Drought Worsening
Hey, did you happen to notice how dry it has been? Because our drought is steadily worsening as well. The Northeast is dry and far more dry than earlier this spring, the beginning of the year, the start of the last water year after a dry summer of 2015, and this date one year ago. We also do not have a lot of water in the forecast. Let’s hope for some clouds and some rain, please! We need more than a thunderstorm or two, and a few well-placed lows saturating the region would certainly be welcome. Extremes hurt much of the life in our environment, and climate change increasing our...
Read MoreApril Flowers
It seems this warm year brought us a lot more March showers and April flowers rather than the traditional saying – thanks, climate change! I do not know what these little ones are but they like to poke up in this same area of grass every year in the early spring. There is always, always…always…more to find out about the world around us. Look up, look down, look all around… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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 MoreHistoric Blizzard of 2016
Here we are again – another year, another crippling blizzard crushing the Northeast. This century has been extremely volatile weather-wise for much of the east coast, and the winter seasons alone have been historic in some way nearly every year. We thought for a while that El Niño would keep it a more routine sort of winter, but once it showed it would be the strongest El Niño of all time there were a lot of unknowns…especially after historic warmth had its hold on us through the end of 2015. Basking in the 70s for Christmas, it was nevertheless certain that a cold air mass would...
Read MoreNorthern Flicker
Here is the species that started everything for Roger Tory Peterson – the Northern Flicker. It and all birds came to represent to Roger all the freedom, beauty and vitality of the natural world. This Northern Flicker is a male as you can see by the black mustache. The bird is feeding on the ground, as many flickers do, searching for ants, beetles and other insect life. This winter is a good example of how a warmer than usual stretch of weather can impact a certain species as these strongly migratory birds might not have to fly so far to find uncovered, unfrozen earth. Climate change...
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