News
600 Adirondack Acres Returning to Indigenous Stewardship
1+ week, 4+ day ago (1009+ words) In one of the largest private land return initiatives in what is now New York State, a forested 600-acre property is returning to Indigenous care. With assistance and funding from The Nature Conservancy, the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center (6NICC) purchased…...
Great Backyard Bird Count 2026 Results
1+ week, 4+ day ago (286+ words) Scientists estimate that between 10,000 and 11,000 known species of birds exist world wide, and participants in the 2026 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) saw 8,257 of them. That's according to the final results of the count, a four-day community science project in ornithology…...
Shawangunk Ridge Viewshed, Wetlands Protected
2+ week, 19+ hour ago (620+ words) The Open Space Institute (OSI) has planned for the protection of 175 acres of marsh and forest land, including wetland areas, along Route 299 in the Towns of New Paltz and Gardiner in Ulster County. When the owners of the Humpo Marshlands…...
Mallard Ducks: An Environmental History Leading to Decline
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (434+ words) History, Natural History & the Arts Most people in New York when asked to picture a duck, they're thinking of an eastern mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) " the green head, the quack, the pond. But just 90-100 years ago, mallards were not known…...
Preparing for Amphibian Migrations; Volunteers Sought
2+ mon, 6+ day ago (557+ words) History, Natural History & the Arts 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…...
A Turtle's Life Beneath the Ice and Snow
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (682+ words) History, Natural History & the Arts 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…...
Stay Alert for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (846+ words) History, Natural History & the Arts Since it was first introduced into New York State in January 2022, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been documented in captive birds in multiple counties and detected in free-ranging wild birds and mammals throughout the…...
A Flight Year for Winter Finches
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (589+ words) History, Natural History & the Arts On a fine gray afternoon in late October, I came across an impressive cone midden beneath a towering red spruce. While it was surely the work of an industrious squirrel " perhaps a family, given the…...