Students Learn that Roger Tory Peterson is “For the Birds”
He was born in Jamestown, New York more than one hundred years ago. Imagine that city one hundred years ago; no television, no computers or any of the many electronic devices that amuse us today, not even cars to take us to entertaining places like shopping malls or sports events. What would a boy like Roger do during summer vacation? “Go outside and look at nature”, answer my audience of second grade students at Love Elementary School. It’s a library class so appropriately I show them Laura Thomas’s exquisite illustrations in Peggy Thomas’s children’s biography For the Birds, The Life of...
Read MoreWorn Field Guide – Throwback Thursday
This is my current Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America. It is a fifth edition I have owned for nearly a decade. I thought I would toss this up for a Throwback Thursday and point out how worn it is. Forget the corners and edges, and even the binding is starting to give. The cover is really and truly that faded color after many hours in the sun in my vehicles or somewhere else. Rain, snow and saltwater spray has taken a toll, too. Considering what it has been through I think it is actually doing well. How’s yours looking? Scott Kruitbosch Conservation...
Read MoreLeaves are leaving
This is a picture of the Chadakoin River before all of yesterday’s formidable gusts blew away much of our fall foliage here in Jamestown. Yep, the leaves are leaving. What makes me shake my head is how low the water level has been lately as our precipitation has fallen back to near average or below after a very wet summer. We sure could have used these conditions for Spiny Softshell Turtle work the rest of the year when they were more active, nesting and basking in strong numbers. The weather shapes all of the life around us in both positive and negative ways. This is also why active...
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 MoreChadakoin River in downtown Jamestown, New York
This is the Chadakoin River in downtown Jamestown, New York. On one hand it is a waterway that has been surrounded by industry and development for decades. On the other hand it is a vital environmental hotspot, hosting species like the Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera), state-listed as a species of “special concern”. This is a very literal example of this dichotomy. With all of that said there are many reasons to be optimistic about the Chadakoin and other natural resources in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region! Later today I will post a blog entry about RTPI’s...
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