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]
Piping Plover Help
Our work to protect Piping Plovers like this one and other endangered coastal waterbirds like the American Oystercatcher, Least Tern, and Common Tern continues through the end of the summer with the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. This has been a very challenging year with some unfortunate incidents which underlines the need for your help more than ever. If you would like to join us on the beach in Connecticut this summer and for years to come please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com to sign up. Even if you cannot regularly monitor...
read moreExploring Jamestown’s Wild Side with RTPI
Summer has officially arrived – the season for cookouts, campouts, beach-going, ballgames and so many other outdoor engagements. How often, though, do most of us pause during these bustling activities to take in the details of our natural surroundings? That bee buzzing around the watermelon at your barbeque, those ants parading around the popsicle stick on the sidewalk, the crow pecking at your trash bag on the curb – do you ever stop to ponder their role in our world, or do you swat, step on or shoe them without a second thought? How...
read moreGetting Started with Project Wild America
Although I’ve lived in Jamestown for a number of years, last Tuesday was the first time I’d seen a spiny softshell turtle up close. It was just basking in the sun with a shiny shell and body that sort of resembled a large gray pancake. I was pretty excited to see this goofy-looking turtle in the Chadakoin over by the Gateway Center. Spiny Softshell turtles are just one unique species that lives along the Chadakoin River here in Jamestown, and this species of turtle is one of several species that will be monitored by the Roger Tory Peterson...
read moreReturning to the Chadakoin
Passing through the center of Jamestown, the Chadakoin river has always been the focal point of the city. No matter how much the city continues to change and develop around it, the steady flow of water from Chautauqua Lake has remained constant. To help conserve this valuable natural resource, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute will soon select eight of the brightest high school students in the area to become Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors. Along with their two crew leaders (myself and Heather Zimba) they will spend the summer studying...
read moreThe Hellbender Search Continues
Sunshine is abundant, streams are low, clear and warm, and traps are smelly and baited…wait, what was that last part?! As the summer season is slated to officially begin this Monday, the field season is already underway and our hellbender search within Chautauqua County has begun once again. As you may recall, last fall we worked with Robin Foster, PhD candidate at the University of Buffalo, to take eDNA samples from a number of potentially suitable sites to be tested. In case you aren’t familiar, eDNA is short for environmental...
read moreBrown-headed Cowbirds
We seem to be at the peak season of reports of, “Why is this pretty bird feeding this huge baby bird that is twice its size?!” all thanks to the native Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Here we have a photo of a male followed by a female. The species is a brood parasite with the female laying eggs in nests of other birds to leave the burden of raising young to these unsuspecting parents by fooling them into thinking it is their own egg. It is also a rather clever way of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. These...
read moreNew Exhibit: Keeping the World Wild – the Art of John and Suzie Seerey-Lester
RTPI staff has been working diligently to install a new exhibit entitled Keeping the World Wild – a stunning collection of original works by John and Suzie Seerey-Lester. Visitors will become immersed in the creative expressions of this incredible, world-traveling artist duo. World-renowned artist John Seerey-Lester and award-winning painter Suzie Seerey-Lester are both distinguished wildlife and landscape artists whose works depict large mammals, birds of prey, magnificent underwater creatures and environmentally sensitive tableaus. Be...
read moreLighthouse Open House
Last Saturday we held an open house at Stratford Point and the adjacent Coast Guard lighthouse. Visitors were able to enter both sites, the lighthouse usually being private restricted property, and chat with members of the Coast Guard and our staff about everything going on currently and the history of both historic properties. Information booths helped in this effort including one staffed by Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds technician Ewa Holland who gave out brochures on our efforts to help birds and humans share the shore...
read moreBlue Dasher
It is odonate season, finally! Our various dragonflies and damselflies are emerging and migrating our way now that there is plenty of food in the air. Here is an up-close look at the Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis). While we at RTPI do not have any specific dragonfly monitoring programs underway this year we will be recording them during all of our other work in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey. This includes programs such as Project Wild America and Bridgeport WildLife Guards, from avian and reptile study sites,...
read moreWildLife Guards Crew Leader Position
Related to RTPI’s work with Audubon Connecticut in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is our partnership on the Bridgeport WildLife Guards project: http://rtpi.org/education/wildlife-guards/ RTPI is once again teaming up with Audubon Connecticut and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut to run the 2016 WildLife Guards program, which trains, mentors, and employs ten local high schools students and two crew leaders who monitor nesting birds and engage visitors, families, and friends about the City’s Pleasure Beach and its...
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