Sociable and mischievous, and possibly intelligent, they’re quite a bit different from the stoic turkey vulture, whose great sense of smell they sometimes exploit to lead them to food.
At last June’s BioBlitz, scientists and expert naturalists worked with local residents to identify 280 species of plants and wildlife at the Thorn Preserve in Woodstock. On July 28 and July 29, the third annual BioBlitz will again bring citizen scientists and volunteers to the 60-acre preserve for a search through meadow, forest, stream, pond, and wetlands, in an event that is free and open to the public.
Plagued by high levels of bacteria and chemicals from sewage discharges and runoff, the poor health of the Wallkill was evidenced by a bright green, toxic algal bloom last summer which lasted some 80 days before dying off.
Friday-Saturday, July 28-29: Citizen scientists of all ages (no special training or experience necessary) will be teamed with scientists and expert naturalists to study the wildlife, plants and biodiversity at the Catskill Center’s Thorn Preserve. Bring your smartphone and put it to use cataloguing and photographing the park’s flora and fauna.
Members of the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance will be holding the first annual festival to celebrate the river at Sojourner Truth Park in New Paltz on October 7.
Black vultures are the most populous vulture in the Western Hemisphere, but they’re relatively new to New York State. Here are some things to keep in mind next time you see a dark shape circling above.
The trainers and staff at IXL in Simmons Plaza were used to bringing people into the gym, but this summer they are encouraging their patrons to go outside and work out in the open air, flipping tires and riding stationary bikes in the parking lot of the plaza alongside Route 9W.
As air conditioners start to hum in some of the region’s warmer spots, families are hunkering down trying to figure
Three persons were injured, one severely, when a deck in the town collapsed on July 4. Regular inspections could prevent future accidents.
Want to help the local bat population? Put up a bat house. It won’t save the bats from white-nosed syndrome, but it ups the odds that surviving bats will reproduce.