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Posts Tagged "animal"

Helmeted Iguana (Corytophanes cristatus)

Posted on Feb 23, 2016

Helmeted Iguana (Corytophanes cristatus)

Here’s a Helmeted Iguana (Corytophanes cristatus)…or as Twan called it, a baby dragon…for your Tuesday. Be sure to check out the leaf for a better sense of scale (not the dragon kind of scale) as it is not quite as large and imposing as it initially seems!

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Christmas Dandelion

Posted on Dec 26, 2015

Christmas Dandelion

I photographed this lovely little dandelion blooming yesterday…yes, this is a Christmas dandelion. It was in Connecticut, the state that is a part of New England, on December 25. These temperatures may be enjoyable for some of us, but such a shift is not helping our plant or animal life. They need a prolonged, uninterrupted dormant period, and starting to “go” now only to be put back in more eventual cold and snow for a couple months may harm them later. We are likely to stay above-average for temperatures, but it will nevertheless cool off to something more seasonable. The...

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Hellbender Surveys Continue

Posted on Sep 11, 2015

Hellbender Surveys Continue

While the summer season is winding down, our survey work certainly isn’t! As stream conditions allow, we will continue surveying for the elusive Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) in the French Creek watershed and beyond. Working closely with the University of Buffalo and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, we have found habitats within the area that may support hellbenders. Test results and hands-on surveys will reveal whether these sites may support a viable population, so we have our fingers crossed and will share more details soon!

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Magnificent Bryozoan

Posted on Jul 24, 2015

Magnificent Bryozoan

And now for something completely different: a brick! More specifically, a brick with a colony of microscopic aquatic animals on it. This strange blob is a colonial freshwater bryozoan, also known as the Magnificent Bryozoan (Pectinatella magnifica). The brick is an old, classic Jamestown street paver. Both were found during our survey of the Chadakoin River in Jamestown today, as part of our Project Wild America youth ambassador program. I think this image illustrates nicely what we are finding during our surveys: at first glance the habitat looks run down, trash-filled and hardly worth a...

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Beach Trash

Posted on Jul 20, 2015

Beach Trash

This photo and information via one of our colleagues, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Shorebird Technician Audrey Wiese: “PLEASE dispose of your trash properly! This is the amount of trash I collected on ONE beach after only 3 hours! If you bring trash in take it out, if you buy plastic water bottles or balloons dispose of them PROPERLY! Loose trash on a beach does nothing for us and has a lasting effect on OUR environment and the animals that live in it.” That doesn’t seem like a very happy birthday to me…and congratulations to the grad as you help pollute the world...

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