“2 The Outdoors” Environmental Forum
We are happy to pass on this announcement from our friend Producer Terry Belke of WGRZ about the very first “2 The Outdoors” Environmental Forum, coming up this Wednesday March 11, 7:30 pm at the UB Center For Tomorrow. The evening’s topic is Invasive Species in Western New York featuring three speakers: Andrea Locke of WNY Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM), Ken Parker of the Seneca Nation Of Indians, and Mark Whitmore of Cornell University. There will be a audience Q&A session after the speakers.
Read MoreGreat Lakes Annual Maximum Ice Coverage
Very cool graphic via the National Weather Service in Buffalo, New York – no pun intended! Right now the Great Lakes are 69.8% frozen, which is well above-average, and it should keep increasing for a while. No surprise there…
Read MoreWhere’s the Snow?!
After above-average to historic snowfall in November it has been a slow late fall and early winter season! Western New York saw some absurd snow totals early in the autumn but it has been tough lately with this latest low pressure system coming over us, the southwest flow dragging temperatures to the 50s, pouring down rain and melting snow. Scenes like these have been difficult to find for many places in the Northeast, but we in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region will be feeling an arctic blast with frigid temperatures coming this week. Snowfall will return thanks to the Great Lakes and a...
Read MoreMute Swans (Cygnus olor)
If you live in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region of Western New York you are far more accustomed to spotting Tundra Swans rather than these Mute Swans (Cygnus olor), a beautiful species that likely takes the title for most attractive non-native invasive bird in North America. Mute Swans call Eurasia their homeland but were brought to North America by humans and have taken up residence in a number of areas since the late 19th century, especially those in the east and near suburban areas and cities. They are a threat to native waterfowl because of how aggressive they are, a behavior I can attest...
Read MoreContinuing Winter Raptor Surveys
This a friendly request and reminder that we at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History are surveying for wintering Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls in Chautauqua County, two state-listed raptors that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is tracking in Western New York. Fortunately they share habitat with other beautiful birds like the Snowy Owl and you may end up being in productive locations for them often in the next few months. If you find any of the two species from now until spring please let us know with as much information on the sighting as...
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