Wintertime Woody Plant I.D. with Rhode Island Natural History Survey
By     |    Jan 30, 2014
Posted in: BioBlitz, Kettle Pond, Natural Science, RINHS, URI, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    2 Comments

Wintertime Woody Plant I.D. with Rhode Island Natural History Survey

                Who goes tramping through the woods in winter? It’s a time for relaxing by a fire, curling up with a hot beverage, reading. Outdoor events in the toughest month of the year? Surely no one would be foolish enough to even think of attending. Unless, of course, you are part of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey (RINHS). Then fifty of you show up.          The program, held […]

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Is it Snow, Hail, or Other?
By     |    Jan 18, 2014
Posted in: RINHS, Uncategorized     |    2 Comments

Is it Snow, Hail, or Other?

    The day after Christmas, the path into the woods was nearly bare. With morning temperatures at 28 degrees, it wasn’t unusual to see patches of white stuff on the ground. And, being Rhode Island, it wasn’t unusual for that to be the only snow on the ground. But there was something different about this. The snow wasn’t a delicate powder, nor was it composed of ice crystals like […]

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Three Firsts on the First
By     |    Jan 3, 2014
Posted in: RINHS, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, Uncategorized, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    2 Comments

Three Firsts on the First

The holiday season brings, among other things, loved ones from near and far. Yet by the first of the year, most have left and life returns to its relative normalcy. This New Year’s Day, however, was different indeed. On January 1, 2014, there were representatives from the Heartlands, the West, and even the Arctic. Friends never met, but only admired through the reports of friends on a listserv. Inland, the […]

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Tails of the Quick and the Dead
By     |    Dec 7, 2013
Posted in: Natural Science, Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Tails of the Quick and the Dead

“I like long walks on the beach, reading poetry, and poking dead things with a stick.” – Source unknown Picture this: you are enjoying a leisurely stroll along one of our magnificent shorelines. Your gaze drifts unhurriedly from the water’s edge to the wrack line, the line of accumulated seaweed that the waves toss up as they roll against the beach. Suddenly, your eyes spot what seems to be a […]

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Deer Hunting versus Deer Damage
By     |    Nov 23, 2013
Posted in: Kettle Pond, Ningret Wildlife Refuge, Ninigret, Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    No Comments

Deer Hunting versus Deer Damage

Note: In 2011, US Fish and Wildlife (USFW) made an unusual proposal: allowing deer hunting in some of the wildlife refuges in Rhode Island.  This story traced some of the process of making that suggestion and putting out word to the public. The cab of the truck rocks along the gravel path of Ninigret Wildlife Refuge in Charlestown. The driver, Refuge Manager Charles Vandemoer, brings the vehicle to an abrupt […]

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Who Needs Darkness?
By     |    Nov 10, 2013
Posted in: Light pollution, RINHS, The City Dark, Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Who Needs Darkness?

Note: all photos for this story come from www.thecitydark.com What do we lose when we lose the night? When our skies are lit 24 hours a day, and the stars are no longer visible? Rhode Island Natural History Survey (www.rinhs.org) raised those questions Saturday night on the URI campus as part of a showing of the film “The City Dark”. The event kicked off Rhode Island’s first Natural History week, […]

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Protichneumon Poetry
By     |    Oct 27, 2013
Posted in: Saturday Evening Post, Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Protichneumon Poetry

An introduction:           In my usual perambulations around the Markey ranch, I ran across the insect pictured here.  After hours of searching, I had learned the Latin name, Protichneumon Grandis (which is a form of Ichneumon Grandis), but little else. I searched through my two insect guides as well as the Internet to no avail.  Finally, I used EBSCO, an online database provided by libraries as a search engine to […]

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Three Things I Learned at AMC Highlands
By     |    Oct 20, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Three Things I Learned at AMC Highlands

Last weekend, I spent a few days hiking in the Crawford Notch region of New Hampshire, while staying at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC’s) Highland Center. Here’s what I learned. 1. The Highland Center is a cross between a hiking hut and a hotel. In a really, really good way. Let me be honest here: I don’t vacation often, but when I do, I want a hot shower, clean sheets, […]

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Raptor Rapture
By     |    Oct 13, 2013
Posted in: Natural Science, Uncategorized     |    No Comments

Raptor Rapture

  The pickup truck rolled to a stop by a gate that blocked vehicles from the entrance to Grills Preserve in Westerly. It was afternoon in early autumn, and though it was not yet five o’clock, the shadows had begun to lengthen. John and Vivian Maxson, the team that comprised Born to be Wild Nature Center (BTBW), climbed out of the truck. John reached into the truck bed and grabbed […]

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Stepping into Prehistoric Rhode Island
By     |    Oct 5, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized     |    2 Comments

Stepping into Prehistoric Rhode Island

Long before any of us were old enough to watch “Jurassic Park”, we were seized with the urge to dig.  At a tender age, our family regaled us with bedtime tales of mighty beasts towering over the landscape.  According to the stories, paleontologists appeared to simply find some exotic locale, dig a hole, and the next thing you know they were posing for pictures beside a bone thicker than their […]

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