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Waterman Conservation Education Center

@watermancenter.bsky.social
561 followers 3.4K following 128 posts

Promote conservation education, outdoor recreation, and environmental literacy. We serve our members, the Twin Tiers community, and all visitors to our collection of nature preserves. (Border counties of Central New York and Pennsylvania.)

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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
An abundance of #TapiocaSlimeMold! #tapioca #slimemold #slimemolds #fungifans #fungifriends #macrophotography #naturephotography
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This White-rot Fungus surrounding the trail marker smelled like an Orange Creamsicle! #fungifriday #FridayFungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mycology #mushrooms #naturephotography #hiking #fungus #forestnature
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
These Beech Blight Aphids (aka "boogie-woogie aphids") rhythmically wave their pom-pom-like waxy exudates when threatened--here from our camera shutters and closer examination 😮 #bugs #aphid #beechtree #insect #macro #macrophotography #naturephotography #invertebrate #bugsky #insectsky #entomology
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Dead Man's Fingers #FungiSunday #SundayFungi #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mycology #mushrooms #mushroomphotography #fungiphotography #naturephotography #forestfloor #forestfinds
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Ghost Pipes are flowers that are often mistaken for a fungus! #ghostpipes #monotropauniflora #naturephotography #forestfloor #ghostflower #mycoheterotrophy #mycoheterotroph #parasiticplants #ghostplant #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Viscid Violet Cort #fungi #fungus #fungifans #fungifriends #mycology #mushrooms #naturephotography #forestfloor
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Always worth looking on the underside of a log with Blue Stain fungus: Green Wood Cups and an interesting #fungus (possibly Trechispora sp. or Anomoloma sp.) #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mycology #mushrooms #macrofungi #macrophotography #naturephotography #forestfloor #greenwoodcups
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
White-pored Chicken of the Woods #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mushrooms #forestfloor #mycology #naturephotography
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Pinewood Gingertail covering a stump like a miniature city #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mushrooms #FungiMonday #forestfloor #mycology #naturephotography
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Old-Man-of-the-Woods #fungus #FungiFriday #fridayfungi #fungifans #fungifriends #fungi #mushrooms #mycology #naturephotography
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Jackson's Slender Caesar fungi looking like plum tomatoes :) #fungi #mycology #mushrooms #orange #red #hiking #summer #amanita #amanitajacksonii #shrooms #photography #FungiFriday #fungifriends #fungifans
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
A colorful find: Red Raspberry Slime Mold #slimemold #slimemould #tubifera #redraspberryslimemold #raspberryslimemold #myxomycetes #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Eastern American Jack-O'-Lantern #mushrooms giving off a warm orange glow #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mushroom #mycology #naturephotography #fungus #shroomscrolling #mushroomphotography #FungiFriday #shrooms
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
#Teasel is a sweet flower that is now blooming in whites and lavenders. Though not a native, it is very attractive to lots of different #pollinators. #FrancisDarwin and his father studied teasel as a "proto-carnivorous plant #naturephotography #nature #flowers #honeybees #wetlands
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The face-to-face positioning during most of this encounter between two #snappingturtles means it was almost certainly a fight for territory between two males #turtles #turtle #herpetology #naturephotography #reptiles #pondlife #snappingturtle #wetlandecology #wetlandlife #nature
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
A male #EasternPondhawk #dragonfly munches on a Beautiful Deer Fly. Female deer flies are vectors for diseases like anaplasmosis and act like flying hypodermic needles, making a cross cut on the skins of mammals to drink blood #Odonata #macrophotography #dragonflies #DragonflyWatching #insects #bugs
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle #Insects #bugs #macro #naturephotography #beetles #macrophotography #entomology #swampmilkweed #pollinators #coleoptera #aposematism
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Twelve-Spotted Skimmer #dragonfly #dragonflies #skimmers #twelvespottedskimmer #pondlife #wetlands #wetlandlife #nature #macro #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #naturestudy #macrophoto
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Northern Catalpa Trees are known for their long slender seed pods, but the blossoms are gorgeous and smell wonderful! #catalpatree #catalpatreeblossoms #treeblossoms #flowers #trees
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Hemlock Varnish Shelf fungus on a hemlock snag #fungi #fungifans #mushrooms #hemlockvarnishshelf #hemlockreishi #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The Appalachian brown butterfly #butterflylovers #butterfly #brushfootedbutterfly
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
We get how they did the first thing with the eggs, but how did they manage the second thing? #Americantoad #toadmatingseason #toads #toadlove #toadfans #toadeggs #amplexus #wetlandlife #pondlife
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
A new invasive species is changing our Northeastern woods, and the first sign is leaf striping caused by a microscopic nematode. There's no large-scale solution but an expensive option for treating individual trees #BeechLeafDisease #BLD #invasivespecies #functionalextinction #beechtree
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
This Eastern Kingbird gave us a quizzical look #kingbird #Easternkingbird #wetlandbirds #birdwatching
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Hexagonal-pored polypore (Neofavolus alveolaris) is commonly found on sticks and is always a fun find #fungifans #fungi #mushrooms #polypore #fungifriends #naturefinds
