Wild America: Know Your Wild Neighbors
Roger Tory Peterson’s Wild America Nature Festival (July 28 & 29 at Panama Rocks) was created to help strengthen our emotional connection to the natural world and to facilitate understanding and respect for the many fascinating creatures with which we share our planet. At a time when ever fewer people are spending time immersed in nature, it is more important than ever to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to nature, and to address misconceptions and behaviors that too often put our wild neighbors in peril. One of the best ways to do this is to meet wild animals! One of this year’s...
Read MoreFrozen Forsythia
Here are a couple shots of some very frozen forsythia from yesterday after freezing rain and snow covered flowers across the Northeast region. Spring was here, and it visited very early, leaving us with some winter again for the week. Make up your mind, climate! This is what our climate change future holds more of – a roller coaster ride of weather that kills plants and animals at a more frequent rate than what we used to call “normal” in the four seasons. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreDecember Sky
This December sky came at sunset on yet another warm and almost balmy evening…what a time to be alive! Our world is changing all around us as even buds and flowers have started to bloom in these unbelievable weather conditions. Yes, this is El Niño, but it is an El Niño in a period of intense global warming and climate change…all of which will cause possibly more frequent and more severe events going forward. The rate of this temperature change is unprecedented, and if it feels strange to us then imagine how the wildlife and plants throughout our world are feeling. I will be...
Read MoreHellbender 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!
Read MoreCoastal Adventure
The other week I had the opportunity to adventure out to Connecticut and Rhode Island for a week of learning. As you all know, we have a number of projects running in coastal Connecticut monitoring shorebirds and educating the public about the many federally and state listed species that reside there, and we have some wonderful RTPI staff stationed there as well. On my trip I was able to spend some time with Scott Kruitbosch, our Conservation and Outreach Coordinator, looking at several of the sites where projects for shorebirds, migrating raptors and coastal remediation are taking place. It...
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