Happy Snowy 1st Day of Spring!
Happy 1st day of spring all! Although the calendar says it’s officially spring, our weather seems to say otherwise. Jamestown, as well as much of the Northeast, will welcome spring in with another snowy system passing through. As winter’s grip begins to slowly loosen, we will be wrapping up our winter projects and the preparation for the upcoming spring and summer field work will begin. It’s going to be an exciting year at RTPI and we can’t wait to report more on what we are up to! So stay tuned and keep thinking warm thoughts!
Read MoreRincon de La Vieja National Park
To contrast some of the winter scenery I have posted recently, not to mention the very wet and rainy tropical rainforests our RTPI research crew and friends have been working in during their time in Costa Rica, here is some vastly different habitat in Rincon de La Vieja National Park as photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser. You can see noticeably dry forest set against a blue sky and almost feel the flow of these hot springs in front of a tree that looks to be taken directly from fantasy. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreWet Mockingbird
I don’t know what a forlorn bird looks like but I think it is something close to this Northern Mockingbird thanks to some wet, cold, and dreary weather. Personally I love our four seasons and embrace the rotation of life they feature all around us. I wonder if birds like this one know spring is only a few months away… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreFox Sparrow scratching like a chicken
This Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) was doing its best chicken impression while scratching at the earth to find seeds in the leaf litter, primarily oak leaves, on a cold, wet and dreary November day.
Read MoreSpotted Salamander and Eastern Newt
Here are a couple of friends we met and Sean photographed during the BioBlitz yesterday – a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) and an Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). These neighbors could very well be in your backyard right now if you’re in the Eastern U.S. As Sean noted the rain may not have helped our overall total of life (bleh for bugs and birds!) but it did provide assistance for finding amphibians.
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