Western 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 provide opportunities for participants to ask...
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, opossums have been credited with being a biological...
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 of these inch-long frogs can be truly deafening...
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 schedules to us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com so we...
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 work of art. Why? Because it is creation itself;...
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 cut and sculpted paper techniques. This hands-on...
Read More
