Welcome to the Willistown Conservation Trust Blog

News, ideas, questions, and observations from Willistown Conservation Trust Staff as we use local conservation to make a broad impact.

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Busy Beavers Revive Thirsty Landscapes

Lindsey McQuiston / December 17, 2024

How the American Beaver Mitigates Drought Impact By: Sarah Barker As we near the end of what is shaping up...

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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Awards $1 Million Grant to Protect Open Space

Kate Etherington / November 20, 2024

Willistown Conservation Trust to Establish Kestrel Hill Preserve By: Kate Etherington, President and Executive Director Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) is...

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Hot, Dry and Salty: The Impact of Droughts on Freshwater Systems

Watershed Protection Team / November 15, 2024

By: Lauren McGrath, Director of Watershed Protection Program For the Watershed Program, it has felt like the September that never...

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Willistown Conservation Trust Teams Up With Inveraray HOA to Plant 400 Trees and Shrubs!

Watershed Protection Team / November 11, 2024

By: Lauren McGrath, Director of Watershed Protection Program From October 17 through October 20, 400 trees were planted in the...

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The Story Behind Ohana Farm

Lindsey McQuiston / November 6, 2024

By: Eliza Gowen, Community Farm Outreach Coordinator Those of you who’ve attended certain WCT events this Fall may have noticed...

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Building a Native Plant Nursery

Stewardship Team / November 4, 2024

By: John Holback, Stewardship Manager One of our recent initiatives at Willistown Conservation Trust was the establishment of a small...

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Restoring the Land

Communications Team / November 3, 2024

By John Holback, Stewardship Manager In early 2024, Willistown Conservation Trust purchased a 90-acre parcel of land between Plumsock Road...

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Mussel Memory: Discoveries of the Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Program

Lauren McGrath / November 3, 2024

By Lauren McGrath, Director of the Watershed Protection Program, and Susan Lea, Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Volunteer In...

Bird Conservation Bird ecology

Saving Birds through Coffee

Blake Goll / November 3, 2024

WCT’s Growing Bird Friendly® Coffee Coalition Bird populations in the U.S. and Canada have declined by 29% — almost 3...

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Gardening for Cleaner Water

Communications Team / November 3, 2024

Chanticleer Joins the Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Program The Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Program (DCCCS) is...

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Saving Open Space

Communications Team / November 3, 2024

Another successful initiative takes rootat Kestrel Hill Preserve What can be done to protect beautiful but rapidly disappearing wilderness, vulnerable...

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Impactful Giving

Communications Team / November 3, 2024

By David L. Unruh, Board of Trustees Most donors to Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) are likely familiar with the common...

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A Small Fish Navigating a Big Sea: My Experience at a Global Conference

Anna Willig / October 2, 2024

By: Anna Willig, Conservation Data and GIS Specialist In August, I had the privilege of attending the Annual Meeting of...

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Tracking Northern Saw-whet Owls Across North America

Aaron Coolman / September 1, 2024

By: Aaron Coolman, Motus Technical Coordinator and Avian Ecologist Aaron with a tagged Northern Saw-whet Owl in Nova Scotia This...

Education Nature Education Rushton Nature Keepers

The Making of a Lifelong Nature Keeper

Blake Goll / August 30, 2024

One of our primary goals in connecting youth to nature is to transform their mindset to viewing themselves as part...

nature education, youth and nature

Bird Conservation Nature Education Rushton Nature Keepers

How Willistown Conservation Trust Helped a Young Birder Like Me

Blake Goll / August 15, 2024

So I do my everyday ritual. I go and get the mealworms from the refrigerator and I blow my whistle...

Bird boxes, nature education

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Protecting our Feathered Friends: The Importance of Chimney Swift Nest Boxes

Bird Conservation Team / August 1, 2024

Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) are fascinating small birds with a cigar-shaped body and long narrow wings, known for their distinctive...

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Meet WCT’s 2024 Seasonal Interns

Communications Team / July 3, 2024

Andrew Wraith (He/Him) | Conservation AssociateAndrew is a current graduate student in Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, but...

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Willistown Conservation Trust Receives Second Grant from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Bird Conservation Team / July 1, 2024

On May 15, 2024 the Cornell Lab of Ornithology awarded Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) $25,000 through the Land Trust Bird...

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Creek Week 2024: Case Study of Little Crum Creek Park

Watershed Protection Team / June 29, 2024

By: CJ Chen, Spring 2024 Watershed Team High School Intern From going out to nature preserves and injecting trees with...

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Bird Banding Bird ecology migration

Something to Chat About

Blake Goll / October 12, 2018 / 2 Replies

Yellow-breasted Chat (Hatch Year) banded on Tuesday at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll Another dreary, drippy morning on Tuesday surprisingly...

Bird banding, kids and birds, Rushton Farm, songbird banding, students and birds, yellow-breasted chat

Bird Banding Bird ecology

Not Just Smoke and Sparrows

Blake Goll / October 5, 2018 / 3 Replies

Spider webs illuminated by the dew at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll Mornings at Rushton this week were humid with...

Bird banding, Connecticut Warbler, kids and nature, migration, Winter Wren

Bird Conservation Motus

U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE PROVIDES GRANT TO TRACK BIRD SPECIES OF GREATEST CONCERN IN MID-ATLANTIC REGION

Blake Goll / October 1, 2018

WILLISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA (Sept. 21, 2018) -- A research collaboration led by the Willistown Conservation Trust, in partnership with several state...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation migration

How You Like Me Now? Crowds Get Heavy at Rushton

Blake Goll / September 29, 2018

White-eyed Vireo banded at Rushton on Wednesday. Photo by Blake Goll This week of banding was a whirlwind of feathers,...

