History, Natural History & the Arts
Spring is an ideal time to observe bird migrations. New York is conveniently located along the Atlantic Flyway, one of the main migration routes.
This provides a great opportunity to observe birds flying to their summer breeding grounds. Here’s a few resources to get you started: [Read more…] about Watching Migrating Birds This Spring: A Primer
Hearing the sleigh bell-like sound of hundreds of these wetland-loving frogs is a sure sign that spring has sprung. The spring peeper (pseudacris crucifer) is easy to identify with an “X” on its back, and their color ranges from dark to light brown. Spring peepers are only about an inch in size, nut their chorus can carry for a quarter of a mile. [Read more…] about What’s That Sound? Spring Peepers
Over the coming weeks, white-tailed deer will be shedding their brown/grey winter coats or hair, which will be replaced by a summer coat with more reddish coloration. [Read more…] about Whitetail Deer Are Shedding Their Winter Coats
On Monday, April 8th, 2024, a large portion of New York State will be directly in the path of totality for a total solar eclipse.
This is not only an amazing sight but a rare occurrence during which views can witness the effect of a sunrise and sunset all in the span of about two hours. [Read more…] about The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse: A Primer For New York State
The Saratoga County History Center (SCHC) at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, will host a virtual presentation by Dr. Kieran O’Keefe entitled “Loyalists in the Hudson Valley during the Revolutionary War,” at 7 pm on Wednesday, January 31st. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Loyalists During the American Revolution
For over 30 years light displays were a cornerstone of the holiday celebration at Trinkaus Manor in Oriskany, Oneida County, NY. [Read more…] about Trinkaus Holiday Lights Were Once A Tradition
Twas The Night – The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem (Grafton And Scratch Publishers, 2022) by Pamela McColl is the first cultural history to be published of the highly-celebrated poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as Twas The Night Before Christmas. [Read more…] about Twas The Night: The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem
The book Marty Glickman: The Life of an American Jewish Sports Legend (NYU Press, 2023) by Jeffrey S. Gurock takes a look at Marty Glickman, who for close to half a century after World War II, was the voice of New York sports. [Read more…] about Marty Glickman: American Jewish Sports Legend
The book Sperm Whales: The Gentle Goliaths of the Ocean (Rizzoli, 2022) by Gaelin Rosenwaks with Foreward by Carl Safina tells the story of sperm whale families through photography and film. [Read more…] about Sperm Whales: Gentle Goliaths
DEC is asking the public to report moose sightings via an online form as part of ongoing efforts to monitor moose across New York.
While the Adirondacks are home to most New York moose, some live in the eastern part of the state along the Vermont and Massachusetts borders. Moose can also occasionally be found in southeastern New York and the Catskills, but these are usually individuals that have dispersed from other areas. [Read more…] about Report Moose Sightings to DEC
Giant hogweed plants are now blooming across many parts of the state, making it a prime time to spot this harmful invasive species. Giant hogweed is a large plant with sap that can cause painful burns and scarring.
Adult giant hogweed plants tend to be 7-14 feet tall with umbrella-shaped clusters of white flowers up to 2.5 feet wide. The stem is green with purple splotches and coarse white hairs, and leaves are large (up to 5 feet across), incised, and deeply lobed. [Read more…] about Watch For and Report Giant Hogweed
July 7th marks the anniversary of the 1777 Battle of Hubbardton, in Vermont. The battle was one of the only engagements in what’s now the state of Vermont during the American Revolutionary War, although the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776 did spill over into Vermont as well.
Like the Battle of Bennington, it holds a particularly outsized role in the conflict itself owing to it having taken place in the lead-up to the Battles of Saratoga. [Read more…] about July 7, 1777: The Battle of Hubbardton in Vermont
V Is For Victory: Franklin Roosevelt’s American Revolution and the Triumph of World War II (Scribner, 2023) by Craig Nelson takes a look at how FDR confronted an American public disinterested in going to war in Europe, skillfully won their support, and pushed government and American industry to build the greatest war machine in history, “the arsenal of democracy” that won the Second World War. [Read more…] about V is for Victory: Roosevelt’s Revolution & World War II
Great Egrets are a wading bird found in marshes and wetlands. They often holds their neck in an “S” shape. From that position, they can lunge its head forward at lightning speed and strike prey with its long bill. [Read more…] about Finding Great Egrets In Summer
Many people take campfire wood from their backyards or neighborhoods as they head out to a favorite camping spot, not realizing the wood may be hiding the eggs, larvae, spores, adults, or even seeds of invasive threats. Hitching a ride on infested or infected firewood allows these pests to spread faster and farther than they could have on their own.
A variety of invasive species can be transported on firewood, from wood boring beetles and defoliators to fungi and diseases. [Read more…] about Use Local Firewood: Avoid Spreading Invasives
The National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island has announced “The East River and Long Island Sound Boat Tour,” featuring many of New York City’s most fascinating and noteworthy historical sites, set for Sunday, July 9th. [Read more…] about East River and Long Island Sound Boat Tour
The book Booze, Badboys & Bootleggers: North Country Tales Grandpa Never Told You (Self-Published, 2022) by James E. Reagen chronicles the early days of Prohibition in communities across St. Lawrence County. [Read more…] about Prohibition in St. Lawrence County: Booze, Badboys & Bootleggers
While Theodore Roosevelt employed his abilities to rise from unknown New York legislator to the youngest man to assume the U.S. presidency in 1901, in his book The Rough Rider & the Professor: Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, & the Friendship that Changed American History (Pegasus Books, 2023), Laurence Jurdem argues that this rapid success would not have occurred without the assistance of the powerful New Englander, Henry Cabot Lodge. [Read more…] about TR & Henry Cabot Lodge: A Friendship that Changed History
The Friends of Cedarmere, William Cullen Bryant’s historic home on Long Island, have announced that Jesse Curran has been named 2023 Poet-in-Residence. William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was a poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. [Read more…] about William Cullen Bryant’s Cedarmere Hosting Poet-in-Residence Events
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s historic 1973 Triple Crown sweep, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has announced “A Tremendous Machine: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown,” an exhibition honoring the accomplishments and enduring legacy of the famed Meadow Stable colt. [Read more…] about Saratoga Museum Marking Secretariat’s Triple Crown 50th Anniversary
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