Rent RTPI Space!
RTPI will be closed to the public Saturday, November 12 for a private event. We will be open regular hours once again on Sunday, November 13, from 1-5. Yes, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History offers space for meetings and events, and you can find all of the various room usage rates and our policies in this PDF file or below: Here are some interior and exterior photos of available spaces: We hope that you consider using RTPI! For more information, availability, and scheduling, please contact Amy Hudson at (716) 665-2473, ext. 227, or ahudson ‘AT’...
Read MoreRainforest Adventures Continues
Please visit RTPI this week to see this excellent exhibition! Rainforest Adventures Works by Artist Jan Lutz September 9 – November 13, 2016 This fall, RTPI will feature works by artist Jan Lutz of Cambridge Springs, PA. In this unique exhibition, Jan’s rainforest theme will be depicted through original oil paintings of tropical birds, landscapes, and more. Jan is a versatile painter who enjoys painting various subject, although her current focus is landscapes. Her style may be described as tonalism, impressionism, or as a curator recently stated in a review, “philosophical realism”. She...
Read MorePeregrine Falcon Resting
One of the most exciting aspects to fall birding is the surge of raptors that push through much of the U.S. on their way south. Some of these species may be moving a few hundred miles, getting to a more temperate region or dispersing from the nest to find their own place, while others will travel thousands of miles and leave the continent. These predators face many of the same perils as songbirds during migration, but they are also flying at the same time as these passerines, making their own journey easier as they can hunt at the same stopover sites for weakened, confused, and fatigued...
Read MoreScary Forest Pests
Happy Halloween everyone! I don’t know if anyone will be dressed up like an Emerald Ash Borer for Halloween, like our Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors were for their invasives community outreach event over the summer, but we should be on the lookout for these and other scary pests on this Hallow’s eve. While tonight will be fairly warm, the cooler weather is on its way and the need for firewood will increase. As you cut or buy wood to heat your home for the winter or get that last camping trip in before the snow flies, you should be aware of where your wood is coming from...
Read MoreOrange-crowned Warbler
This Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) was a great surprise to see and photograph today after it was found at Stratford Point by my colleague Patrick Comins, Audubon Connecticut’s Director of Bird Conservation. They are an uncommon warbler even in some of the more common parts of their range, and a tough one to find in the Northeast thus far this fall. We were at the office this Saturday morning and afternoon for a staff and volunteer work party to plant more trees, grasses, and shrubs for birds, but the Orange-crowned seemed at home in the mugwort and existing grasslands,...
Read MoreYellow-crowned Night-Heron
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is an odd-looking creature, especially when you watch one creeping slowly through the salt marsh or perched high up in a tree. I do not want to add the demonic or monstrous label to them because they are lovable in their own way, but it feels like an appropriately strange species to highlight as we near Halloween. They can be found active throughout the day, but their somewhat secretive crepuscular and nocturnal feeding habits add to that feeling. I took these photos of a bird at a nest site earlier this spring. It was still working on...
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