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]
eXXpedition Great Lakes, August 20th 2016
Unseen plastics. Unseen pollution. All-female crews from Canada and the USA are sailing together for the first time this summer on August 20, 2016 on all five of the Great Lakes, Lake St Clair and the St Lawrence River to shed new light on the link between human health and plastic in the world’s waterways. The science lead for Lake Erie – Dr. Sherri Mason of SUNY Fredonia – will be joined by RTPI’s Communications Coordinator, Melanie Smith and several other environmental educators. The data collected will be provided...
read moreYellow Warbler
One benefit from the scorching and inclement weather of the past week was the slow passage of a weak cold front (ha ha, “cold”) that brought us some actually conducive avian migratory conditions. Think about it…when was the last time before this recent August turbulence that we in the Northeast had any winds out of the north? We have had endless southerly or westerly-influenced flows bringing heat, humidity and then thunderstorms and heavy rain, all the opposite of what the birds are looking for to migrate south in this time...
read moreRed Fox
I had not seen any Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) friends for a while, but this one is clearly as healthy as any can be and looking great. Take a look at that exquisite coat with no sign of mange and no visible injuries to the animal. That in itself is very rare to see in a Red Fox, and without knowing too much I would hazard a guess that this is one of the pups born last year. It spotted me before I spotted it – per usual – and when I stopped it stopped and relaxed. I really do think they know “who” we are, like any dog...
read moreSevere Thunderstorms
I spent most of yesterday at Stratford Point, arriving at the tail end of the Connecticut Ornithological Association Shorebird Identification Seminar as the group wrapped up a walk and moved indoors. It was a dangerously hot day with an excessive heat warning and unbelievable tropical-feeling dew points. We decided to bring the Bridgeport WildLife Guards to the office instead of the beach, and that is how the rest of my day went. I left in the late afternoon but had to return in the evening as well-timed and positioned thunderstorms exploded...
read moreSong Sparrow Bath
Whether you are currently living in the heat and humidity or being threatened with heavy rain and thunderstorms we all can take a bath outside simply by walking out the door in much of the U.S. this August. Or perhaps you would like to join this Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) for a cool down and clean up. You can see the bird even dunking its head in the water and getting its entire body wet. Bird bathing is critical for our feathered friends in order to help keep all of those feathers in the best shape they can be. Baths also likely help...
read moreNature Through the Lenses of Tweens and Teens
Jamestown Community College’s summer camp programs; Wee College, Kids College, and Tweens 2 Teens College provide area youth with the opportunity to explore a variety of classes that will both entertain their hobbies and interests, and engage them in the learning process. Students that participated in the Tweens 2 Teens College – Nature Through the Lens class explored the JCC campus and adjacent woodlot through the medium of digital photography and were challenged to capture images of organisms that they were unfamiliar with. Back...
read moreSummer Sunset
This has been one nonstop summer for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute’s art, education and conservation work in Connecticut. It feels like just the other day I was enjoying the peak of spring bird migration, and here we are entering mid-August. In reality we have been going full speed ahead since mid-March and the beginning of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds season which continues even now with birds still yet to fledge in the next couple of weeks. The Bridgeport WildLife Guards are still on duty at Pleasure Beach for...
read morePleasure Beach Teaching
Pleasure Beach teaching continues as the Bridgeport WildLife Guards are really reaching the people heading to the shore these hot summer days during the height of vacation season. A varied audience of fishermen, beachgoers and sunbathers, families and children, and naturalists are all interacting with our crew by taking brochures about birds like the American Oystercatcher or Piping Plover, signing the Be A Good Egg pledge to help protect waterbirds on our beaches, or enjoying some of the hands-on activities the Guards have to offer....
read moreSpotted Sandpiper
The Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) is one of our easier to identify shorebirds from any distance, and their unique behaviors make them a stand out from the crowd – literally. While you may run into large flocks of shorebirds numbering in the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands heading south in the summer along lakes, in marshes, or on the Atlantic coast, you will very likely find only one or two or a handful of Spotted Sandpipers at a time. Even if multiple Spotteds are present in one place they will probably be on different...
read moreSpicebush Swallowtail on Eastern Purple Coneflower
This breathtaking sight was a recent morning surprise for me as once again the wonderful Eastern Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) brought in a special friend in the form of a Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) butterfly. It can be somewhat difficult to identify the Spicebush Swallowtail as the Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) looks very similar. To me, in terms of general and unscientific impressions, the Spicebush Swallowtail is a duller black, flies a little stronger, and seems a little larger with broad wings. One...
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