After a relatively mild winter, spring has sprung it seems. We’re in that slippery sloshy season where abundant rains hopefully bring bountiful mushrooms and plentiful prey for wildlife. The warmth has already brought out the frogs, turtles and snakes, some of which I got to see on a recent trip to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I got to see one of those curious legless lizards, the Western Slender Glass Lizard which I assumed was a small fast snake at first, and a large common snapper just beneath the shallow water of the Great Marsh at Indiana Dunes. This snapper was large enough to push some floating logs out of its way, which was how I saw it in the first place.

Today’s painting is of the turtle variety. At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of Gateway National Recreation Area in Queens, NY, I got to assist Dr. Russ Burke, professor at Hofstra University, with his turtle research in the West Pond one day with Biological Science Technician and turtle researcher Kayleigh Erazmus. There were two turtles caught in one hoop trap: a huge 30-year old common snapper turtle and a small diamondback terrapin. Imagine the bewilderment of being confined in such a small space with each other. But they were retrieved quickly, separated (with some struggle) and duly measured, weighed and tagged. The Eastern Box Turtle is also another turtle that lives at the wildlife refuge. Seldom seen, it is quite a treat to encounter one. Their ornate yellow pattern stands out against the scrubby vegetation of the upland areas where it tends to live. Still, these three turtles, as well as other kinds, exist on the protected land of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, an oasis in the metropolis that is New York City.

On top of loving wildlife, mushrooms, nature, being outside, illustration, art and wooly mammoths, I LOVE music. I love playing it (in my rather limited ways), listening to it and learning about it. And one of the things I love most is WFMU radio. If you’ve never tuned in, you’ve got to give it a shot. Listen on the radio (91.1 fm in New York, at 90.1 fm in the Hudson Valley, USA) or listen to it online from around the world at www.wfmu.org.

Lemme tell you something. I’ve lived in 4 major cities in the last 4 years spanning 2 countries, across one ocean, including 2 islands and places cross- and mid-continent. It’s thrilling yet exhausting, each time finding a new place to live, new job, new friends, new communities, new geography, and new flora and fauna. Besides my husband to make each new home feel like home, there’s also WFMU. “A radio station makes you feel that way?! Really, are you serious??” you might say. From wherever I am, I tune in and it’s like plugging into a live pulsing heart of music love. And yet it’s not familiarity and nostalgia that makes me feel this way. Sometimes the music is jarring, irritating and absurd, and most of the time it’s unfamiliar to me. But I hear and learn amazing things on WFMU, I love the DJs and it has made me laugh so hard I’ve cried. And that’s what’s so GREAT about it.

There are other wonderful things about WFMU too, besides the music. But that is for another post. In the meantime, WFMU needs our support. Pledge to the marathon and keep independent listener-supported freeform radio ALIVE. Thank you for your support!

Contest ends January 18, 2012 so get yours in quick!

Eusssssssstace Tilley

I dance too. Click the images to view. Dance along. Wooly mammoth jazzercize!

For three field seasons (ranging from 3 to 6 months), I’ve worked as a Biological Field Technician for the National Park Service at Gateway National Recreation Area, a coastal National Park located in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ. One of the projects I worked on was herpetological monitoring, the monitoring of amphibians and reptiles in the park, specifically Floyd Bennett Field and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. We used methods such as coverboards, anuran sound calls, and incidental encounters. This past summer produced the most snake activity I’ve experienced in my three field seasons there. We turned up eastern garter snakes the most, with nearly every check, and eastern milk snakes a close second. Fowler’s toads appeared commonly in the North Forty of Floyd Bennett Field, even on the hottest of days. And every now and then we were treated to the sight of a eastern box turtle, diamondback terrapins and woodcocks (not a herp, I know). Great summer at Gateway NRA!

morels on the brain bag, color pencil and marker by Anne Yen

is it true or false, watercolor by Anne Yen