Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula)
Here’s an aptly named Green-crowned Brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) hummingbird to warm you up on this Monday as photographed in Costa Rica by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser. A splash of green among all the white outside always helps, and every day that sun of ours is staying out later and climbing higher…
Read MoreHistoric Blizzard of 2016
Here we are again – another year, another crippling blizzard crushing the Northeast. This century has been extremely volatile weather-wise for much of the east coast, and the winter seasons alone have been historic in some way nearly every year. We thought for a while that El Niño would keep it a more routine sort of winter, but once it showed it would be the strongest El Niño of all time there were a lot of unknowns…especially after historic warmth had its hold on us through the end of 2015. Basking in the 70s for Christmas, it was nevertheless certain that a cold air mass would...
Read MoreWeekend Fun
Headed out on the trails this weekend? Before you do, check out this how-to video created by our friends at Orbitist.com. Our newly updated “Nature at Your Fingertips” cell phone tour is packed with many new features and this tutorial shows you how to take advantage of them. So whether you are using motor power or human power to get around this weekend, give yourself a break at one of our 30 stops and discover the many stories Chautauqua County has to...
Read MoreA Look at Hemlock Trees through the Eyes of a Conservation Intern
Written by Bryce Alexander, Conservation Intern Edited by Melanie Smith, Communications Coordinator Every time I walk through the local woods, I am always surprised by the number of Hemlock trees that are found in our forests. It’s weird to think though, that these trees are in great danger from an invasive species known as Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, also known as HWA. I have personally observed a large number of Hemlock trees, and luckily none of these appear have been affected by this invasive pest yet. Hemlock trees are an important part of the ecosystems in which they are found, and should...
Read MoreDowny Woodpecker
As I speculated a few days ago, this is now the time when you will be finding more birds at your feeders – like this Downy Woodpecker. It goes beyond the ground being frozen, ice covering some food sources, or snow blanketing everything. While it is harder to literally feed, it is also much colder now, and the birds need many more calories in order to survive. A lot of people were inquiring about why their feeders were so quiet towards the end of 2015, and I think it was certainly related to the fact that we had some days with temperatures in the 60s and 70s across the region and...
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