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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Reflecting on a Summer at Rushton Farm

Willistown Conservation Trust / October 30, 2023

Fresh out of college, my first venture into the ‘real world’ has likely looked different than that of plenty of...

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COMING SOON: Kestrel Hill Preserve

Willistown Conservation Trust / October 30, 2023

A new 90-acre nature preserve at Kirkwood Farm While the price to acquire the land was high, all agreed resoundingly...

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Diatoms Illustrate How Land Use Can Alter Stream Health in Ridley Creek

Sarah Barker / October 30, 2023

Diatoms are a single celled algae which form the foundation of stream ecosystems; they provide oxygen through photosynthesis, and act...

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Twenty Acres of Woodland Habitat Conserved

Erik Hetzel / October 30, 2023

In October 2023 longtime resident and Willistown Conservation Trust (WCT) supporter Beverly Hattersley generously granted a conservation easement on her...

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Kirkwood Steps Up!

Andrew Kirkpatrick / October 30, 2023

Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) Kirkwood Preserve boasts a rich tapestry of wide-open meadows, a meandering creek, wooded slopes, and riparian...

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Watershed Co-ops Independent Projects

Watershed Protection Team / September 27, 2023

As we look back on the summer, we are so proud of the independent projects that Sarah and Sally have...

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Lose the Lawn

Andrew Kirkpatrick / August 24, 2023

Earlier this year, the Trust received the exciting news that we had received a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of...

Plastic Free July Watershed

PolyGone Systems | Eliminating Plastic from our Waterways at Ashbridge Preserve

Watershed Protection Team / July 25, 2023

By Daelin Brown, PolyGone SystemsThere are somewhere between 83 and 358 trillion plastic particles floating around the world in our...

Native Plants Nature Plastic Free July

How to Make Your Own Native Terrarium

Watershed Protection Team / July 18, 2023

By Sarah Barker Terrariums are a fun and easy way to engage with the environment. It only takes one afternoon...

Plastic Free July Watershed

Let’s Go Plastic Free — In Community

Watershed Protection Team / July 5, 2023

By Pam Kosty Most of us know: plastic, especially single-use plastic, is a big problem in our world today. And...

Education Interns, Co-Ops

Meet WCT’s 2023 Seasonal Interns

Communications Team / June 29, 2023

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

Watershed

The Tale of Charlie Woodscomb: a True Beaver Pioneer

Watershed Protection Team / June 29, 2023

By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sarah Barker Deep in the sleepy haze of a deciduous forest dawn, between bowing black...

Watershed

Northern Snakehead: A Voracious Predatory Invasive

Watershed Protection Team / June 28, 2023

By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sally Ehlers The northern snakehead (Channa argus) is a type of fish that is originally...

Bird Banding Bird Conservation Conservation Motus Nature Preserves

Willistown Conservation Trust and Natural Lands Receive $25,000 from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to Reverse the Decline of Grassland Birds in Chester County

CommIntern / June 28, 2023

The land trusts will promote land management practices that benefit the Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Grasshopper Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark captured...