History, Natural History & the Arts
There are contaminated sites all across New York State which range from large, complex systems to small, self-contained parcels.
Collectively, these sites encompass thousands of acres of diverse habitats, including streams, wetlands, grasslands, and forests. [Read more…] about Wildlife Habitat Enhancements At Contaminated Sites
Ausable Marsh Wildlife Management Area (WMA) spans 660 acres along the shores of Lake Champlain in Peru, in Clinton County, NY, and features a fertile delta formed over thousands of years. The area protects 12 ecological communities, including floodplain forests and wetland marshes, making it a unique haven for a wide variety of wildlife species, especially migrating birds. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Ausable Marsh Wildlife Management Area
By midsummer, the deck in our backyard is lined with a profusion of tall orange flowers. Each flower is shaped like a small funnel with a curved spur and hangs from a slender arched stem.
Hummingbirds zip back and forth, hovering in front of the flowers and probing them with their long beaks to sip nectar. [Read more…] about Jewelweed: A Hummingbird Favorite
In April, Albany County Supreme Court issued a decision in Chautauqua Lake Prop. Owners Assn., Inc. v State of New York annulling the recently revised 6 NYCRR Part 664 freshwater wetlands regulations in their entirety.
The court said the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) failed to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) during the adoption process. [Read more…] about After NY Wetlands Rules Struck Down, DEC Plans Webinar Tuesday
Amphibian Week occurs during the first full week in May and was created to raise awareness about these creatures which are severely threatened and are currently the most threatened vertebrate class globally.
A 2023 global assessment found that 40.7% of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction. The crisis is driven by habitat loss, pollution, and increasing impacts from climate change, with roughly two in five species at risk. [Read more…] about Celebrate Amphibian Week With Knowledge, Action
By early April I start to get impatient for full-blown spring. I’m ready for the treetops to be full of warblers and the understory to be crowded with blooming flowers.
But when mud season lingers, I pick up my paddle. Kayaking and canoeing in floodplain forests is a seasonal treat as fleeting as spring ephemerals – and it comes earlier. [Read more…] about Spring Paddling in Floodplain Forests
In spring, when temperatures rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and usher in gentle rains, a plethora of life emerges from the forest. Last year, I went out on such a night to catch the spring migration of amphibians. I could feel the rain coming before it hit the ground.
Cold damp air sank through my rain gear as I donned my reflective vest and walked the length of North Lincoln Street in Keene, New Hampshire. My headlamp was the only source of light on the dark, empty street. [Read more…] about Why Do Frogs Cross the Road?
Beneath the towering trees of New York State, under the leaves and rotting logs, lives a group of amphibians. Nocturnal in their behavior and hunkered down in underground retreats, forest salamanders often go undetected – until they move on rainy nights in large numbers for their annual breeding migrations to vernal pools.
Along with wood frogs, these amphibians encounter many roads that bisect their habitat, and in some places, they also encounter volunteers who lend a hand to provide safe passage. You can be one of the those volunteers. [Read more…] about Preparing for Amphibian Migrations; Volunteers Sought
Every holiday season there is a mass migration of humans towards home and family. We use many tools to help us navigate back to the places we’re from – from simple maps to sophisticated GPS – but animals who travel long distances must rely on their own senses.
Some of them have a long-range navigational sense called magnetoreception that is like a built-in compass or imprecise GPS. [Read more…] about Returning Home by Magnetic Homing
Healthy streams are home to diverse fish and wildlife, provide vital drinking water, and create recreation and relaxation opportunities.
Historically, they’ve often been impacted by various land uses that disturb native shoreline vegetation, put water quality at risk and increase flood potential. [Read more…] about Get ‘Stream Wise’: The Lake Champlain Watershed Initiative
Winter lingers long on the Rensselaer Plateau. The snow piles deep, muffling the landscape in an icy hush, and the trees stand still in their frozen slumber. But as the days lengthen and the sun begins its slow work of softening the land, the transformation begins.
The snow melts, trickling down into the forest floor, pooling in low spots, carving out secret, glistening pockets of water between the trees. These pools, often small and shallow, are the first sign of life returning to the woods. [Read more…] about Vernal Pools on the Rensselaer Plateau
The Nature of the Place: On the Flora and Fauna of the Adirondacks (North Country Books, 2025) is Adirondack nature writer Edward Kanze’s invitation to slow down, smell the roses, and get to know fellow creatures with more longstanding claims to this landscape than we have.
Theirs is the real internet Kanze argues, a web of life that weaves together an almost infinite number of threads into a fabric that’s a wonder to behold and something close to a miracle in a largely hostile universe. [Read more…] about Ed Kanze’s Nature of the Place Reflects on Adirondack Flora and Fauna
When the winter snow melts and the spring rain begins, vernal pools appear on the landscape. These ephemeral wetlands form in depressions in forests or ridge lines and offer essential breeding habitat to amphibians and invertebrates, including wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and fairy shrimp.
Because vernal pools dry up in high summer and are disconnected from other waterways, fish cannot survive in them – making them uniquely attractive to many amphibian and invertebrate species. [Read more…] about Vernal Pools: Nursery for Amphibians, Buffet for Predators
You’re probably familiar with the basic amphibian life plan: start as a wriggly water-breathing tadpole, transform into an adult that breathes air. This is the pattern followed by all our frogs and toads, and our mole salamanders as well.
Enter the eastern newt, an amphibian with three different forms, whose ability to transform its body and its lifestyle makes its peers look like amateurs. [Read more…] about The Many Lives of the Eastern Newt
Tree cavities are a precious commodity for wildlife. It has been estimated that about one-fourth of northeastern forest wildlife species need trees with cavities.
Some cavities are excavated by birds while others are created by decay and broken branches. Trees with cavities are used by wildlife for nesting and raising young, protection from predators, a place to store food, hibernation, and roosting. [Read more…] about Tree Cavities: Prime Real Estate for Wildlife
Nestled between Rochester and Buffalo, Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR) stands as one of the best-kept secrets of Western New York. This serene haven, spanning over 10,000 acres, is a testament to the timeless beauty and quiet reverence of nature.
My visits to the refuge, accompanied by my wife, have left us in awe of its tranquil atmosphere. There is something magical about the place — a sense of wildness that feels both untamed and peaceful; as if nature itself is speaking in whispers. [Read more…] about Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge: A Hidden Gem in Western New York
In the cold October air, my classmates and I gathered around the square oak board placed on the ground more than a year earlier. Carefully, we lifted it and peered underneath.
Against the dark brown soil, two shiny lines caught our attention: salamanders. Both were Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), the most abundant salamander species in the Northeast. [Read more…] about The Winter Lives of Salamanders
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed the Safe Wildlife Crossings Act, a bill designed to make highways safer for motorists and wildlife with purpose-built crossings in the New York’s North Country. The bill would have required the NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NYS Thruway Authority to conduct studies to determine the most hazardous areas of highways for vehicle-animal collisions and develop a plan to reduce those hazards. [Read more…] about Governor Kathy Hochul Vetoes Safe Wildlife Crossings Act
The roughly 50,000-acre Montezuma Wetlands Complex in Central New York is a globally significant Important Bird Area situated at the outlet of Cayuga Lake, and consists of the National Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, the State’s Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area, and lands owned by The Nature Conservancy and other private parties. [Read more…] about Montezuma Wetlands Projects Completed
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public input on the draft list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need and associated species status assessments for use in updating New York’s State Wildlife Action Plan for 2025-35. [Read more…] about List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need Being Revised
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