WILLISTOWN CONSERVATION TRUST

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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.

Uncategorized

The Season of Giving

Communications Team / November 20, 2023
Make a smart investment The end of the year is a great time to reflect upon the organizations in your...
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Uncategorized

Reversing the Decline of Grassland Birds in Chester County

Zoe Warner / October 30, 2023
While the sun is still below the horizon, the Eastern Meadowlark’s lilting song floats over the field, seeooaa seeadoo, slowly...
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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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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Uncategorized

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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Watershed

The Tiny Invader: New Zealand Mudsnails in Pennsylvania

Watershed Protection Team / June 27, 2023
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sally Ehlers Have you ever heard of the New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)? These tiny...
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Watershed

Biofilms: Underdog Ecosystem Engineers

Watershed Protection Team / June 26, 2023
By Watershed Protection Program Co-op Sarah Barker Biofilms are all around us! Often thought of as pests in any environment...
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Watershed

A Microcosm of Macroinvertebrates

Anna Willig / June 25, 2023
By Watershed Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna Willig Aquatic macroinvertebrates — animals without a backbone that are visible to...
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Watershed

Taking the Temperature of Local Streams

Anna Willig / June 24, 2023
By Watershed Conservation Research and Data Specialist Anna Willig One of the most basic, yet most critical, aspects of stream...
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Advocacy Alert! PA Growing Greener Would Invest Millions in Conservation and Outdoor Recreation
Conservation Land Protection Nature Stewardship

Advocacy Alert! PA Growing Greener Would Invest Millions in Conservation and Outdoor Recreation

Kate Etherington / June 1, 2022
Dear Friends and Neighbors, Currently, there is a proposal in the Pennsylvania General Assembly called Growing Greener 3, and its funding affects...
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Rushton Nature Keepers: Inspiring tomorrow’s conservationists
Education Nature Rushton Nature Keepers

Rushton Nature Keepers: Inspiring tomorrow’s conservationists

Blake Goll / May 31, 2022
In the midst of today’s chaotic pace and uncertainty, children need more than ever those timeless moments in nature...
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environmentaleducation, kidsandnature
Step Back in Time with Owen McGoldrick
Conservation Education Film Land Protection Nature Preserves Photography

Step Back in Time with Owen McGoldrick

CommIntern / May 24, 2022
All photos are currently on display and for sale in the Rushton Conservation Center, May 17 - August 28. INTRODUCTION...
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WCT Update: Promising News about Kirkwood Farm
Conservation Land Protection

WCT Update: Promising News about Kirkwood Farm

Kate Etherington / April 14, 2022
Dear Friends and Neighbors, Last month, I shared with you that Kirkwood Farm — a 218-acre parcel in the heart...
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Rushton Woods Banding Station Annual Songbird Banding Report 2021
Bird Banding Bird Conservation Uncategorized

Rushton Woods Banding Station Annual Songbird Banding Report 2021

Bird Conservation Team / April 7, 2022
By Alison Fetterman, Bird Conservation Associate & Northeast Motus Project Manager and Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager In April 2021,...
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Open Space and Water Quality | Lessons Learned from Three Years of Stream Monitoring
Uncategorized

Open Space and Water Quality | Lessons Learned from Three Years of Stream Monitoring

Watershed Protection Team / April 7, 2022
By Anna Willig, Watershed Conservation Associate and Lauren McGrath, Director of Watershed Protection Program Since 2018, the Watershed Protection Program...
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WCT Update on Rock Hill Farm
Conservation Land Protection

WCT Update on Rock Hill Farm

Kate Etherington / March 18, 2022
Dear Friends and Neighbors, I am writing to you once again with another important land protection update.  As many of...
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Women in Agriculture: Testimonials from Rushton Farmers
agroecology Farm Interns, Co-Ops Staff

Women in Agriculture: Testimonials from Rushton Farmers

Molly Clark / March 7, 2022
In honor of Women's History Month, we are going to hear from the women farmers -- previous staff, interns, and...
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Women in Agriculture: The Future of Sustainable Farming
agroecology Farm

Women in Agriculture: The Future of Sustainable Farming

Molly Clark / March 7, 2022
Women’s history month is an excellent time to draw attention to the significant, yet historically underappreciated, role that women play...
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Rethinking Lawns: Fighting Climate Change with Native Plants
Native Plants native wildflower meadow Nature Stewardship

