Boothe Park Hawk Watch 2015 Season
We are now well into the fall hawk watch season as sites across the country are staffed by citizen scientists engaged in counting raptors heading south for the winter. Various hawk, falcon, vulture, eagle, and kite species plus birds like the Osprey, Northern Harrier and even some owls can be tallied on conducive flight days at migratory hotspots often situated along ridges or at the edge of a body of water. Counting these birds helps keep track of raptor populations on an international scale, gauging the health of these important predator species that have often been threatened by human...
Read MoreBusy Black Swallowtail
After seeing many Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterflies and little else on the wing for much of the spring, they have dropped off in number as others increase. What have your observations been? I have been surprised at how (relatively) few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails have been in the air except for a week or two in May. The harsh and historically cold winter likely changed the lepidoptera landscape for us more than usual. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreLightning Strike
There has been a lot of inclement weather lately! One good thing about all of the heavy rain and thunderstorms is that our waterways will be filled for reptiles, amphibians, odonates, and many other creatures. It may not make our work easier – for example, the Spiny Softshell Turtles are going to be a tough study for now – but it is certainly a far better fate than the droughts of places like California. Thankfully for them we have signs of a strengthening El Niño, the periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean’s surface temperatures, that may already be giving them slight...
Read MoreRobin on Nest
It may not feel like it now, but this photograph was snapped on a recent cold morning. Keeping those little ones warm on some of those chilly spring days is probably easier than it was for those American Robin parents that already fledged their young ones, fighting through April or even some of March. Have you seen fledglings running around squawking yet?
Read MoreScorching May
The first half of the month of May 2015 was a quietly scorching one, with the heat turned all the way up in the Northeast. You may not believe it based on the outdoor feel of our day to day weather, but the entire region was far warmer than usual. While we did not have the extreme highs or actual heat waves, a stretch or days well into the 90s or anything particularly memorable, we have been consistently warmer than average for our highs and often above the long-term lows. The Northeast Regional Climate Center map here shows us the tale. The coolest part has been sections of Maine which were...
Read More
