Browsing Category "USFW"
Touch the Sky: Bird Banding with RI Natural History Survey

Touch the Sky: Bird Banding with RI Natural History Survey

  For even the most casual birder, spring is an exciting time. The warm temperatures mean the return of birds not seen during the long dreary months of winter. Even feathers of the goldfinch, who lingers all winter, bear a dreary greenish color during the cold months. But that all changes come April. Suddenly, there are songs and brilliant feathers everywhere. Feeders fill with the newly returned, and many people […]

Read more
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 […]

Read more
Three Firsts on the First

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 […]

Read more
Deer Hunting versus Deer Damage

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 […]

Read more
Blue Crabs: Rhode Island’s Next Big Shell Fishery?
By     |    Jul 21, 2013
Posted in: Blue Crab, Rhode Island DEM, Uncategorized, URI, USFW     |    2 Comments

Blue Crabs: Rhode Island’s Next Big Shell Fishery?

In a restaurant, on a plate, filled with meat and stuffing, the blue crab is a sight to bring a smile to the diner’s face. In a trap, on a crowded boat, filled with snapping claws, this very lively crustacean prompts much more caution than contemplation. It’s this latter encounter that URI Research Associates Barbara Somers and Chris Parkins are wrangling with on en early autumn morning on Point Judith […]

Read more