RTPI’s President Delivers Keynote Address at International Herpetological Symposium
Twan Leenders, president of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (RTPI) and a conservation biologist with 25 years of experience working with endangered amphibians and reptiles will be the opening speaker of the 41st annual International Herpetological Symposium (IHS), which is held from June 20-23 at the Houston Zoo in Houston, Texas. “Some level of environmental awareness is everybody’s responsibility; this symposium will be a great gathering of the minds and we are all committed to finding ways to communicate our collective knowledge to other scientists, naturalists, and...
Read MoreYellow Warbler
One benefit from the scorching and inclement weather of the past week was the slow passage of a weak cold front (ha ha, “cold”) that brought us some actually conducive avian migratory conditions. Think about it…when was the last time before this recent August turbulence that we in the Northeast had any winds out of the north? We have had endless southerly or westerly-influenced flows bringing heat, humidity and then thunderstorms and heavy rain, all the opposite of what the birds are looking for to migrate south in this time of year. We are now in mid-August and any time...
Read MoreGrape Leaffolder (Desmia funeralis) Moth
Last year I started looking more at the seemingly endless world of moths, a Roger Tory Peterson tradition and passion when he was a small boy in Jamestown. Day and night, cloudy or clear, cool or hot, forest to shore – there are moths everywhere, and their flight seasons are always changing throughout the spring, summer and fall. I intend to continue to do some mothing this year when I can find a little time here or there. On Friday evening I found several new (to me) and unique moths including this Grape Leaffolder (Desmia funeralis) moth. I will keep doing my best to identify all...
Read MoreBird Migration on Radar – March 31
Here is a radar grab of the eastern United States from just after midnight today with light bird migration occurring from the deep south all the way through Maine. A warm front had lifted through the Northeast while areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms associated with a soon to come cold front stretched across the Midwest. Areas near Georgia into the Carolinas and Delmarva appear to have had moderate migration occurring. At this time of the year we have everything from ducks to wintering friends like the Dark-eyed Junco to early arrivals like Pine Warbler, both kinglets, Chipping Sparrow,...
Read MoreBirding By Impression
The following is an excerpt from the Birding Community E-bulletin – July 2015 which is edited and distributed by Paul Baicich and Wayne Petersen. You can find the July 2015 edition here and all of Birding Community E-Bulletins here. BOOK NOTES: REVISITING BIRDING BY IMPRESSION (BBI) Practically all modern bird identification guides reflect a response to, or dialogue with, a 26-year-old Roger Tory Peterson who, in 1934, created a birding breakthrough with the creation of his A Field Guide to the Birds (1934). Does this claim sound exaggerated? Perhaps. But perhaps not. The young...
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