History, Natural History & the Arts
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
For hundreds of years, people believed that, come autumn, barn swallows would dive under the surface of ponds and lakes, swim to the bottom, and bury themselves in the mud for the winter.
We now know better – swallows, along with thousands of other avian species across the globe, undergo seasonal migrations – and the idea of spending the winter buried in mud at the bottom of a pond seems laughable.
But there are other vertebrate organisms that do exactly this: some water turtles, such as painted turtles and common snapping turtles, search out the soft substrate at the bottom of ponds, rivers, and lakes, and burrow down into the mud. [Read more…] about A Turtle’s Life Beneath the Ice and Snow
New York Almanack regularly reports on the rescue and relocation of wildlife across New York State. The reports below were provided by the New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs). You can read all our recent wildlife rescue stories here. [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues: Injured Screech Owl, Black Bear Relocated
As a budding naturalist growing up in the concrete-heavy environs of Boston, I would regularly thumb through my family’s collection of nature books and daydream about the creatures within. One species I was particularly drawn to was the eastern box turtle.
These charismatic terrestrial turtles have high-domed shells festooned with colorful yellow or orange markings, and stout legs built for walking. Notwithstanding their similarities to tortoises, box turtles are part of the “water turtle” family Emydidae, which includes species like the eastern painted turtle and spotted turtle [Read more…] about Eastern Box Turtles: Life in a Shell
The Open Space Institute (OSI) has acquired more than 3,100 forested acres in the town of Neversink in Catskill Park — one of the largest parcels of privately-owned, contiguous forestland remaining within the Catskill Blue Line.
It’s hoped the acquisition will safeguard sources of clean water, provide habitat for birds, turtles, fish, and other wildlife, and enhance recreational opportunities. [Read more…] about Major Catskill Park Land Acquisition Protects 3,100 Acres
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
In cartoons, when a turtle is spooked, it retreats into and closes up its shell. While used for comic effect, this imagery is based in fact – although not all turtles are capable of this protective feat.
In the Northeast, there are three native turtle species that have hinged shells: the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), the common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus), and the woodlande box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). [Read more…] about Hinge-Shelled Turtles
As the length of daylight increases and temperatures begin to warm, ectotherms — animals that cannot regulate their own body temperature — will begin to emerge from their winter refuges. Hibernation (or brumation) is how reptiles avoid dying in freezing temperatures and surviving in a landscape where conditions are not warm enough the entire year. [Read more…] about What Have Reptiles Been Up To All Winter?
On the surface, we all know that turtles are animals with shells. They plod along on land, or swim gracefully in the water. Some live in the oceans, some in the deserts – what wonderful extremes they have come to inhabit. They have been around for over 200 million years – since the late Triassic. Some species can live well over a hundred years. If we dig deeper though, they are even more fascinating. [Read more…] about Turtles In New York State: A Primer
In early March, NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Zach Kochanowski and DEC Wildlife Biologist Chip Hamilton received a report about a wildlife rehabilitator unlawfully accepting raccoons at her home in Merrick in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, on Long Island. [Read more…] about Rogue Wildlife Rehabber on Long Island Facing Charges
On January 23, the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) requested New York State Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) assistance with a subject hoarding more than 100 animals inside his North Bellmore residence in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island. [Read more…] about Animal House: Man Accused of Hoarding Protected, Dangerous Wildlife
Before winter sets in, all reptiles and amphibians must retreat to a location that provides shelter against the temperatures that would be lethal to their cold-blooded system.
While some find refuge underground, others rely on the protection afforded by water and seek out a place on the bottom of an aquatic setting in which ice is unlikely to develop, even during periods of intense cold. [Read more…] about Wood Turtles in Winter
In 1880, the first eight Game Protectors began serving to protect the natural resources of New York State. In 2022, Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators across the state responded to more than 25,600 calls.
What follows are recently reported incidents involving wildlife rescues: [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues & Encounters: Loggerhead Turtle, NYC Pythons & Caged Whitetail Deer
Until 65 million years ago, huge reptiles dominated our planet – and every summer I think they might be making a comeback. The sight of a snapping turtle hauling herself onto a sunny log or lifting her incredible bulk on mud-colored legs always fills me with prehistoric daydreams.
Turtles have roamed the Earth for about 200 million years, meaning they were around during the time of the dinosaurs. [Read more…] about The Life of a Snapping Turtle
In 1880, the first eight Game Protectors began serving to protect the natural resources of New York State. In 2022, Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators across the state responded to more than 25,600 calls. What follows are recently reported incidents involving wildlife rescues: [Read more…] about Recent Wildlife Rescues & Encounters: Rattler, Owl, Eagle, Turtle & Rabid Fox
Named for their polka-dot-like markings, spotted turtles have declined throughout most of their range, which stretches from Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida, and in New York, throughout the Hudson Valley, on Long Island, and in the lake plains of western and central New York into the eastern Great Lakes states. [Read more…] about Spotted Turtles: Rare and Reclusive
The Blanding’s turtle inhabits a variety of wetlands including marshes, swamps, and flood plains. However, individual turtles will travel over land considerable distances to reach sandy or gravelly areas to lay eggs, and vernal pools where they will feast on amphibian egg masses, larval amphibians, crustaceans, plants, and other organisms throughout the spring. [Read more…] about Blanding’s Turtle
There are four species of sea turtles that can be found in New York’s coastal waters: green, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, and loggerhead sea turtles. They remain local in our area during the warmer months from approximately May through November and will typically begin their migration south to warmer nesting waters by mid-November. [Read more…] about Report Cold-Stunned Sea Turtle Sightings on New York Beaches
Sunlight glinted off the water as we paddled our canoe along a winding channel which led through a freshwater marsh of tall grasses and wild rice. Two white, long-legged birds – great egrets – stalked the shallow water, poised to spear fish with their pointed bills.
A bald eagle landed in a tree, squawking as it joined its mate. After four miles of canoeing down the Missisquoi River in northwestern Vermont we had reached the point where the river enters Lake Champlain. [Read more…] about Paddling Freshwater Marshes: Wildlife Mosaics
As spring warms the water, a turtle, covered by leaves and mud at the bottom of a wetland where she hibernated for the winter, awakens. Emerging from the water, she basks on shore. The sun illuminates her bright yellow throat and her high, domed shell, or carapace, dark and shiny with light flecks.
The underside of her shell, or plastron, is yellow with black patches around the edges. The plastron is hinged, so the turtle can retreat inside and partially close her shell. At 7 to 9 inches long, she is much larger than the familiar painted turtle. This is a Blanding’s turtle, named for the early Pennsylvania physician and naturalist, William Blanding, who first described the species in the early 1800s. [Read more…] about The Endangered Blanding’s Turtle: A Primer
Use your bank’s “bill pay” option (or just send a check)
Thanks for your support! These are difficult times. Without your support we cannot publish the Almanack.
*Donations are not tax deductible.
(Click the X in the top right corner this box to not see this message again for 7 days).