Bird banding, Blackpoll warbler, environmental education, Motus Wildlife Tracking, White eyed Vireo

Bird Banding Bird ecology

It's Raining Warblers, Hallelujah!

Blake Goll / September 21, 2018 / 1 Reply

Magnolia Warbler (After Hatch Year male) banded at Rushton this week. Photo by Blake Goll Late September is a thrilling...

Bird banding, fall songbird migration, Gray-cheeked Thrush, magnolia warbler, migration, Scarlet Tanager, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Bird Banding Bird ecology migration

Put the Lime in the Chestnut-side

Blake Goll / September 13, 2018 / 3 Replies

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Hatch Year male) banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll Strikingly different from the deep calico...

American Redstart, Bird banding, Chestnut-sided warbler, fall migration, songbird conservation, veery, wood thrush

agroecology Bird Banding migration

You Look Like a Tall Glass of Waterthrush

Blake Goll / September 6, 2018

Northern Waterthrush banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll The sallow leaves fell slowly through the visible cloak of...

Bird banding, bird migration, Carolina Wren, fall songbird migration, northern waterthrush, sustainable farming

Bird Banding Bird ecology migration

Warblers Comin' in Hot

Blake Goll / September 4, 2018 / 2 Replies

Magnolia Warbler banded at Rushton today. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff The Rushton banding crew was back at it this morning,...

American Redstart, Bird banding, fall songbird migration, magnolia warbler, Rushton Woods Preserve, wood thrush

Bird Banding Bird ecology migration

If Black-throated Blues are Here, Fall is Near

Blake Goll / August 30, 2018 / 2 Replies

Black-throated Blue Warbler banded at Rushton Woods Preserve this spring. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff Even though the autumn equinox has...

Bird banding, Black-throated Blue warbler, early successional shrub habitat, fall songbird migration, Rushton Farm

Conservation Land Protection

Willistown Conservation Trust featured on Front Page of Philadelphia Inquirer

Blake Goll / July 13, 2018

Kat Gord, Director of Rushton Conservation Center, and Bonnie Van Alen, Executive Director, are shown walking through the fields at...

New Legacy Conservation Easement Protects Beautiful 5.6 Acres

Blake Goll / June 15, 2018

This May, Jean Preston signed an official Legacy Conservation Easement at the Trust's office, protecting 5.6 acres of land. Her...

Conservation

Willistown Conservation Trust and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Announce Collaboration Establishing Field Study Site

Blake Goll / June 5, 2018

Willistown Conservation Trust (the “Trust”) is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation migration

A Toast to Our Birds of 2017 and the Peculiar Tower Atop the Greenhouse

Blake Goll / December 20, 2017

Ruby-crowned Kinglet feeding at Rushton November 3rd. Photo by Celeste Sheehan I like winter. As December rolls around and the...

Bird banding, Connecticut Warbler, Motus Wildlife Tracking, nanotag, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rushton Farm

Bird Conservation Motus

Migration Mystery

Blake Goll / December 13, 2017

Where Do Migrating Birds Fly? First State-wide Motus Array Will Help Provide Some Answers The Northeast Motus Collaboration (NMC) is...

Land Protection

New Conservation Easement Protects Remaining 30 Acres of Hi Bid Farm

Blake Goll / November 7, 2017

Caption The last 30 acres of the beautiful 55-acre Hi Bid Farm were permanently protected from development today, when conservation...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation migration

Monitoring Songbirds On the Move: Rushton Banding Station's Eighth Autumn

Bird Conservation Team / September 11, 2017 / 1 Reply

Red-eyed Vireos banded at Rushton last October. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff The last day of August was the inauguration of...

Bird banding, early successional shrub habitat, fall migration, MAPS banding, stopover ecology, sustainable farming

Watershed

Willistown Conservation Trust Receives William Penn Foundation Grant to Advance Watershed Protection

Blake Goll / May 10, 2017

May 8, 2017 Newtown Square, PA - Willistown Conservation Trust, whose founders have overseen the protection of more than 7,200...

Bird Conservation Native Plants wildflower meadow

Inspiration From a Wildflower Meadow

Blake Goll / December 31, 2016 / 4 Replies

A ballet of Variegated fritillaries on asters in late September. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff. The following is an excerpt taken this...

american goldfinch, black swallowtail, false sunflower, grass leaved goldenrod, hyssop leaved boneset, native wildflower meadow, new york ironweed, virginia cup plant

Bird Banding Bird Conservation migration

Autumn Songbird Banding at Rushton Farm – A Community Treasure

Blake Goll / September 16, 2016 / 1 Reply

Male Blue-winged warbler banded this September at Rushton. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff Fall has arrived, which means 20 billion birds...

American Redstart, Bird banding, Blue-winged warbler, Chestnut-sided warbler, fall songbird migration, field thistle, White eyed Vireo

Bird Banding Bird Conservation

Our Woodland Bird Nursery + Highlights from Spring Migration

Blake Goll / July 2, 2016

Great spangled fritillary on Common milkweed. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff Two weeks ago the Strawberry Moon rose within the Cusp of Magic....

Bird banding, Common milkweed, Gray Catbird, MAPS banding, migration, native tree, stopover ecology

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