SHEFFIELD, Mass. — Rene Wendell has been around the woods more than a few times. The 94-year-old Pittsfield native and former tracker and taxidermist is an avid collector of all things wild including flies and beetles and, of course, several decades of memories. 

"I grew up around Burbank Park," he said in a phone interview. "As a kid, the woods were my playground and I was obsessive about animals. That was 70 or 80 years ago, can you imagine? It's been very interesting, I've seen a lot of changes here over the years."

These changes aren't all good. Wendell said that in his many outdoor adventures he has noticed a significant drop in the amount of birds and butterflies that used to fly in abundance in the Berkshires.

"I know it's because of the environment," he said. "A lot of the birds and butterflies are gone. Some of them left because of the environment. This place has changed from open fields to forest, the whole landscape is different."

Fortunately, Wendell has collected thousands of butterflies and insects over the years and he wants to share his collection with others. On Thursday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. at Bartholomew's Cobble, Wendell will present his impressive, well-preserved collection of flies, wasps, beetles, butterflies and moths — all of which he has found on his many forays into the Berkshire meadows and forests.

Strangely enough, Wendell said his favorite specimens have always been the long-horned beetle, an insect many gardeners brush off as destructive pests. It's not the habits of the beetle that concern him.

"I've always loved the way they're shaped and the different colors they have," he said. "That and moths. Moths are beautiful. The ratio of moths to butterflies in the area is 14 to one."

For the most part, Wendell is done adding to his collection. However, there is one insect that has eluded him for years and he hopes that this year he will finally find it.

"There's one more butterfly that I want for my collection," he said. "It's a giant swallowtail butterfly. I've seen them in Sheffield and I keep going back to find them but so far no luck."

For more information about Wendell's presentation call 413-229-8600. Registration is strongly suggested.

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — While making the drive from Sheffield to Lee to cover a story, I noticed three Verizon trucks, one in Great Barrington, one in Stockbridge and one in Lee.

Each truck was cordoned off by bright orange cones and, of course, a police officer stood by to direct traffic around the trucks. Hard hat-wearing maintenance workers were situated in buckets, high above the traffic, working on the lines (for hours in the cold).

That's when it dawned on me — Verizon doesn't have a choice, not anymore. Back in December in a settlement agreement signed by Attorney General Martha Coakley, Verizon, IBEW Local 2324 and Hancock, Egremont and Leverett, Verizon was required to assess and address the poor condition of its phone lines which are strung over 99 communities in Western Mass. The company had until Dec. 31 to survey and repair 33 wire centers (reaching 65 municipalities) and 15 months to improve the condition of its telephone network at 34 other centers.

It appears that they might actually be doing something now that the agreement is in place and all of Massachusetts is watching very closely. I will have to check in with those of you who still have a Verizon landline. I ditched mine once and for all a year ago, when the crackling on the line became a daily nuisance not worth the 40 bucks.

Who knows, maybe once the lines are fixed it will pave the way for high-speed Internet for the still-deprived hilltowns. Hey, anything's possible.

A building off Bridge Street collapsed Sunday. It can be seen as the gray-roofed building to the left in this Google map image. GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — An old wood-frame building behind the Berkshire Cooperative Market on Bridge Street collapsed Sunday afternoon, apparently from the weight of the snow. The collapse was reported at about 1:30 p.m. to police, who were at first concerned that it may have been occupied because utility lines led to the building. However, the building had apparently been abandoned some time ago. It is in wooded area adjancent Memorial Park and accessed by a lane running behind the co-op parking lot. It was unclear who owns the structure.

NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass — Realtor Lance Vermeulen refused to name who purchased nearly 300 acres of land on Canaan Southfield Road for $4.3 million but iBerkshires has a guess.

Your new neighbors may be Amy Selinger and Mark Elefante – a young couple with ties to the former Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones and Co. It could also be one of the Bancrofts themselves – who inherited the Wall Street Journal and made $1.2 billion on its 2007 sale.

Here's how we came up with that.

The property listed at 2128 Canaan Southfield Road was sold to the holding company Vergelegen LLC, according to state land records. The Secretary of State's corporation database shows the agent of the holding company to be Elefante. The holding company's address is the same as the law firm Hemenway and Barnes, which is also noted in the land transfer paperwork.

An attorney with Hemenway and Barnes acted as lead trustee for the sale of Dow Jones and Co. to News Corp. – Rupert Murdoch's empire – in 2007. And that attorney's name..... drumroll please.... Michael Elefante. Michael Elefante is also authorized to execute documents through Vergelegen LLC. 

Michael Elefante joined Hemenway and Barnes in 1970 and served as a director of Dow Jones & Co. – serving with the Bancrofts. Michael was the lead trustee for the Dow Jones Co. His son Mark Elefante joined the law firm later.

But we are not done yet. There are some other factors that lead us to bet on him.

Mark Elefante studied at Williams College and he married Selinger in 2009. Williams students are known to return to the area.

They were both 29 at the time and Vermeulen said that it was a young couple looking for a second home who purchased the property.

Next we have the land itself. The land has three buildings: a 2,100-square-foot farmhouse and two smaller 1,000-square-foot dwellings. Pretty good land for farming and horse-breeding, we would think. With ties to the Bancroft family, we could suspect the Elefantes run in similar circles and Wikipedia says the Bancrofts enjoy farming and horse-breeding.

We do wonder if maybe Mark Elefante is using his holding company to conceal the name for a client. He does specialize in land acquisition.

The Bancrofts are notoriously reclusive from media coverage and the town does not see the spotlight often.

Anybody have the inside scoop or other guesses?

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — There are two things you need, and I mean need like a baby needs its momma, to get through a winter like this one.

The first thing is a good pair of boots (for a recommendation on winter gear see my recent gear blog).

The second is a good sense of humor, a very good sense of humor. Maybe even a little sick, too. The kind of humor that, when someone asks you in a blinding snowstorm how you're doing, you just smile and say, "I'm freakin' great. It's downright balmy out here. Love this weather."

Then you trudge down the street headed for the nearest gun shop.

So, it is with this same sense of winter humor that Rubiner's Cheesemongers is having an "F' Mother Nature Sale." Yeah, you heard me. If you go to Rubiner's Tuesday and mention this particularly morbid sale you can get 20 percent off your entire purchase. And what better excuse is there to risk life and limb in a blizzard than cheese? Glorious, rich, creamy cheese from all regions of Europe. And chocolate, specialty meats, gourmet candies and great latte just around the corner at Rubi's.

I returned home this evening with a half pound of Belloc, sopressata and a baguette. It's going to be a great night.

No offense, Mother Nature.