Edward L Rose Conservancy

What brings the feeling that Spring has finally arrived? Geese formations flying North? Robins on the lawn? Wondering if you will consider the Wood Frog? For an amphibian that freezes over the winter, the Wood Frog is usually among the first amphibians to find the vernal pools and celebrate the arrival of Spring with their 'cluck-like' calls. This video shows perspectives and audio from above the water surface and from below. The smaller male Wood Frogs compete to grasp on...to the back (this is called amplexus) of the female filled with eggs. Sometimes multiple males are struggling to stay with the same female frog. Fertilization is external and the timing and proximity are important, since the egg must be fertilized before the gel-like mass surrounding the egg swells by absorbing water. After the eggs are laid, the adult Wood Frogs return to the forest, leaving the eggs, and later tadpoles, to survive on their own. This vernal pool was created at the Butterfly garden at the High Point Preserve in 2006 and it has become a favorite breeding spot for our local amphibians. To read more about the biology of the Wood Frog, here is a link to a good article: https://www.dept.psu.edu//nature/speciespages/woodfrog.htm? The communal egg masses are impressive, some of which float to the surface. The other vernal pool residents you will see in this video are the: Eastern Red Spotted Newt ( https://www.paherps.com/herps/salamanders/eastern_newt) and the predaceous Diving Beetle (https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/VernalPool_Inverteb)

The Great Horned Owl pair , Luna and Silver, nesting near Brackney, PA continued to incubate two eggs into week #6. The expected maximum incubation time was near. On March 16, Luna, for the first time, refused a mouse brought by Silver. On the morning of March 17, one of the eggs was missing from the nest. Luna continued to incubate the one remaining egg until Sunday March 21. On Sunday, Silver brought a mouse, but Luna had left the nest, leaving the one egg behind.... Since then there has been no owl activity at the nest. We do not know what happened to the first egg or why the two eggs were not viable. The owls might try another batch this season or they may wait until next year. Here is a good link to information about Great Horned Owls. https://www.allaboutbirds.org//bird-cams-faq-great-horne/ Thank you to all the friends and family who have been anticipating the hatching of the owlets, and share our disappointment.

https://www.facebook.com/182618868452902/posts/3920851797962905/

This video is a farewell to the Summer and Fall of 2020 at the HighPoint Preserve and Silver Lake, PA. We are blessed with a variety of wildlife that is part of the mission of the Edward L Rose Conservancy to help preserve and to provide natural spaces. The Raptors and Rodents play a variety of roles in the environment and frequently interact. This Fall there has been a pair of Bald Eagles visiting the raptor nest and behaving like they are checking out the architecture. Th...is is 3 years into the raptor nest project with a long term goal of providing a successful breeding environment. If the eagles do decide to nest and have a successful breeding season, they may return to the same nest for many years. Eagles add material to their nest each year. If the eagles do succeed in breeding in our nest, we would like to put up a web-cam during the next off-season for our community to share on-line future eagle breeding activity. We encourage you to 'LIKE' and 'SHARE' our page with your friends and family. Let us know if you have comments or questions. You can join the Conservancy from their website, ELROSE.ORG, and also can make a donation. See more

Article is about eagles dying of lead poisoning from lead ingested from hunting and fishing debris.

Highlights from week 3 of the Great Horned Owls' nesting in Brackney, PA. The mother owl is doing all the incubating. She stretches and leaves the nest for short periods before dawn and after dusk. The male owl is bringing food to his mate; in these clips there is a good example of the food transfer. There is no background music in this video; turn up your audio to hear varied nest proximity vocalizations from hoots, to screeches, to chirps. The weather has been harsh with co...ld temperatures and plenty of snow. The temperature has just started to be above freezing in the day time and some of the snow surrounding the nest is starting to melt away. The incubation time is typically between 28 and 35 days; in this case, 28 days from Feb 5, when the first egg was laid, is March 5, 2021; 35 days projects to March 12. The second egg was laid on Feb 9, so the clock might have started then, in which case the hatching would be anticipated between March 9 and March 17. This raptor nest project, sponsored by the Edward L Rose Conservancy, will hopefully result in a successful breeding cycle and we can look forward to watching chick(s) activity in the nest. The chicks should be climbing around the nest by (5 weeks) mid-to-late April, and able to fly (9-10 weeks) by mid-May. Thank you for watching and visiting the Edward L Rose Conservancy Facebook page or website ( www.elrose.org). Share with your family and friends if you like. See more

Fishers, porcupines, foxes, a raccoon, and some squirrels cope with the deep snow in Northeast Pennsylvania. In this video, there are at least three fishers, including a one-eyed fisher, that we had seen before a few years ago. The foxes have sensitive hearing and are wary of the slight sound made by the recording trail camera. At one point, a porcupine, likely a struggling videographer, re-directs the trail camera toward another spot under the nearby rock ledge. By chance, that spot is near the opening of a porcupine den, and a young porcupine can be seen pacing, wondering when the snow will leave.

