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Posts Tagged "flora"

WildLife Guards Learning & Educating

Posted on Jul 14, 2016

WildLife Guards Learning & Educating

The Bridgeport WildLife Guards are both learning and educating at Pleasure Beach! RTPI and Audubon Connecticut trained staff members teach these high school students each day, and they in turn help to educate dozens of daily visitors about the rare and endangered plants and animals that surround them along this stunning shoreline. We are teaching the teachers of the next generation about science and conservation, and as you can see below, they are engaging in creative ways to reach people – especially children. I spent some time with the WildLife Guards last Saturday and observed their...

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WildLife Guards Monitoring

Posted on Jul 8, 2016

WildLife Guards Monitoring

What a week. All of us have been extremely busy and it will continue tomorrow and Sunday and…well, every day this summer. Here are a couple photos of the Bridgeport WildLife Guards in action yesterday as they monitored the Piping Plover pair with one chick at Pleasure Beach. ‘ They also recorded all the other bird species that they saw on the shoreline while learning more about our avian neighbors. The Guards noted the chick flying today and classified it as finally having fledged officially – woo! Now they will have the opportunity to see how long each of the parents...

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WildLife Guards Training – Netting Dragonflies

Posted on Jun 29, 2016

WildLife Guards Training – Netting Dragonflies

Training week for the Bridgeport WildLife Guards Crew Leaders continues! We will be adding some new lesson plans and activities for the WildLife Guards this year both in conservation survey work and educational outreach. While much of our work is focused on birds we felt that considering Pleasure Beach is an important migratory hub for butterflies and dragonflies that we should teach the WildLife Guards about some of the insects that they can expect to see moving through the gardens and fields of milkweed, goldenrod and so forth. I created a couple lists of ten expected butterfly and...

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2016 Bridgeport WildLife Guards

Posted on Jun 27, 2016

2016 Bridgeport WildLife Guards

Today was the first day of training for our Crew Leaders in the 2016 Bridgeport WildLife Guards! We are happy to have a great new Crew Leader, Kari Lickey, and a terrific returning Crew Leader from last summer, Emily Allen. This week will focus on planning for the seven-week season with 10 high school students from Bridgeport, Connecticut as they join us at Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport beginning next Tuesday. They will be on duty at the shore monitoring endangered waterbirds and educating visitors, families, and friends about Pleasure Beach and its ecosystem every Tuesday through Saturday,...

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Grass Pink

Posted on Jun 24, 2016

Grass Pink

This Grass Pink, or Deptford Pink, (Dianthus armeria) is truly exceptional in terms of vibrant color for such a tiny plant. The wildflower is native to Europe, and though nonnative in our soil it does well without becoming invasive or dominating any landscape. What are we do to about such species? Try to remove them all at tremendous cost and inevitably failing? We have to focus on protecting our greatest conservation priorities and selectively dealing with the most dangerous invasive plants that crowd out or harm native endangered wildlife. There is no way to turn back the clock and restore...

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