The Naturalists' Club of Broome County, NY

In this virtual presentation club member Victor Lamoureux will highlight our local frogs and salamanders. We will discuss where they can be found (habitats), how to identify them when found, and what they are doing in the environment around us. Although frogs are often more obvious, you might not realize that we actually have more species of salamanders than frogs in our local area. Join us to learn more about these fascinating and often overlooked creatures. Victor S. Lamoureux is…

In this virtual presentation Dylan Horvath will discuss misconceptions about wildlife that persist and spread through the media, Hollywood, and word of mouth. Conventional wisdom such as “bats are blind” that “everyone knows” is true, may not be. Dylan will talk about myths of local wildlife, and some exotic wildlife as well. As the Steward of Natural Areas at Binghamton University, Dylan oversees the maintenance and usage of the campus Nature Preserve and natural areas as well as teaching courses,…

Learn a bit about the natural history of Northern Saw-whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus) as well as the ongoing avian research taking place within Lackawanna State Park in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Robert Smith, Ph.D., professor of biology at The University of Scranton, has been conducting research on avian migration in both Michigan and Pennsylvania for some 27 years, and since joining the faculty at The University of Scranton, in and around Lackawanna State Park for the last 17 years. As always, Naturalists’…

Our December Program gives club members a chance to share up to 20 of their favorite photographs with fellow club members. Please go through your photographs and select some to share. Only active members are invited to share photos. Photos will need to be submitted before the meeting. If you have any questions or to make arrangements to submit your images call Robert Grajewski at 607-775-5041 or email images to bcnatclub@gmail.com As always, Naturalists’ Club member meetings are free and…

For our February program we welcome back guest speakers Sam Wilson and Margeaux Maerz who will help us explore Northern South America which has the highest biodiversity on the planet - Colombia and Peru are number one and number two for bird species diversity. Once notorious for drug cartels, Pablo Escobar, and violence, Colombia is now welcoming tourists back in thanks to a renewed peace agreement between FARC rebels and the government. Peru’s tourism industry has boomed with world renowned…

This talk by Twan Leenders will chronicle his nearly 30 years of working with endangered neotropical amphibians. Catastrophic declines in Central American amphibian populations during the late 1980s and early 1990s, left the region’s herpetofauna decimated. Twan has been working in Central America since the early 90s, trying to identify the drivers of this decline and tracking down some of the last surviving populations of these charismatic animals. Dividing his time between research and outreach, Twan has used his photography…

The Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only strictly estuarine turtle in the world. Terrapins have a relative unique ecology and a history of overexploitation. Over the last half century, terrapin populations have declined throughout their range (Cape Cod, MA to Corpus Christi, TX). This talk will describe research that began in 2007 to document the state-wide status of terrapin populations in Georgia and how –over the subsequent decade – research identified patterns of human-caused terrapin mortality that led to…