There were as many as five billion of them. When the passenger pigeons came together to roost or to feed, the sky would darken with their numbers, the air pushed by their wings would whip to gale force. Their population made up fully one-fourth of all the birds in North America, and it’s estimated that they could fly at 60 miles per hour. And within four decades, we killed […]
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2 Comments 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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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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2 Comments 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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“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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No Comments 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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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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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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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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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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