Here are some video highlights from the past week on the Raptor Nest Project, where a pair of Great Horned Owls are nesting on Conservancy property: The first egg was laid on Feb 5, followed by a second egg 5 days later. The motion activated cameras have captured images of the male owl communicating and bringing food to the female. In addition to the hooting, other vocalizations (chirps and tweets) between the male and female owls can be heard. Turn on your audio.... The owls don't seem very motivated to do any nest improvements, beyond scooping out the snow around the eggs. There is a thin branch across the nest that was brought by a bald eagle in the Fall. The female owl shows a little interest in moving the stick but most of the time just maneuvers under it to get to sit on the eggs. Some humor in background music is inserted which may prompt wondering if there is a Trinidad limbo heritage to account for the owl behavior related to sticks. The female has been leaving the nest before dawn each day, leaving the eggs uncovered for up to 12 minutes in very cold temperatures. For most of the daylight hours, the female owl is incubating the eggs and sits very still. We will continue to monitor the nesting activity and send out updates. See more

This video is from week 5 of the Great Horned Owls nesting near Silver Lake, PA. The weather has turned milder and with the snow melting, the male owl, Silver, has been very successful at finding a variety rodent meals for the female, Luna, on the nest. ( There was recent community participation for suggesting names for the owls). Luna has been spending even more time incubating the eggs this week. After the Luna receives the latest meal, she vocalizes and wags her head... before swallowing the meal whole. The trail cameras are mounted near the nest, one of which transmits video and the other camera is mounted 90 degrees from the video camera and transmits still pictures. The raptor nesting project is sponsored by the Edward L Rose Conservancy and has a goal of providing raptor nesting habitat. We are hoping for owlets hatching in the next week and will follow their development. Stay tuned. (Could that be a possible crack in one of the egg shells?) If you visit the Facebook page for the Edward L Rose Conservancy you can view, like, and share other videos and get information about the work done by the Conservancy to save special, natural places in NE Pennsylvania and the southern tier of New York State. See more

Update on the RAPTOR NEST PROJECT The great horned owl (Bubu virginiarus) is a native nocturnal predator that lives in the HighPoint Preserve, in NE Pennsylvania. We have seen Great Horned Owls taking prey of various rodents and even a Mallard Duck. The owl has powerful, taloned feet and large, yellow eyes. The female owl is slightly larger than the male and has a wingspan of 3 to 5 feet. Reproduction and Life Span in NEPA... We have seen Great Horned Owls checking out our nesting site in the late Fall of 2020. On February 5, 2021, with a heavy covering of snow on our raptor nest, a female owl decided that it was time and laid prone on the snow in the nest. By the end of the day, the owl had melted a spot down to the grass lining the nest and laid a single egg. Over the last 5 cold winter days and nights, the female has been laying on the nest, keeping the egg warm in sub-zero temperatures, occasionally perching on the side of the nest and calling. The female has the primary role of incubating the egg(s) and the male partner typically brings prey to the nest to feed the female during the 28 - 38 days of incubation. In the video clips we have heard a second owl returning the calls, but have not yet seen a male owl bringing food. We hope you enjoy this video of the nesting Great Horned Owl and share it with your family and friends. We will plan to continue monitoring the owls and provide video clips as web can. In the future, we plan to replace the trail cameras with a webcam near the nest for real-time on-line viewing. Stay tuned. You can visit the Edward L Rose website at WWW.ELROSE.ORG and learn more about this local volunteer organization, see videos, donate, and join.

The Highpoint Preserve feels pressures that winter brings. After a heavy snow, a thaw with rain, and a hard freeze, the pressures on the lake ice cause cracks to form. In the woodland, other pressures affect the wildlife, such as this porcupine that escaped from unleashed dogs on the hiking trail by climbing a hemlock tree. There has been an increased use of the trails this year.

This video from the HighPoint Preserve near Silver Lake in North East PA in the Summer of 2020 brings glimpses into the behaviors of many wildlife species. See how many of the species of animals you can identify in the video which include (not in the order of appearance): Black Duck Bryozoan Colonies Coyote Flying Squirrel... Foxes Garter Snake Great Blue Heron Great Horned Owl Green Heron King Fisher Painted Turtle Phoebe Porcupine Raccoon Red Squirrel Skunk Snapping Turtles Sun Fish Wood Thrush White Tailed Deer See if you can spot all of these species; some are easy to spot, some take social distancing seriously. We are blessed to have an abundance of wildlife species that live in our wild spaces.