The Oxford Society

05/15/2026

Sharing a couple photos from the Salt Creek Nature Sanctuary. Our game cameras have captured the great blue heron in just about every pose imaginable, but never one like this! It shows this beautiful animal in all its strength, glory, and magnificence! Also, this is the first time we've ever seen five wood ducks on the pond at once. If you can, enlarge the photo so you can take a close look at the male in the middle of the frame....

05/02/2026

Everybody needs a bluebird day, especially now. This photo was taken at the Salt Creek Nature Sanctuary by Don Koller.

03/04/2026

For me, the best harbinger of spring at Salt Creek Nature Sanctuary is the appearance of wood frog eggs in the vernal pools this time of year. Thanks to Kristin Lane, sanctuary caretaker, for this photo!

02/19/2026

A wonderful photo (taken by Don Koller) of a Cooper's Hawk, a bird-eating predator. When these guys are around your bird feeders, the other birds make themselves scarce!

01/11/2026

The Oxford Society is active in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, through its relationship with a non-profit known as ASVO. Some of the projects take place at the Robles-Kaufman Biological Station, which was built with contributions from The Oxford Society. We are making a small difference there at Tortuguero! One of the projects is MAP (MONITOREO AMBIENTAL PARTICIPATIVO or PARTICIPATORY ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING-GROUP). Local teenagers from 12 to 16 years old are trained in natural history subjects (such as bird watching, plant ID, and environmental Issues). They assist with presentations to improve their skills. In the photo below, two young men participate in the 2025 Annual Bird Count in Tortuguero. The second photo show the MAP participants enjoying a get-together at the Biological Station.

12/02/2025

TODAY IS GIVING TUESDAY. WE COULD USE YOUR HELP TO FURTHER OUR MISSION. IF YOU'D LIKE TO DONATE, VISIT OUR SECURE WEBSITE, www.theoxfordsociety.org ANY AMOUNT HELPS!

AND THANK YOU!

The Oxford Society Website

10/21/2025

I want to share this message from Jane Goodall, which we reprinted in our textbook (The Biosphere: Protecting Our Global Environment; authored by Don Kaufman and Cecilia Franz (Berg)) more than 25 years ago. We brought Jane to Miami in 1999 to be part of our GREEN Teachers Institute and talk with our teachers. It was a wonderful experience. Please share this important message as widely as you can!

09/12/2025

I wanted to share two discoveries at the sanctuary. The first photo is of a young ringneck snake, no bigger than an earthworm, that was sunning itself on a rock step. I love ringneck snakes, and it's always good to find them. The second is a game camera photo of two bucks encountering each other on one of the trails...to me, the caption should read, "This path's not big enough for the both of us!" My money's on the guy to the right.

08/22/2025

Reporting on monarch caterpillar sightings: We have seen at least eight monarch caterpillars on our milkweed at the Memorial Garden! There are likely others. This is more than we have seen in many years. Hopefully, it's a good sign. I'm sharing two photos. Please let me know: Have you seen (or are you seeing) many monarch caterpillars this summer?

03/23/2025

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