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Red Deadnettle aka Purple Archangel is a mint with a long history of use as a food and part of an Anglo-Saxon herb charm "against a sudden/violent stabbing pain"--applied as an ointment with a sharp blade, naturally. Don't try that at home, please! #deadnettle #mintfamily #mint #edibleplants
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Shaggy Mane—also called Shaggy Ink Cap and Lawyer’s Wig #fungi #SundayFungi #fungifans #mushrooms #fungus #ShaggyMane
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
After a couple of days in the mid-80s (F) here in our corner of NYS, we had a freeze where the low temperature overnight hit 20 degrees. The earliest and tallest of the Cinnamon fern fiddleheads didn't do well #ferns #fernfans #fernfriends #frondfriends #cinnamonferns #fiddleheads #springplants
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
A striking pile-up of Hoof Fungus looks down on a bank of Red Trillium #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #mushrooms #springflowers #springephemerals #redtrillium #trillium
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Likely Mauglancomyces korfii #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #springnature #mushrooms
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
The Eastern Comma butterfly came out early and blends in perfectly with the dried leaf litter when its wings are closed #butterflies #EasternComma #EasternCommabutterfly #camouflage #butterflycamouflage
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
The pond at Lime Hollow Nature Center, Cortland, NY, was roiling with paired American toads—mating season is off to a very loud and obvious start! #toads #americantoads #amphibians #amplexus #pondlife
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
A Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, no doubt waiting on this fallen log for a small arthropod meal #beetles #insectlife #foresthiking #springinsects
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Bay polypore, big and new and eye-catching from across the woods #FungiSunday #SundayFungi #fungifans #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Red elderberry flowers #aprilflowers #redelderberry #elderberry #naturephotography
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Warlock’s Butter (Exidia nigricans) #FungiFriday #fungifans #fungi #fungifriends #jellyfungus
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
We saw our first Scarlet elfcups of the year today! #fungiSunday #Sundayfungi #fungifans #ScarletElfcups #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Even with their anti-freeze chemistry, the Christmas ferns are saying, “Enough!” #snowbegone #ferns #fernfans #Christmasfern #endlesswinter
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Waterman's Pettus Hill Preserve in West Windsor, NY, boasts a large number of an ancient lichen called Smooth Rock Tripe (𝘜𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢) on its north-facing boulders. Each thallus is attached by its "belly button," hence the common name "navel lichen" #lichen #fungi #rocktripe #navellichen
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Chicken of the woods: Winter Edition😀 #fungi #fungifans #fungifriends #chickenofthewoods
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Rock polypody (𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘮) is a truly evergreen fern, which means it's still looking good after our harsh Northeast winter as the snow continues to melt off #wintergreenferns #ferns #polypody #fernfans #glen #waterfall
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
It hit 70 degrees today for our first real "Fake Spring" here in the Southern Tier of New York, but there's still ice on the pond that this bonded pair of Canada geese have just returned to #thegeeseareback #Canadageese #pondlife #wetlands #wetlandecology #migration
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Violet-toothed Polypore loves to take over stumps and snags. Here’s what it looks like when it’s new from above and below #FungiMonday #fungifriends #fungifans #fungi
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
This Smokey-eyed Boulder Lichen caught our eye! #lichen #crustoselichen #fungi #fungifriends
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Fresh Turkey-tail is making our winter woods colorful right now #Sundayfungi #fungifans #fabulousfungi #turkeytailmushrooms #winternature
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
It’s good to recognize these hairy roots for what they are: poison ivy! They really stand out in winter and can cause an allergic reaction even without the “leaves of three” #poisonivy #urushiol #winternature
A ropey brown poison ivy root looks like a hairy snake climbing up the side of a treeA close up of a poison ivy root on the side of a tree shows the many hairy offshoots that allow it to cling to the bark and give it a fuzzy appearance
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
The snow has melted enough to reveal the hardy Bronze fern (aka Cutleaf grapefern) that’s been there since all season #ferns #fernfans #grapeferns #winterplants #bronzefern #cutleafgrapefern
A leafy triangle of grapefern (Sceptridium dissectum obliquum) blends in with the ground between disappearing snow patches because of the darkened bronze color
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Just like us in the 6-degree weather of Upstate New York, these Sensitive fern sporophylls are waiting for spring! They will release their spores in March and April #ferns #fernfans #sensitiveferns #beadfern #spores #dimorphicferns #winternature
A central cluster of five brown stalks with brown beads poke up from the snow. The sterile green fronds of the Sensitive fern are long gone, but these fertile stalks persist
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Ice does interesting things as temperatures change #pondice #icepatterns #temperaturechanges #iceart
Newly formed ice crystals on a local pond look a lot like snowflakesChanges in temperature make interesting patterns in the pond like these that resemble lightning bolts or antlers
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Waterman Conservation Education Center @watermancenter.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
If at first you don't succeed, chew chew chew again! #beaver #beavers #busybeaver #winterfood #wetlandlife #pondlife #wetlandwildlife
A downed log shows a row of similar depth chew marks made by a persistent beaver--down to the final "pencil point" that allowed the beaver to haul the rest of the tree into the water
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