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

Stream Exploration: Discovering Ridley Creek

Communications Team / April 23, 2021

Do you know what watershed you live in? Ridley Creek is a historically important waterway and continues to play a...

Stewardship Tree Planting Volunteers Watershed

The Power of Trees in a Watershed

Lauren McGrath / April 20, 2021

Trees that grow along waterways play a critical role in maintaining a healthy stream or river. Trees provide a huge...

Citizen Science Watershed

Darby Creek Headwaters Monitoring Program

Lauren McGrath / April 14, 2021

The Watershed Protection Program has teamed up with Darby Creek Valley Association (DCVA) and Stroud Water Research Center to create...

Uncategorized

The Campaign for Rushton Woods Preserve

Tripp Way / April 14, 2021

THE NEED HAS NEVER BEEN GREATERFor over forty years, land conservation has been a primary focus of our mission resulting...

Native Plants Nature Nature at Night Nature Education Nature Preserves Stewardship Uncategorized

Nature at Night: Native Plants for Your Landscape

Communications Team / April 9, 2021

What if you treated your backyard as a piece of the larger mosaic of a habitat and added native plants...

Education Interns, Co-Ops

Willistown Conservation Trust Welcomes 12 Student Interns This Season

Communications Team / April 2, 2021

Internships are an integral part of Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) work. Each year hardworking students join our team and bring...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Stewardship Volunteers

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Joan Swirsky

Mike Cranney / March 30, 2021

Since the Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) stewardship team began our weekly volunteer days last year, Joan has been our most...

Culinary Event

Sharpen Your Knife Skills for Spring Cooking!

Communications Team / March 22, 2021

We are thrilled to welcome chef Donna Laveran back to the Rushton Conservation Center and resume our sustainable cooking series!...

Bird Conservation Conservation Nature

American Woodcock

Tripp Way / March 22, 2021

American Woodcock. Photo by Mike Rosengarten. American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor) An Interview with Lisa Williams, Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, and Webless...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird Events Nature at Night

Nature at Night: Ornithology 101 (Part 1&2)

Communications Team / March 19, 2021

Join Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager, for a virtual two-part session that introduces the study of birds. We will begin...

Women's History Month

The Wonderful Women of Willistown!

Kate Etherington / March 3, 2021

Celebrating Women in Conservation: Past, Present, and Future Willistown Conservation Trust Co-Founders Alice Hausmann and Bonnie Van Alen. This March...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird ecology Bird Events Nature

For the Love of Birds

Blake Goll / February 26, 2021

Join Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager, for a virtual session that introduced birds through the lens of why we love them.

Bird Conservation, Birds

agroecology Farm Nature at Night Sustainable Agriculture

Nature at Night: Let’s Get Growing!

Kelsey Lingle / February 26, 2021

Join the Rushton Farm Staff for an informative look at starting seeds for the upcoming season. We will look at...

agroecology Farm Native Plants Nature Science

The Bees of Rushton Farm: A Pollinator Perspective on Willistown Conservation Trust & Environmental Education

Benjamin Reynard / February 13, 2021

One Sunny midsummer day in 2012 on Rushton Farm, the bees decided to swarm. Noah, a certified apiarist--and the sustainable...

Bird Conservation Conservation Flappy Hour

Flappy Hour: Black Vultures in the Backyard

Kelsey Lingle / January 15, 2021

We are excited to welcome Bracken Brown, Biologist-Naturalist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, to join us and discuss the Black Vulture....

Conservation Lunch & Learn Science Watershed

Road Salt and Its Impact on Fresh Water

Evan Hunt / January 12, 2021

As winter quickly approaches so does the threat of salt pollution. Since the 1940s, salt has been the number one...

Stewardship

Winter Solstice

Andrew Kirkpatrick / December 21, 2020

Solar system planets set. The Sun and planets in a row on the universe stars background. Elements of this image...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation

Celebrating 11 Years of Bird Banding at Rushton Woods Preserve

Blake Goll / December 16, 2020

Established in 2009 with a grant from the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC), our banding station has been a huge success over the years...

Bird banding, bird banding data, bird migration

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A New Path Forward – Our Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Communications Team / December 4, 2020

Dear Friends, It has been nearly six months since I wrote to you about the tragic death of George Floyd...

