Help Museums
Are you a local friend in Chautauqua County or Western New York who wants to support the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and similar museums? Please consider emailing our New York State Senator Cathy Young and New York State Assemblyman Andy Goodell asking for their support on the Museum Education Act. Why? Currently, New York museums are the only chartered entities that receive no direct funding from the Education Department that charters them. This bill would help museums continue and expand their curriculum-based educational programming and also help school districts and...
Read MoreSnowy Egret Saved
There is no doubt that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act saved the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) from extinction. Beautiful plumes of feathers from these gorgeous birds were so desired that they were hunted to the brink of annihilation. What other birds will be so threatened if the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is so weakened? RTPI protects the Snowy Egret and all other long-legged waders through the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. Please spread the word and get many people to sign this via the American Bird Conservancy to help protect the MBTA! support.abcbirds.org/ProtectMBTA...
Read MoreClose-banded Yellowhorn
Here we have what looks to be a Close-banded Yellowhorn (Colocasia propinquilinea) moth, one of a few dozen species that I enjoyed seeing while mothing this weekend. I will be sharing moths all spring, summer, and fall, in part to honor one of young Roger Tory Peterson’s hobbies, and something that helped foster his passion for the natural world in our Wild America. This pastime is as easy as turning on an outside light at night and seeing what shows up. The very difficult part comes in identifying these (mostly) nocturnal creatures! I do have the superb Peterson Field Guide to Moths...
Read MoreNoble Wins Roger Tory Peterson Award
The 2013 Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History Bird Festival was made quite a bit more festive by the announcement that Noble Proctor was receiving the American Birding Association’s highest award: the Roger Tory Peterson Award promoting the Cause of Birding. This ‘lifetime achievement’ award has only been awarded a handful of times but few are more worthy of receiving this honor as Noble Proctor. ABA president Jeff Gordon detoured from his trip to Brazil to stop at RTPI and personally hand Noble this award during an evening program. It was a sensational...
Read MoreNoble in Ecuador
Here’s another outstanding photo of writer, naturalist, birder, and professor of biology Noble S. Proctor by Patrick Lynch – Ecuador, 1976.
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