska 907-456-0250, 800-362-4546 arctic.fws.gov For a summer visit, bring camping gear as there are no roads, hotels, or restaurants outside Kaktovik. To get around in the refuge, you will hike or float on a river by raft, canoe, or kayak. To access the refuge, you will need a bush pilot and plane. If you book a guide service, they will handle your bush flight arrangements. Floating one of the several rivers is a popular option.