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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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...

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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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Creek Week 2024: Invasive Carp Species in the United States

Watershed Protection Team / June 28, 2024

Calvin Keeys For hundreds of years, people have been moving to the United States and bringing parts of their culture...

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Creek Week 2024- Aquatic Parasites: Unexpected Anti-heroes

Watershed Protection Team / June 27, 2024

By: Sarah Barker Parasites have a pretty bad reputation, which is well-deserved in most cases, but did you know that...

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Creek Week 2024: Invasive Riparian Plants

Watershed Protection Team / June 26, 2024

By: Daniel Price Plants are an interesting metric to assess environmental health. The common thought that “green is good” when...

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Creek Week 2024: From Floods to Flourishing: The Magic of Bioretention Basins

Watershed Protection Team / June 25, 2024

By: Ryan Ferguson It was a dark and stormy night. You just bought a cozy lawn chair to relax in...

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Creek Week 2024: Happy Soils, Healthy Streams

Watershed Protection Team / June 24, 2024

By: Rhys Hals Erosion of streambeds is a major threat to the health of our ecosystems. Some erosion over time...

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Welcome to Creek Week 2024

Watershed Protection Team / June 23, 2024

By: Lauren McGrath Welcome to Creek Week, our annual week-long celebration of Ridley, Crum, and Darby Creeks. Since its inception...

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Kestrel Hill Preserve Update: Native Meadow Conversion

Stewardship Team / May 29, 2024

John Holback | Stewardship Manager Our new 90 acre Kestrel Hill Preserve (KHP) contains about 25 acres of what were...

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AQUA Grant Awarded to Willistown Conservation Trust

Lauren McGrath / May 20, 2024

Pictured left to right | Patrick Starr, Executive Vice President, South East Region, PA Environmental Council, Lauren McGrath, Director of...

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River Otters Return to Make a Splash in Ridley Creek!

Lauren McGrath / May 8, 2024

Newtown Square, PA - May 3, 2024 - Willistown Conservation Trust is pleased to announce the return of American river...

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Partnering for Cleaner Waters

Watershed Protection Team / May 6, 2024

A partnership between CRC Watersheds, Willistown Conservation Trust & Stroud Water Research Center and CRC's Sandra Thompson The Chester Ridley...

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Hello Radnor: A New Conservation Easement

Erik Hetzel / April 29, 2024

By Erik Hetzel, Director of Land Protection and Public Grants The main dwelling on the property faces southeast toward the...

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A Stinky Sign of Spring: Eastern Skunk Cabbage

Stewardship Team / April 29, 2024

By John Holback, Stewardship Manager When I think back on the springs of my youth in southern Chester County, I...

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The Human Dimension: A Novel Approach to Conservation

Aaron Coolman / April 29, 2024

By Aaron Coolman, Motus Technical Coordinator and Avian Ecologist In January, the Bird Conservation Team traveled to West Virgina to...

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Water You Waiting For? Dive into Macroinvertebrates and Stream Health

Watershed Protection Team / April 29, 2024

By Sally Ehlers, 2023 Watershed Protection Program Co-op For over a century, macroinvertebrates have been our partners in understanding the...

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Lessons from Rushton Farm

Willistown Conservation Trust / April 29, 2024

By Andrew Wraith, Agroecology Project Coordinator As an Environmental Studies student, you might have guessed that I’m a lover and...

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Birds as Barometers of Ecosystem Health Rushton Woods Banding Station Year in Review 2023

Bird Conservation Team / April 29, 2024

By Alison Fetterman, Avian Conservation Biologist and Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager Introduction | As field biologists living in a...

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WCT Preserves Watson Easement

Erik Hetzel / January 17, 2024

On December 5, 2023, WCT accepted its first-ever donation of a conservation easement on a property located in Radnor Township,...

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Ashbridge Tree Planting

Anna Willig / January 3, 2024

The end of the year marks the end of the planting stage of the Ashbridge Tree Planting. Since 2019, generous...

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Partnership Update

Anna Willig / January 3, 2024

The Darby Creek Community Science Monitoring Program (DCCS) is a collaborative project between Willistown Conservation Trust, Darby Creek Valley Association...