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Giving Thanks to the Okehocking People

Mike Cranney / November 23, 2020

With Thanksgiving approaching, it is an appropriate time to reflect upon our connection with the indigenous people who first lived...

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Flappy Hour: Secrets of the Saw-whet Owl

Communications Team / November 13, 2020

The Trust has been studying the populations of this small migratory owl for the past 10 years as part of...

Conservation Land Protection Nature Preserves Trails

Kirkwood Sign Dedication

Erik Hetzel / November 4, 2020

Fifteen years ago, the 83-acre Kirkwood Preserve was established thanks to a public/private partnership that included Willistown Conservation Trust, Willistown...

agroecology Farm

The Old Salt

Fred De Long / October 29, 2020

Noah and I have learned a lot from the “old salts” who entertained us as we grew up. We have also learned a lot about each other after twenty years in the field.

Uncategorized

Help Us Meet the Challenge!

Chelsea Heck / October 29, 2020

Are you a friend of the Trust but have never donated or have you supported the Trust in the past...

Nature Science Watershed

From Tops of Trees to the Base of the Food Chain

Lauren McGrath / October 13, 2020

There is a chill in the air and the leaves are starting to turn, signaling that fall is here! Have...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird Events Flappy Hour Motus Nature at Night Uncategorized

Nature at Night: Flappy Hour, Using Motus to Track the Flight Path of an Avian Biologist

Communications Team / October 9, 2020

Meet Shelly Eshleman, our newest Motus team member and bird conservation biologist as she describes her path to working for...

Farm General Nature Preserves Sustainable Agriculture Trails Uncategorized

Join Us for a Pop-Up Picnic Dinner to Help Kick Off Art on the Trails

Kelsey Lingle / October 8, 2020

A week-long event Art on the Trails: Preserve Gallery Walk with a pop-up picnic dinner on the lawn at the Rushton Conservation...

Nature Nature Preserves Stewardship Trails

Trails Workshops (Part 1 & 2)

Communications Team / September 28, 2020

Do you love trails? We do! Willistown Conservation Trust is offering virtual trails workshops! Hosted by Andrew Kirkpatrick, Director of...

Nature Stewardship Tree Planting

Mapping the Ashbridge Tree Planting

Evan Hunt / September 23, 2020

The most important part of a tree planting usually comes after the trees are in the ground. Recently planted trees...

Conservation Land Protection Nature

Legacy of the Land: A History of Land Conservation in Willistown

Communications Team / September 23, 2020

Trust’s Executive Director and co-founder Bonnie Van Alen, co-founder Alice Hausmann, and Director of Land Protection Erik Hetzel, discuss the...

Nature Nature Preserves Stewardship Trails Volunteers

History of the Trails Team

Communications Team / September 23, 2020

Besides its abundance of over 7,500 acres of countryside permanently protected from development, Willistown has long been known for its...

Conservation Land Protection Uncategorized

Fifteen More Acres Protected Forever!

Communications Team / September 22, 2020

The final conservation chapter to the 15-acre Stonehedge Farm at Plumsock and Goshen Roads in Willistown has finally concluded. The...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird ecology

The Wings of Change

Blake Goll / September 19, 2020

Our banding station has been operating for fall migration for the past three weeks, and change is evident...

Bird banding, Connecticut Warbler, fall migration, land conservation, migration

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Bird Events Conservation Motus Nature Owls

Unraveling the Mysteries of Migration with Motus Technology

Kelsey Lingle / September 14, 2020

Since 2017 the Trust’s Bird Conservation Team along with its partners (the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Project...

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Conservation Celebration September 21 – 25

jspragins / September 14, 2020

A week of celebrating the many groups that support the important work at the Trust. Be on the lookout for...

Farm Interns, Co-Ops Sustainable Agriculture

The Wonder Twins

Fred De Long / August 28, 2020

It was a warm day in mid-June and summer was right around the corner when Abby and Anna showed up to volunteer at Rushton Farm.

Academic Partners Interns, Co-Ops Watershed

Watershed Department Bids Farewell to Drexel Co-ops

Lauren McGrath / August 28, 2020

"When my co-op at Willistown Conservation Trust began at the beginning of April, I had no idea what to expect but the past few months have been nothing short of spectacular." ~Jules Smith

co-op, Drexel University, watershed protection