Rethinking Lawns: Fighting Climate Change with Native Plants

CommIntern / February 28, 2022
By Monica McQuail, Willistown Conservation Trust Communications Specialist Photos by Blake Goll, Willistown Conservation Trust Education Programs Manager With the...
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WCT Update on Kirkwood Farm
Conservation Land Protection

WCT Update on Kirkwood Farm

Kate Etherington / February 24, 2022
Dear Friends and Neighbors, For over 25 years, land protection has been the core of Willistown Conservation Trust’s (WCT) mission....
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The Rhythm of Winged Creatures
Bird Banding Bird Conservation

The Rhythm of Winged Creatures

Blake Goll / February 9, 2022
Rushton Farm Bird Banding Station | Annual Year in Review 2021
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Bird banding, Bird Conservation, migration, regenerative farming, songbirds
The Trust Teams up with Project Plastic at Ashbridge Preserve to Clean Up Microplastics Using Innovative Device: The Plastic Hunter
Science Watershed

The Trust Teams up with Project Plastic at Ashbridge Preserve to Clean Up Microplastics Using Innovative Device: The Plastic Hunter

CommIntern / February 1, 2022
Last year we learned that Microplastic Pollution is No Small Problem, after our Watershed Protection Program discovered the dangerous presence...
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The Trust Receives 525K from DCNR for Land Conservation
Land Protection

The Trust Receives 525K from DCNR for Land Conservation

CommIntern / January 4, 2022
We have exciting news to share! The Trust will soon receive two grants from PA DCNR to further land conservation...
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Beaver Business
Nature Preserves Science Watershed

Beaver Business

Anna Willig / January 4, 2022
Please Note: The Watershed Protection Team is excited to welcome our newest team member and encourages all visitors to keep...
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Bird Conservation Group Receives Funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Track Important Migratory Routes along the Northeast
Bird Conservation Motus

Bird Conservation Group Receives Funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Track Important Migratory Routes along the Northeast

CommIntern / December 1, 2021
The ability of scientists to track migrating animals as small as hummingbirds and butterflies along the Atlantic Coast will take...
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Willistown Conservation Trust and Delchester Group Inc. Partner to Permanently Protect 16 Acres on Grubbs Mill Road
Conservation Land Protection

Willistown Conservation Trust and Delchester Group Inc. Partner to Permanently Protect 16 Acres on Grubbs Mill Road

CommIntern / November 22, 2021
Of the 16 acres, nine will be added to the Trust’s Kirkwood Preserve Willistown Conservation Trust is pleased to announce...
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Connecting Students to Bird Conservation
Bird Banding Bird Conservation Education

Connecting Students to Bird Conservation

Blake Goll / November 17, 2021
I had the fortune to connect with a group of such educators who dedicated time during the pandemic to exploring...
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AIM Academy, Bird boxes, Bird Conservation, environmental education
A Macroinvertebrate’s Thanksgiving Feast
Amphibian conservation Nature Science Watershed

A Macroinvertebrate’s Thanksgiving Feast

Anna Willig / November 16, 2021
Each fall, trees provide a veritable Thanksgiving Feast for aquatic macroinvertebrates. They spend the whole spring and summer preparing this...
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A Suburban Nature Lover Seeks Legacy Easement to Protect Her Native Plant Oasis
Conservation Land Protection Native Plants

A Suburban Nature Lover Seeks Legacy Easement to Protect Her Native Plant Oasis

Blake Goll / October 25, 2021
By Blake Goll, Education Programs Manager and Erik Hetzel, Director of Land Protection Photos by Blake Goll Meandering along the...
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OUR NATURE PRESERVES

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages Hartman Meadow, Ashbridge, Kirkwood, Kestrel Hill and Rushton Woods Preserves. We maintain these lands to preserve and enhance … Learn more about our nature preserves.

Upcoming Events

01 December

Preserving Quiet Moments Photography Show

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06 December
Rushton Conservation Center

SOLD OUT Field-to-Feast Demonstration Dinner with Chef Donna Laveran

915 Delchester Road, Newtown Square, PA

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09 December
TBA

Avian Adventures with Aaron | December 9th

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HELP US SAVE, STUDY, AND SHARE OTHER WAYS TO GIVE If you would like to make a gift of securities, such as stocks, bonds, or mutual fund shares, please contact us at 610-353-2562 for instructions. For more information on ways to give, please contact us at development@wctrust.org. … Donate Today

CONTACT

925 Providence Road
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 353-2562
land@wctrust.org

WHERE WE WORK

The work of the Willistown Conservation Trust is concentrated on 28,000 acres of Willistown Township … read more

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