Halloween Sunset
Can a sunset look like autumn or Halloween? I think so because I think this one does! Today’s cold front will finally make it feel a little more like the actual season for a bit. Be sure to try to enjoy some nature this week whether you go bird watching, for a hike, a stroll in the park, playing with the kids or the dog – something, anything, to help your health and well being in the great outdoors. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreSolar Chautauqua
Are you interested in doing good for the environment while saving money on your energy bill? RTPI is working with the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Economic Development and other community partners to get the word out about the Solar Chautauqua Initiative! Visit www.solarchautauqua.org for details.
Read MoreHemlock Woolly Adelgid Citizen Scientist Training November 1st
Although autumn is just beginning here in Western New York, the winter season will soon be upon us. The colder months, November through March to be exact, is the perfect time of year to search the area’s forests for an invasive forest pest known as Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). HWA is an aphid-like insect, originating from Asia, which feeds off of the food storage cells below the needles of an Eastern Hemlock tree and hides itself under white woolly masses for protection. Within only a matter of 4-10 years an individual tree can succumb to an HWA infestation if left unnoticed. This deadly...
Read MoreOctober Orbweavers
It’s ‘Meet Your Neighbours Monday’! With the arrival of autumn, you are likely to notice a distinctive suite of spiders around your home. The species shown here is the Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus marmoreus). The appearance of spiders like this one during the month of October has earned their group the nickname “Halloween spider”. Orb Weavers come in several different colors and patterns, so you might say that they wear a variety of costumes! Marbled orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus) photographed by Twan Leenders.
Read MoreField Sparrow
Chautauqua County certainly has an abundance of old farm fields, but we should be hearing more Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla), and other grassland birds, singing in the fields and other open areas across our region. The prairie habitat that once covered our landscape is long gone, but old, overgrown fields and hay fields provide a decent substitute for grassland birds. Even though their substitute habitat provides most of what these animals need, management practices can be challenges for them. Timing the mowing of these fields is important to protect nesting birds, and cutting in early...
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