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]
Wild America Nature Festival Juried Fine Art and Craft Show & Competition
Are you a talented artist or do you have a friend who is? The deadline to apply to become an artist exhibitor in the 2017 Juried Nature Fine Art and Craft Show & Competition at the first annual Wild America Nature Festival is March 31st. In order to give potential applicants a representation of the art and artists that will be at the show, we have pre-selected six early applicants. You can learn more about them and their art, as well as find the show prospectus and contract needed to apply, at:...
read moreRTPI Brings the Spirit of Outdoor Adventure to Jamestown
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is the most prestigious mountain festival in the world. Right after the festival, held every fall in Banff, Alberta, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour starts to travel the globe with stops in about 450 communities and 40 countries. The 2016/2017 World Tour features an exhilarating and provocative collection of films that explore the mountain world, highlighting new landscapes and remote cultures, and exposes audiences to exciting adventures and adrenaline-packed sports. At each screening around the...
read moreGolden-winged Warbler
Without a doubt, one of the highlights of our recent work in Costa Rica was the recapture of this Golden-winged Warbler, which was banded last year in the same area it was caught this year, near Rara Avis Rainforest Lodge. Since we last saw it in March of 2016, it undoubtedly traveled back to its breeding grounds somewhere in North America and hopefully managed to find a mate of its own species. Golden-winged Warblers are suffering from dramatic declines throughout their range, and are increasingly hybridizing with closely-related Blue-winged...
read moreSpring Salamander
Hey look – a hot-dog with eyes! Wait, that’s a Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)! This large, lung-less salamander is a common resident in the many springs and streams that run through our local forests. It’s stature and bright coloration make it stand out, but also serve as protection from predators. Spring salamanders can grow to over eight inches in length and produce noxious skin secretions while using their color to mimic even more toxic species. It isn’t a salamander any predator would want to mess...
read moreWestern New York Bluebird Workshop at RTPI
The New York State Bluebird Society will sponsor a Bluebird Workshop at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown on Saturday, April 1st at 1pm. This free, public workshop will feature two presentations by John Ruska – past president and lifetime director of the Bluebird Society. Ruska’s first presentation- entitled “All About Bluebirds – and More” – will detail the life history of the Eastern Bluebird; will include a display and discussion of the various types of Bluebird nestboxes and how they are best managed; and will...
read moreGray Four-eyed Opossum
This is a young Gray Four-eyed Opossum (Philander opossum) caught in one of our mammal traps, as we were surveying for an unusual jungle rodent called Watson’s Climbing Rat (Tylomys watsoni) in Rara Avis Nature Reserve, Costa Rica. Believe it or not, the rat would have been bigger than this opossum (and particularly fond of chocolate and soap). Like it’s cousin, the Virginia Opossum, these guys show a remarkable resistance to venoms and poisons, including snake venom, and are relatively immune to dangerous snake bites. In North America,...
read moreSpring Peepers
Spring Peepers are a type of small tree frog. Truthful to their name, they emerge from hibernation in early spring. Soon after, the males – often hundreds at a time – will take over wetlands and call on warm and rainy nights to stake out a territory and attract a mate. Their surprisingly loud “peep” calls are usually produced from a safe location hidden in dense vegetation, and it can be difficult to spot them. An inflatable vocal sac on their throat serves as an amplifier, which allows them to call very loudly. The sound produced by a chorus...
read moreAAfCW 2017 Scheduling, Dates & General News
Good afternoon all! This is a general update for all of our devoted volunteer shorebird monitors and caring conservationists everywhere. Our first Piping Plovers arrived back in Connecticut at Milford Point on Monday. However, the blizzard and now potentially more snow this weekend will keep others to the south, and any birds that have already arrived will be strictly foraging. It should be some time before we see any nesting activity, and we can continue to prepare until we officially begin monitoring in April. Please submit your monitoring...
read moreRTP in Another Place in Another Time
Although his work required extensive travel, it seemed that Roger Tory Peterson needed the world as much as it needed him. His wife, Barbara, wrote to her mother that no matter where Roger was, he always wanted to be somewhere else. He made seven safari trips to Africa during his lifetime, shooting footage for his documentary “Wild Africa”, which contains more rare and exotic birds than any film of its time. His conservation message is powerful, and it pervades the film: “A bird like the whooping crane is more divine than the most inspired...
read moreArtist’s Workshop with Robin Brickman on March 18th
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute (RTPI) is pleased to present a workshop with illustrator Robin Brickman on Saturday, March 18, from 10:00am – 12:00pm. This talented artist will deliver a visual presentation sharing her process for illustrating the book Leaflets Three, Let it Be!, which features her work entitled Baby Opossum and Insects in the Fall, currently on view in Focus on Nature XIV at RTPI. Following Brickman’s presentation, participants will enjoy creating a small, three-dimensional paper sculpture of their own using Robin’s...
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