Odonate Walk
Via the Aspetuck Land Trust with photos from ALT’s Jacquie Littlejohn: Over the weekend, Scott Kruitbosch of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History led an enthusiastic group of ALT members on a walk to see and learn about Odonata and Other Flying Objects in our Trout Brook Valley preserve. Among the various odonates (aka dragonflies and damselflies) we saw were: Widow Skimmer, Tiger Spiketail, Arrowhead Spiketail, Eastern Pondhawk, White-faced Meadowhawk, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Ebony Jewelwing and Eastern Forktail. Everyone got to see multiple Tiger...
Read MoreCope’s Vine Snake (Oxybelis brevirostris)
This very charismatic Cope’s Vine Snake (Oxybelis brevirostris) was found on a night hike at Rara Avis Rainforest Preserve in Costa Rica. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Costa Rica while on assignment for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
Read MoreVernal Pools Poking Through
Last weekend as we were out surveying for HWA in Dobbin’s Woods, a beautiful Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy property, we came across several little pools beginning to form in the depressions of the landscape as the snow increasingly melts back. While these pools aren’t too attractive for us to throw our beach chair next to, they are extremely important to a number of amphibian species. In the upcoming weeks these small pools will serve as little nurseries for salamander and frog offspring to safely develop from egg-y masses to free swimming larvae to land conquering tetrapods....
Read MoreBullet Ants (Paraponera clavata)
This last trip to Panama was definitely the trip of the Bullet Ants (Paraponera clavata) according to RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser as there was a lot of activity with this species. On some of the nights hikes our crew saw upwards of a hundred individuals, even getting to watch the activity of a nest at the base of an enormous tree. Male soldiers with wings started to fly into the main research hut! It may feel like we will never see ants again in some of our below zero and snow-covered backyards, but they will be out in full force again soon enough. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean...
Read More“Leaving Only Footsteps? Think Again”
Here’s an interesting opinion piece in the New York Times that details how even passive recreation can have an unexpectedly high impact on wildlife. These are all issues we as scientists have dealt with at one time or another, from how placement of trails in preserves is vital to protect certain species and the fact they create unsuitable edge habitat, how passive recreation activities like hiking can have negative impacts in the same way something like snowmobiling could (or more, as they can occur in all seasons and not just winter), and that a day at the beach disrupts birds like...
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