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]
Lyme Disease Sign
Here is a terrific educational notice that I enjoyed seeing on the wall during a recent veterinarian visit with my dog. Using artwork created by children to help teach the public educates both the visitors and the children who are creating it. We use the same outreach techniques in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds with signs drawn by hundreds of school children which we then laminate and post on beaches and offshore islands to let beachgoers and boaters know there are endangered birds nesting in the area. We certainly see less...
read moreNational Invasive Species Awareness Week
National Invasive Species Awareness Week – February 21-27, 2016 RTPI will be offering multiple events to the public during this increasingly important week including: Monday February 22 at 6pm Ken Parker will be presenting Eco-logic: Using Native Plants in the Landscape. Ken will be discussing the importance of using native plants in landscaping as opposed to non-natives, as well as the Seneca Nation Native Plant Policy that went into effect last year. Ken Parker is a passionate indigenous horticulturalist with strong ties to Mother...
read moreFebruary Arrives
The transition from January into February is usually one without many colors, though this sunset on the final night of January was spectacular over the water. The pink glow from the sun below the horizon makes me think of everything from Valentine’s Day to the Northern Cardinal males beginning to sing in our yards on the warm and sunny days as they stake out their territories and sound out for mates, if they do not already have one. The same shade reminds me of the House Finch males that have also been calling out their cheery melodies...
read moreBanff Mountain Film Festival 2016
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Reg Lenna Center for the Arts Wednesday, April 6, 2016 7:00pm For the 12th year, we’re bringing the spirit of outdoor adventure and mountain culture to Jamestown! This year’s World Tour features the best mountain films this year, showcasing amazing filmmaking talent from the world over to an audience that spans the globe. The 2015/2016 World Tour features a collection of exhilarating and provocative films that explore life in the mountains. They highlight remote cultures, intense expeditions into...
read moreFlicker Feather
This feather is another find from exploring the outdoors this weekend with my dog Zach. The number of birds with long yellow feathers around in the autumn or winter seasons is relatively short, and it looks like a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). Roger Tory Peterson saw this brilliant flash of gold in a flicker’s wings and it helped inspire him to change the world. What always makes me use my imagination is thinking about seeing a deep red explosion coming from a Northern Flicker bursting from the ground. The red-shafted forms fill...
read moreDead Mouse
This looks like a White-footed Mouse, and it also looks like a cat kill. My dog Zach located it for us, immediately picking up the scent from probably over 50 feet away. A dead rodent with puncture wounds to the body that is left in the snow seems like a cat’s play toy to me. Other mammals or birds would have scooped it up for a meal and made sure to go back for it, even if they had to drop it. This occurs many, many times…millions upon millions…to small birds and mammals each day because of cats. They kill billions each year for no...
read moreJanuary Sunset
Another January day, another impressive Stratford Point sunset. These gorgeous shades are from Thursday evening. This time we had a lot more blue and pink in the air on the clouds with the glowing orange and reds really confined to the distant horizon. We were striving for subjects apart from the lighthouse, but…not bad. Can you tell we need something to shoot? Winter does bring some beautiful avian visitors, but these colors are so very welcome – as is the continually rising sun and lengthening days. Our extremely busy upcoming...
read moreThe Ubiquitous Chicken
Written by Melanie Smith, Communications Coordinator. The domestic chicken, is and has long been a ubiquitous global presence. Indeed, one is hard pressed to identify a culture that isn’t familiar with this common bird. Recall, from your youth, the numerous nursery rhymes and fairy tales featuring hens or roosters – Multiply that familiarity across many generations and myriad geographic boundaries, and you begin to gain perspective into the global dominance of this particular avian species. Gallus gallus domesticus has been the stuff of...
read moreMonarch in Panama
I had to immediately share this little gem by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser photographed yesterday at the Biodiversity Museum of Panama. Yes, this is a Monarch (Danaus plexippus) that was feeding with a number of other butterfly species right outside the Museum in the natural gardens. Sean felt it was a great little reminder of North American biodiversity there in Panama, and it was especially terrific being at a museum that houses some of RTPI President Twan Leenders’ art! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach...
read moreMarch Speaker – Fabiola Rodríguez
Speaker Series Event – March 30, 2016 at 7:00pm with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute Ornithological Club Title: The Ecology and Conservation Challenges of the Honduran Emerald in the Agalta Valley Presenter: Fabiola Rodríguez, Masters in Biology student Institution: Indiana University of Pennsylvania & Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute The Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae) is the only endemic bird to Honduras. This hummingbird species is included in the IUCN’s Red List as endangered and its population is...
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