Off to a Great Start
They say time flies when you’re having fun, right? Well I can say time has certainly been flying here at RTPI as the summer field season is now underway. So far, I’ve spent much of my time working with our Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors in the city of Jamestown as we continue the work we started last year. We are conducting more in depth studies of this urban ecosystem, and so far the PWA Youth Ambassadors have been diving in, quite literally, eagerly learning more. Although we have just completed our second week with our students, I anticipate the rest of the summer...
Read MoreKeeping the World Wild Continues
Keeping the World Wild The Art of John and Suzie Seerey-Lester June 17 – August 28, 2016 Visit RTPI Soon!
Read MoreBrown-headed Cowbird Nestling
This spring and summer seem to have been very successful for the Brown-headed Cowbird. I realize that this is largely anecdotal, but I have had and heard a lot of sightings and stories about various species discovered feeding a hatchling or fledgling Cowbird. From the American Redstart to the Chipping Sparrow, the Yellow-throated Vireo or the Yellow Warbler, an Orchard Oriole and a Common Yellowthroat, a Blue-winged Warbler or this nest that I found and photographed a couple of weeks ago, it has been Cowbirds here, there, and everywhere. What’s the common thread? All of these birds and...
Read MoreWood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)
This Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) surprised me yesterday while I was walking with my dog Zach. At first I thought a leaf had blown across the grass under his furry stomach, but I said…wait, no way, that moved way too directly, too low, and too quick. After about 20 seconds of looking at the ground, sure enough, there it was. I took a few photos of it in between its hops back to the woods. The frog was heading in the right direction, and after showing Zach – he likes to watch wildlife because he has grown up around me simply observing and not interacting with it – we...
Read MoreWildLife Guards Monitoring
What a week. All of us have been extremely busy and it will continue tomorrow and Sunday and…well, every day this summer. Here are a couple photos of the Bridgeport WildLife Guards in action yesterday as they monitored the Piping Plover pair with one chick at Pleasure Beach. ‘ They also recorded all the other bird species that they saw on the shoreline while learning more about our avian neighbors. The Guards noted the chick flying today and classified it as finally having fledged officially – woo! Now they will have the opportunity to see how long each of the parents...
Read MoreAngry Groundhog
This is one angry looking Groundhog, Whistlepig, or Woodchuck (Marmota monax)…you can use any name, but this rodent was not happy with me. It was not my fault, I swear! Do you know what the problem is here? I was standing on a porch, and under this porch happens to be a burrow with young groundhogs. Every time I have seen one of them they scurry away as fast as can be in a non-stealthy manner back into the closest entrance to the burrow. However, this parent was not pleased, and no scurrying happened after we startled one another with a stare down commencing. Those two huge incisors...
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