Bird Extinctions
It’s not every day that we do photo shoots with organisms that have been dead for any length of time; however, on occasion the preserved bird skins in the Peterson collection still get a bit of use even though some of the birds themselves have been dead for over a hundred years, and their species extinct for decades. Many of the bird skins that lay in their likely final resting spot here at RTPI were part of Roger Tory Peterson’s collection that he used for reference while painting each species for his field guides. Nowadays they still serve a purpose for researchers and others...
Read MoreMonarch butterflies
Here it is, one Meet Your Neighbours display that needs no introduction – the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), with a female on the left and a male on the right. We must all continue to work to make certain that future generations can enjoy them in real life and not simply via beautiful photos like these. Only through a collective effort to combat deadly chemical pollutants from intentionally entering our ecosystem, protecting vital habitat during all seasons and educating our children can we turn the tide on the decline of once abundant and now fading species like these. They may not be in...
Read MoreLimosa Harlequin Frog
We are anxiously waiting for news from Panama to see how RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser, Science teacher Laurie Doss and her team of high school students from the Marvelwood School in Kent, CT, fared during their 10-day research trip to the remote Cocobolo Nature Reserve. The team is studying and banding migratory birds that winter in the area’s dense rainforest habitat. This is very exciting, but I have to admit that I can’t wait to hear if they had an opportunity to check in on one of the region’s other natural treasures: the Limosa Harlequin Frog (Atelopus limosus)....
Read MoreIrene and Sandy were teasers
This week marks the first anniversary of Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, and we are now a little more than two years past Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. I know I am not the only person to see all of the recent Sandy articles, reports, television shows, and so forth. I am also not the only person disinterested in this almost celebratory atmosphere when it lacks a critical component – namely, that while both of these storms were strong and severe, producing fatal impacts and devastating lives, but they were soft punches and almost teasers for future more powerful tropical cyclones and other...
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