Last Chance to See Rizos Exhibition
“Neil Rizos: The Art of Exploration” is on view through Sunday, January 7th. RTPI will be closed for the remainder of January during new exhibit installation, with the exception of the city-wide event, Doors Open Jamestown on Saturday, January 20th. Be sure to stop in soon!
Read MoreShort-eared Owl
You have seen a lot of Snowy Owl posts from me during this terrific irruptive season, and they are still with us in early 2018. However, I was lucky enough to enjoy this Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) actively hunting yesterday afternoon at Stratford Point. The bird may have just joined us that day as it was certainly very conspicuous, and it seemed quite hungry – though it was exceptionally talented at hunting with multiple kills! Short-eared Owls are ‘endangered’ in New York and their wintering population is ‘threatened’ in Connecticut. Undisturbed grassland...
Read MoreMarbled Godwits by Neil Rizos – A Sculpture with Prestige
This gorgeous sculpture – entitled “Marbled Godwits” by Neil Rizos – is the recent winner of both The Allied Artists of America Marilyn Newmark Award and the American Plains Artists Sculpture Award. Of his creation, Rizos wrote: “Marbled Godwits are large cinnamon-colored shorebirds that nest on the northern Great Plains in summer. When they leave the prairies, they migrate to coastal regions from Virginia to Texas and from Oregon to Mexico. They feed in shallow water along the shoreline or on tidal mudflats, probing deeply with their long up-curved bills. This sculpture...
Read MoreChickadee and Milkweed
The pieces included in RTPI’s current exhibition, “Neil Rizos:The Art of Exploration” – including this drypoint print of a Black-capped Chickadee – are available for purchase, and would make wonderful gifts for bird, art, or nature enthusiasts! Of this piece, Rizos wrote: “I’ve stayed away from this bird as a subject because it is so cute that almost any image would be appealing no matter the quality or lack of quality of the design. But then I saw this bird on a dried milkweed and the similarity of shapes, sizes and values between the bird and the plant gave me the...
Read MoreMeleagris gallopavo
With the arrival of the holiday season, many folks will enjoy celebratory feasts with family and friends. The centerpiece for many merry meals will undoubtedly be a turkey; indeed, Americans will consume nearly 50 million turkeys on Thanksgiving and about half as many on Christmas. Given that the average American consumes over 15 pounds of turkey each year, I thought it would be interesting to explore the natural history of this ubiquitous bird. The domestic turkey that you buy in the grocery store is the same species as the wild turkeys that you might see strutting through a local field or...
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