Diamondback Terrapin
Here’s a belated post for #worldturtleday yesterday and one of Twan’s favorites – a baby Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) photographed for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project.
Read MoreEastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Recently I heard a little rustling in the leaves around me while I was watching some warblers (what a birder, I know) with a distinctive and familiar sort of sound. Sure enough, this Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was slithering as I had disturbed it while it was sunning on the edge of a pond. I stepped back to let it be and snapped this shot with my 500mm before continuing on. Go see what you can find on the ground, in the air, and in the trees outdoors this weekend! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreProject Wild America Youth Ambassadors 2016
Hi all! It’s been a while since I last wrote…there has been so much going on! First, let me catch you up a bit on what is coming up for this summer. I’m admittedly sharing things a bit out of order, as I have lots to tell you about our how well our hemlock woolly adelgid surveys went, the wrap up of our snowmobile cell phone tour, another recent publication, winter raptor surveys and a great winter season with some fantastic interns. I’ll be writing about all of these things shortly, so please stay tuned! Spring is upon us now, and we are looking ahead and setting goals for our summer...
Read MoreFer-de-Lance
Meet my new friend. I call him ‘fluffy’. He likes to hang out on the same trail that our students used to get to their study plots in Rara Avis Rainforest Preserve. I did not like that. I tried to reason with him. He did not like that. Then I relocated him. He did not like that either – as you can tell he is waiting for my next move… Even though he’s a grumpy Fer-de-Lance, we’re still friends… Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read MoreTantilla supracincta
It took more than 20 years, but I finally got to see a living Tantilla supracincta! For some reason I would come across these only after they got run over in traffic, or macheted to pieces because someone thought it was a venomous coral snake. This is a minuscule snake – this one measured less than nine inches – and even though it has some venom to subdue its (probably far more venomous) centipede prey, it is perfectly harmless to humans. Happy the curse has been lifted! Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read More
