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Applications available for DEC Environmental Education Summer Camps

Submitted by Emma Levine, WNYT Web Producer
Thursday, March 1st, 2012, 11:00am
Applications available for DEC Environmental Education Summer Camps

Applications are now posted online for the Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Education Summer Camps.

The DEC Environmental Education Camps offer campers experiences in sportsman education, games, lessons, hands-on activities, swimming, hiking, canoeing and other outdoor activities. Through these activities, campers will learn about forests, water quality, nature and more.

There are four different camps kids can attend, Camp Colby, Camp DeBruce, Camp Rushford and Camp Pack Forest. Campers will participate in discovery groups and will complete six lessons. These lessons include group dynamics, explorations of different habitats and human impacts on the environment.  Science, problem solving, games, journal keeping and wildlife activities are also part of what campers will experience.

Camp starts on July 1, 2012 and goes until August 18, 2012. Campers can attend multiple times during the seven, week-long sessions.

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Bald Eagle spotted in Delmar

Submitted by Emma Levine, WNYT Web Producer
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012, 5:03pm
Bald Eagle spotted in Delmar

Vanessa Vantine took this picture of what looks like a Bald Eagle by the Normanskill in Delmar.

If you have a weather photo you would like to submit to NewsChannel 13 please send the photo, where it was taken and your name to weatherphoto@wnyt.com.

It could end up on a News Café website.

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Feds consider endangered status for 2 bat species

Submitted by Sophia Sofferman, WNYT Web Producer
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011, 2:15pm
Feds consider endangered status for 2 bat species

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of the eastern small-footed and northern long-eared bats to see if they warrant federal protection.

The status review announced Tuesday was launched after the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group, filed a petition asking for Endangered Species Act designation for the bats and their habitat.

The wildlife agency says the bats have declined because of habitat destruction, disturbance of hibernation and breeding roosts, and white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has killed more than a million bats since its discovery in 2006.

The eastern small-footed bat is found from eastern Canada and New England south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma. Northern long-eared bats live across the eastern and north-central United States and Canada.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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Cold, snowy winter may give way to floating fish as ice recedes from ponds

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Monday, March 21st, 2011, 11:58am
Cold, snowy winter may give way to floating fish as ice recedes from ponds

Don't be surprised if you see a lot of dead fish when the ice melts off your local pond.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says increased fish kills known as "winterkills" are expected this spring because of the unusually harsh, snowy winter.

Winterkills are the result of oxygen depletion in a water body that has been covered by ice and snow for an extended period of time. The layers of snow and ice block oxygen from entering the water from the air, and prevent sunlight from reaching aquatic plants that would produce oxygen.

The DEC says winterkills are rare in larger water bodies over 20 acres in size, occurring more often in small ponds. The agency says fish populations can often rebound a few years after a winterkill.

DEC says anyone noting a fish kill that they believe cannot be attributed to winterkill should contact their local DEC regional office.

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Robins weather winter storm

Submitted by Sophia Sofferman, WNYT Web Producer
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011, 4:02pm
Robins weather winter storm

Capital Region residents weren’t the only ones surprised by Monday’s storm.

Michelle in Delmar sent us these photos of robins that also got caught in the winter weather.

If you have any photos you'd like to share, email WeatherPhoto.

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Black bear sightings update

Submitted by Sophia Sofferman, WNYT Web Producer
Thursday, June 24th, 2010, 2:03pm

Responding to the complaints received of bear sightings throughout the town by the Animal Control Officer the Police Department is emphasizing the importance of proper storage of garbage and removal of bird feeders when bears are active. 

Click read more to view important preventative steps that the Police Department has released. 

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Black bear sightings

Submitted by Nick Antz, WNYT Web Producer
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010, 4:10pm

In response to recent sightings of a black bear in the town of Bethlehem, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is reminding residents to bring in all bird feeders and other potential food sources. The bear was last spotted near the Normans Kill and Delaware Avenue.  

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