Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just flip a switch on some new high-tech invention and … voila! … no more algae or weeds in Chautauqua Lake. Unfortunately, no such quick and easy “fix” yet exists. As we all know by now, excessive nutrient and sediment loading to the lake are ...

There are some animals that are familiar and often seen. Canada Geese, White-tailed Deer, squirrels, just to name a few. Other animals are more secretive; more leery of human presence. They almost seem like myths. One of these animals is the Fisher (Martes pennant). Despite often being ...

If you’re new to identifying birds, you might want to begin with waterfowl. They are large, conspicuously marked in breeding plumage, and relatively easy to spot. Though songbird migration peaks in May, early spring is a great time to learn ducks and other waterfowl. Binoculars and a field ...

They are big. They are ugly. They grunt and hiss and dine on the most disgusting fare, but without them, our world would be a lot less enjoyable. Hail to the vultures and their trashy ways. Vultures are scavenging birds of prey, who play a fundamental role in the food chain. There are two ...

When I think about animals that I see during the winter, there are a lot of animals I think of — deer, chickadees, Red Foxes, even squirrels. The one animal I never think of? Opossums. For some reason the thought of seeing a little opossum waddling through the snow with its naked little ...

If late winter cabin fever has you down, wander the woods in search of vernal pools - small bodies of water that collect in depressions in the ground. Melting snow and late winter rains fill these shallow depressions, which can be as small as a plastic swimming pool or as large as an acre. ...