Erie Canal Programming

Every Monday in the months of July and August, Tifft has held programming for children and families at the new commercial slip downtown by the naval park. Every week has a theme. This past week done by moi, was Tifft Through Time; Industrial Archaeology. We made our own grain elevators, arrowhead necklaces, and built canal boats out of tinfoil. There was guess what the artifact is and plenty of information about Buffalo and Tifft's history. Photos follow.



Our View



Colorful Tents



Arrowhead Necklaces



Sinking Canal boats

Thanks for a fun summer!

Random Summer Photos

With Summer finally arriving in August, here are a few photos of the preserve with such nice weather...



Osprey above Lake Kirtsy... By the way, we are getting a new osprey nest pole for them to nest in and hopefully breed.



Monrachs...



Garden Spider...



Photo from atop the cabin..



The Garden! Green coneflower..



Japanese Lanterns galore!

Day of Caring

This past week we participated in the United Way Day of Caring. With the help of a group of volunteers from Fisher Price and AT&T we completed a few projects like invasive species control and painting our cabin... Photos follow...

















They also helped us repair and prep our snowshoes for the upcoming season. Hopefully the snow will be just deep enough to walk in and not deep enough to bury us.






This patch of Japanese Knotweed was made short work of by volunteers.







Thanks to all our Volunteers!!!

Full Moon Stroll

One of the programs that we hold here is a Full Moon Stroll. Its basically a night hike where we explore things like the use of our senses and the different aspects of animals and plants at night.

Here are a few photos.

Remember to check the Buffalo Museum of Science's main page for all of our upcoming events.



We started our walk off in the light so we could gradually acclimate our eyes to the darkness



Marsh at Night from Heritage Bdwalk.





A reminder that the preserve closes at Dusk. Anyone found there after dark are subject to prosecution to the fullest extant of the law.

Random Things

Dragonfly Nymph!

Ever wonder where a dragonfly comes from? They just don't hatch with those wings you know. These little guys live in ponds, marshes and still water and eventually becomes the iridescent fellows you see in the summer time.



Also, there is some new Beaver activity. This time right on the path leading from the parking lot to the preserve on Lake Kirsty. My guess is based on time and location is that these guys came from Beth pond. A breeding pair of beavers has a few kits every year or so. When the new pups come in, the teenagers have to leave the home. Looks like they might have founded a pad on the front lake. Just a guess.

Least Bittern

Hey well lookeeee here.

Least Bittern sighting on Heritage Boardwalk.

Shy Fella. Little Info:

The Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) is a small wading bird, the smallest heron found in the Americas.

These birds nest in large marshes with dense vegetation from southern Canada to northern Argentina. The nest is a well-concealed platform built from cattails and other marsh vegetation.