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wetlands

Water Boatmen During Winter

February 11, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Water boatman active under the ice courtesy Wikimedia user Oceanflynn If you get a chance this winter, take a peek through the icy window of a pond surface. You may see water boatmen (order Hemiptera: Family Corixidae) clinging to the pond floor.

Long oar-like hind legs propel these insects, inspiring their common name. Shorter, scoop-like front legs are used for feeding and singing. [Read more…] about Water Boatmen During Winter

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: ice, insects, wetlands, Wildlife, winter

Lake Champlain Basin Commemorating the Clean Water Act

November 6, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Lake Champlain bridge provided by Erica RemingtonFifty years ago, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Water Act. This landmark legislation has been critical in protecting and restoring the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources.

To recognize the Act’s importance, the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) and the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) have spearheaded a commemoration of the anniversary with a variety of events, activities, and publications in 2022. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Basin Commemorating the Clean Water Act

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, Fisheries, Lake Champlain, Lake Champlain Basin Program, Vermont, water quality, wetlands, Wildlife

Wildlife Mosaics: Paddling Freshwater Marshes

September 25, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Cattail-marshland-at-Tifft-Nature-Preserve-Buffalo-courtesy-Wikimedia-user-Buffaboy Sunlight glinted off the water as we paddled our canoe along a winding channel which led through a 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 Wildlife Mosaics: Paddling Freshwater Marshes

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: birding, birds, Fisheries, Lake Champlain, Missisquoi River, nature, ospreys, paddling, raptors, Vermont, waterfowl, wetlands, Wildlife

The Endangered Blanding’s Turtle: A Primer

July 3, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Blanding's turtle courtesy Wikimedia user Andrew C 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

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: endangered species, nature, turtles, wetlands, Wildlife

Southern Bog Lemmings

June 18, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Synaptomys cooperi courtesy Wikimedia user PaulT If you’ve never seen – or heard of – the southern bog lemming, you’re not alone. Although this small mammal scurries through our landscape year-round, it is elusive by nature.

So elusive, in fact, that the southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi) is listed as a species of greatest conservation need in the northeastern states – mainly because scientists struggle to find and track these rodents. [Read more…] about Southern Bog Lemmings

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: nature, small mammals, wetlands, Wildlife

Duck Nesting Season Is In Full Swing

June 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

duck eggs courtesy DECThroughout northeastern North America, ducks are setting up nests and hatching out ducklings. New York State’s

Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is in the first year of a four-year effort to better understand mallard movements and how they affect their breeding success. [Read more…] about Duck Nesting Season Is In Full Swing

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: birding, birds, DEC, nature, Science, Spring, waterfowl, wetlands, wildife

May is American Wetlands Month

May 14, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

spring peeper by John LehmannNew York State is home to over two million acres of freshwater wetlands. Freshwater wetlands are lands typically covered with water, are very wet, but are not connected to the ocean or estuary.

Freshwater wetlands have many different names including bogs, swamps, marshes, vernal pools, potholes, and fens. May is American Wetlands Month. [Read more…] about May is American Wetlands Month

Filed Under: Nature, Recreation Tagged With: nature, water quality, wetlands, Wildlife

Northeastern Stream Salamanders

April 30, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

northern dusky salamander courtesy Wikimedia user Hargle The life cycles of the three species of stream salamanders native to the Northeast – northern two-lined, northern dusky, and spring – are closely tied to the small streams where they are found. All three species belong to the Plethodontidae family, which are lungless salamanders that breathe through their skin.

Stream salamanders forage for small invertebrates both on land and in water and have a lengthy aquatic larval stage during which breathing is done with gills. The presence and persistence of these amphibians, therefore, can be greatly affected by the condition of the forested buffer along streams, as well as other factors, including atmospheric pollution. [Read more…] about Northeastern Stream Salamanders

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: amphibians, nature, wetlands, Wildlife

Cozy Cattails: A Caterpillar Haven

March 12, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

cattail courtesy Wikimedia user Skalle-Per Hedenhös On a winter day, I drove down to a nearby wetland bisected by a town road and walked carefully onto the ice. I was looking for cattail heads to dissect so I could meet the caterpillars who overwinter inside the seed fluff. Many of the cattails I found that day had blown over during the previous week’s windstorm, but there were enough still standing for me to collect two from each side of the road. [Read more…] about Cozy Cattails: A Caterpillar Haven

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: insects, Native Plants, nature, wetlands, Wildlife

Utica Marsh Wildlife Area Comments Sought

November 23, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Map of Utica Marsh Wildlife Management Area courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released a draft Access and Public Use Plan (APUP) for the Utica Marsh Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The draft plan is available for public comment until December 22nd. [Read more…] about Utica Marsh Wildlife Area Comments Sought

Filed Under: Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: birding, nature, Oneida County, Utica, Utica Marsh, wetlands, Wildlife

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