I love this time of year. After the exuberance of summer and the vibrant colors of fall, I’m thankful for the days growing shorter. The nights longer. Temperatures falling. Silhouettes of bare branches against a leaden sky promising snow. All of nature winding down. Encouraging quiet. Reflection. Introspection. [more]
Harlequin Duck at Stratford Point
Today we were fortunate enough to host a drake Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) at Stratford Point as found by our friend Tom Murray. I took the below photo in the later afternoon during a brief moment when the sun came out from behind the clouds. These additional shots were taken earlier in the morning under those aforementioned clouds while the duck was feeding, swimming, preening, and loving those rocks as the species always does. Harlequin Ducks are a relatively rare visitor for us in Connecticut. If it is anything like the last...
read moreHerpetologist meets Salamander and Snake
RTPI’s resident herpetologist befriends Millie the Massasauga Rattlesnake and Sam the Eastern Hellbender. Stop in to meet these crafty critters during our ‘Hellbender House Party’ fundraising event on Saturday! Details can be found here: http://rtpi.org/hellbender-house-party-1118/
read moreRTPI Fundraising Raffle
We’re getting excited as our ‘Hellbender House Party’ fundraising event draws near! We have lots of mini raffle items that will be up for grabs, including the RTPI swag pictured here! 😉 Stop in anytime this week to purchase tickets for your chance to win some of these great items! Winners will be drawn at 1pm on Saturday. Details about the event can be found here: http://rtpi.org/hellbender-house-party-1118/
read morePurple Sandpiper
We had a couple of special visitors stop by Stratford Point last week. The first was Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History President Twan Leenders who happened to spot the second, a Purple Sandpiper sitting on the rocks taking in the waves. We always feel like we should see more of the species at the site, but they tend to be found more often on the rocks offshore on the breakwater or jetties at nearby beaches. After taking a couple of direct hits from waves it flew off to the breakwater. We appreciated them both stopping by! Scott...
read moreSaw-whet Owl Banding
Last night RTPI’s Elyse Henshaw joined US Forest Service researchers in their attempts to capture and band migrating Northern Saw-whet owls. Throughout the evening the researchers captured four birds in their mist nets, and subsequently collected data on each individual including physical measurements, age, sex and overall health. Each owl was then outfitted with a uniquely numbered leg band and then released back into the night. If and when these birds are captured again, the data collected contribute to better a better understanding of the...
read moreCorvids in Autumn
This painting by Roger Tory Peterson depicts several corvid species. While you’re not likely to see Gray Jays (Perisoreus canadensis) in the Northeastern United States, Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata), American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and Common Ravens (Corvus corax) can all be found here. Peterson created this image for the 1951 book “Birds of Newfoundland”, by Harold S. Peters and Thomas D. Burleigh of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Peters and Burleigh were commissioned by the Newfoundland government to write the book to be...
read moreSwedish Salamanders?
Ecklof’s Bakery and Deli is one of the last strictly “by scratch” bakeries in Western New York. While the bakery is now in the hands of a third generation of Ecklofs, many of the “Old World” recipes passed down by the founding grandfather when he came to the U.S. from Sweden in 1920 are still being used today! Ecklof’s will be creating salamander-shaped cookies for our Hellbender House Party on Saturday, November 18th. These special cookies will be sold for $2 each the day of the event, and all proceeds will benefit RTPI’s resident...
read moreEastern Hellbender Plush by Ellen Paquette
This adorable plush Eastern Hellbender, created and generously donated by Ellen Paquette, is just one of several wonderful items that we’ll be raffling off during our Hellbender House Party Fundraising Event on November 18th! Get the details at http://rtpi.org/hellbender-house-party-1118/
read moreHellbender House Party 11/18
RTPI will be hosting a special one-day fundraiser to benefit our resident hellbenders, Oneka and Tweeg. In May of 2017, Oneka and Tweeg came to us from the Buffalo Zoo to RTPI to serve as animal ambassadors and help us educate people of all ages about their incredible species. The Buffalo Zoo generously donated the hellbenders’ set-up in order to ensure a smooth transition to RTPI. However, we would like to provide them with a new and improved set-up to give them more room to grow in the coming years and to provide more opportunities for...
read moreYellow-rumped Warblers Feeding
I always feel that as we enter November we shift from one phase of avian life to the next. Songbird migrants are now decreasing rapidly in both abundance and diversity. More waterfowl are beginning to arrive on our shores. Our wintering species start to show up frequently at our feeders. Birds also shift from eating insects to dining on this season’s harvest, as is the case with the Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) here. Junipers, cedars, holly trees and many more all provide delicious berries that were the treats for these...
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