Snowy Trails
This weekend brought a small bought of freezing rain that made things a bit slick, but coated the bare deciduous trees and shrubs in a thin layer of ice and snow, creating a spectacular winter scene throughout the area. It’s incredible to think that just a couple months ago all the trees and shrubs were in full foliage, sporting bright oranges, yellows and reds, and in only a matter of a couple more months and they will be covered in green once again. Whether you prefer a snowy landscape or a thriving colorful landscape, the region certainly provides a variety of beautiful scenes...
Read MoreWinter Weekend Fun
This past weekend the sun was shining and the snow was smooth on the trails throughout Chautauqua County, providing excellent conditions to be outside on either machine powered or self powered modes of transportation. My husband, father and I all jumped on our snowmobiles and took a ride through the area, enjoying the snowy forests, snow covered ponds and whitened glassy fields providing us with a beautiful view everywhere we went. While we were out we also stopped at some of RTPI’s “Nature at Your Fingertips” cell phone tour stops, giving us a closer look at the...
Read MoreHWA Surveys Begin
With the recent news of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) reaching Chautauqua County, Tina and I began our surveys last Friday starting with one of the hemlock stands along the trails here at RTPI. We bundled up and spent a couple hours combing through the hemlock branches we could reach and are happy to report that we didn’t find any HWA within this particular cluster of trees. As the winter continues, we will continue to survey around our trails and will soon join our efforts with JCC students to survey the college’s woodlot as well. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we...
Read MoreSnowmobiling in Chautauqua County
While some stayed inside and enjoyed the beautiful, bitter cold landscape from the windowsill, many others were out in the winter wonderland that engulfed Chautauqua County this past weekend. Most of the county club’s snowmobile trails were open for traffic to traverse through the fields and forests, providing a unique opportunity to enjoy the incredible natural resources the county has to offer. Riding underneath the bows of a spruce forest in the state lands to riding across a sturdily built bridge passing over a stream provides a perspective not likely seen otherwise during this...
Read MoreMale Cardinal Liftoff
Here’s liftoff of a male Northern Cardinal during a recent snowfall. Get out there this weekend and enjoy the snowy world, Chautauqua County! We will see you on the trails of our glistening landscape.
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