Winter raptor surveys with NYSDEC
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History will be assisting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a second season of wintering raptor surveys in Chautauqua County in 2014-2015 and we will need your help! The primary focus of these surveys is to determine where Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus), ‘endangered’ in New York, and Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus), ‘threatened’ in New York, are spending the winter season to roost and feed. Western New York’s NYSDEC Region 9 is a large geographical area and we at RTPI volunteered our time...
Read MoreRTPI and SUNY JCC studying Spiny Softshell Turtles
This fall we have two interns from SUNY Jamestown Community College working with us on the study and research of the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) population present in the Chadakoin River, located mere moments from our campus in Jamestown, New York. The state-listed turtle is listed as “special concern” and we are thankful to have this nearby area where we have found them successfully nesting. The Chadakoin River has a history of being surrounded by development and industry, making contamination of various sorts and water quality major concerns. However, the...
Read MoreMale Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles
Here’s some of the boys – male Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) – hanging out and basking Saturday afternoon before we were inundated with more rain. All of this constant precipitation is keeping water levels high making it harder to find them and impossible for us to do any trapping or tagging for research on the state-listed species. Our continuing observations and tracking will have to suffice.
Read MoreSpiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) basking
Quickly checked on the Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) earlier and saw six enjoying the hot sunny day.
Read MoreEastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) by Scott Kruitbosch
They’re backkk! Well, they never left, but here they are in the open – that’s one male and two female Spiny Softshell Turtles, a New York State ‘Special Concern’ species, as seen a couple hours ago here in Jamestown by RTPI conservation staff and SUNY JCC interns.
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