Browsing Category "Roger Williams Park Zoo"
Moving Microscopes and Monkey Skulls: RI Natural History Survey Relocates
By     |    Jan 24, 2016
Posted in: Natural Science, RIDEM, RINHS, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Moving Microscopes and Monkey Skulls: RI Natural History Survey Relocates

Note: There is a photo gallery at the bottom of this story. Click once to see a thumbnail, then again to see a larger file. Moving out of somewhere you’ve lived for a long time is no one’s idea of fun. There are books, papers, and computers. Sorting through what to keep and what to throw out. Movers can help, but you need friends to pack things up, especially the […]

Read more
The Mid-Summer Moth Mingle
By     |    Jul 27, 2014
Posted in: BioBlitz, Caterpillars of Eastern North America, Franklin Farm, Light pollution, Moth Mingle, Moths, National Audubon Society, National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, Natural Science, RINHS, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Uncategorized, URI, USFW     |    2 Comments

The Mid-Summer Moth Mingle

Note: “Science and Nature for a Pie” is now on Facebook! Like the page for regular updates on new stories, photos, and other discussions about the wonders of the outdoor world! www.facebook.com/scienceandnatureforapie . If moths and butterflies thought like human children, they would be embroiled in a never-ending case of sibling rivalry. “Why do the butterflies get all the attention?” the moths would moan. “People never even notice us!” The […]

Read more
What is a Gall, after All?
By     |    Jul 15, 2014
Posted in: Kettle Pond, mites, National Audubon Society, National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, Natural Science, Rhode Island DEM, RINHS, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Uncategorized, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW, wasps, Writing     |    No Comments

What is a Gall, after All?

Note: “Science and Nature for a Pie” is now on Facebook!  Stop by and “like” the page for ongoing stories, photos, and discussions about the great outdoors! https://www.facebook.com/scienceandnatureforapie “You have some gall saying that to me!” “Man, that guy galls me!” It’s difficult to determine precisely how common these expressions still are, but most will recognize the idea that having “gall” or to “gall” someone is not a good thing. […]

Read more
Life amid the Ghosts: BioBlitz 2014 at Rocky Point
By     |    Jun 24, 2014
Posted in: BioBlitz, Central Fall Middle School, Moths, Mushrooms, National Audubon Society, RINHS, Rocky Point Park, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Uncategorized, URI, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    No Comments

Life amid the Ghosts: BioBlitz 2014 at Rocky Point

  From the mid-19th century until the late 20th, it was a fantasy land of adventure. Rides, games, food, music. Over its 150-year life cycle, it was a world of vaudeville acts and 1970’s metal bands playing in the Windjammer Lounge. Visitors swam in a salt water swimming pool, filled from the rocky waters of Narragansett Bay, whose cool breezes swept the park from only feet away. They arrived by […]

Read more
Masters of Construction: Bird Nests
By     |    May 18, 2014
Posted in: BioBlitz, Kettle Pond, National Audubon Society, Natural Science, Ningret Wildlife Refuge, Ninigret, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Rhode Island DEM, RINHS, Roger Williams Park Zoo, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, Uncategorized, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    No Comments

Masters of Construction: Bird Nests

  Consider this: the average human brain weighs roughly 1300 grams (2.86 pounds). A warbler brain weighs about 513 mg. (.00113 pounds). But while a human must spend untold hours and tens of thousands of dollars in order to learn to build a house, the warbler does so as a natural part of its growth process, and in response Spring’s most basic instinct: the urge to procreate. Granted, the plan […]

Read more
BioBlitz 2013: The Year of the Flood (Sort of)
By     |    Jun 16, 2013
Posted in: BioBlitz, Central Fall Middle School, frog, Natural Science, RINHS, Roger Williams Park Zoo, snakes, URI     |    No Comments

BioBlitz 2013: The Year of the Flood (Sort of)

“Every great scientific theory starts out by wandering around in the mud and the rain.” David Gregg, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey stood precariously atop a folding chair. Dressed in his trademark bush hat and fly fishing vest, his lanky frame looked out over a crowd of people dressed in waders, fancy foul weather gear, plastic-bag-cheap ponchos, shorts, boots, and sandals. The faces were smiling, but […]

Read more