Next New York Turtle & Tortoise Society Meeting

Next New York Turtle & Tortoise Society Meeting

“Wood and Box Turtle Study in the Patterson Great Swamp” 

      

by Michael Musnick and John Foley 

Sunday, April 3, 2:00 p.m.

Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew

West 86th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan

(Please use side entrance on 86th Street).

Long-time NYTTS member and citizen scientist Michael Musnick has spent the last 14 years studying wood and box turtles, and this is his 11th season following them with radio tracking equipment. His main interest has been to determine where they hibernate, estivate and nest. He has monitored their yearly survival, and nesting site fidelity, reproductive fitness of females, with special focus on juveniles as indicators of recruitment. He has examined reasons for mortality and has made efforts to stem that loss.

Co-presenting this talk will be John Foley, also a member of NYTTS, who has worked closely with Michael on this study for the last seven years and has shared responsibility for collecting the data on wood, box, and bog turtles. John is cur­rently head naturalist at Great Hollow Nature Preserve, an 825 acre wildlife sanctuary in Fairfield County, Connect­icut. He has also worked with the Con­necticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

NYTTS has found a new meeting place. The Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew is an open and affirming congregation that hosts a number of social service and performing arts programs. Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, it is just steps from the 86th Street subway station on the No. 1 train (Broadway line). Please use side entrance on the 86th Street.