Field notes, delivered monthly

From the Station

1. The Plateau

   About 10,000 species are known from the region around Highlands.

2. Rain

   The Station’s rain gauge has averaged 86.65 inches a year since 1961. The wettest year on record, 2020, brought 137.33 inches.

3. Plants

   Some 1,400 kinds of flowering plants grow in the region.

4. Fungi

   About 2,300 fungi have been described here, and as many as 20,000 may exist.

5. The gardens

   The Highlands Botanical Gardens are the highest public native plant botanical gardens in eastern North America.

6. The museum

   The Station’s museum opened on July 4, 1928, in a one-room addition to the Hudson Library.

7. A big storm

   In September 2004, 32.37 inches of rain fell at the Station: the most of any month in the record.

8. Campus

   Over half of the 24-acre campus is natural area, including an old-growth ravine, a bog and Lindenwood Lake.

9. The Nature Center

   School tours of the Nature Center and gardens include a hemlock more than 400 years old.

10. Lectures

    The Zahner Conservation Lectures carry on a tradition of summer talks that began in the 1930s.

11. Birds

    Since 2020, bird banders have run a MAPS station on campus, part of a continent-wide effort to track North America’s birds.

12. Research

    Research at HBS has produced 281 papers, reports and books since 2000.