History, Natural History & the Arts
Pictures of street hawkers with their trade shouts recorded in captions of poetry or prose are known as “Cries.” They first appeared in Paris around 1500. This early creation of an urban iconography included socially marginal people such as vagrants, beggars, prostitutes, and others.
Fifty years later, these images were established as a stylistic category across Europe. Eventually, they would make their way to New York. [Read more…] about Urban Cries: Street Hawkers’ Shouts in New York & London
A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology confirms that most birds — but not all — synchronize their migratory movements with seasonal changes in vegetation greenness.
The study’s authors say it’s the first of its kind to cover the Western Hemisphere during the year-long life cycle of North American migratory birds that feed on vegetation, seeds, nectar, insects, or meat. The findings were published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. [Read more…] about Study: Most Migratory Birds Rely On a Greening World
In observance of Bat Week, an internationally recognized week-long focus on raising awareness about the important role bats play in our environment, avoid visiting caves and mines that may serve as seasonal homes for hibernating bats at this time of year.
Human disturbance is especially harmful to the State’s bat populations since the arrival of the disease known as white-nose syndrome, a fungus that has killed more than 90 percent of bats at hibernation sites in New York. [Read more…] about Bat Week: Protecting Bat Populations
The first Europeans to see the Adirondack landscape of Northern New York came to explore, to document important military operations and fortifications, or to create maps and scientifically accurate images of the terrain, flora, and fauna.
These early illustrations filled practical needs rather than aesthetic ones. In 1818, the Adirondacks was still a mysterious “wild, barren tract…covered with almost impenetrable Bogs, Marshes & Ponds, and the uplands with Rocks and evergreens.” [Read more…] about Early Images of the Adirondacks: Science, Art, Tourism