Finger Lakes Wildlife Center, Inc.

Finger Lakes Wildlife Center, Inc. FLWC is a non-profit organization for wildlife conservation education. In start-up, NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC.

Not currently open to public, volunteers/patron visits by appointment only. Finger Lakes Wildlife Center, Inc is a non-profit organization for environmental conservation education through exhibition of domestic and exotic farm animals, native NYS flora and fauna, and wildlife education programming.

05/12/2026

Nimma and Lewa getting some love and soaking up the sun ♡

05/10/2026

Happy Day to all the human and nonhuman Mom's out there ♡
(Highlight footage from a few years ago showing a screech owl mom, WTD doe and fawn, and a raccoon mom in our wetlands).

04/18/2026

Our goats Lewa and Nimma turned 9 this past week. We pack a freezer full of willow branches each fall so that we can provide browse throughout the winter and keep morale up during rainy, stormy days.

As you can see the girls love getting willow. Soon enough they will be getting fresh cut summer leaves. Our pigs Milhouse Van Snouten and Nelson Gruntz enjoyed the cheerios hidden in their hay more than the willow. That's because pigs are adapted to rooting and "grazing green grasses", as opposed to the goats who are more adapted to "browsing brown branches".

03/25/2026

What a cool capture on one of our camera traps! I believe based on the size and shape that this is a northern saw-whet owl. This little robin-sized bird of prey has a large round head with no ear tufts, a white "V"-shape between yellow eyes, and a whitish facial disk.

I've captured a family of eastern screech owls on the cameras before, but this is a new species for me. Screech owls are also small owls but have prominent ear tufts and fine dark barring on their chests.

Saw-whet owls have a very cool "too too too" call that is commonly heard in evenings from Jan-May in a wide range of wooded habitats. Check out their call at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/sounds

03/16/2026

Happy Spring! The red winged blackbirds are officially back!

03/07/2026

First spring peepers of 2026! Happy Spring, everyone!

02/09/2026

Remember to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) this weekend, from Friday 2/13/26 to Monday 2/16/26. The GBBC is an annual citizen science project where people from all over the world observe birds and report data. The goal is to help scientists understand global bird populations prior to spring migration.

You can observe from your backyard, a favorite park, etc. for a minimum of 15 minutes at least once over those four days. For more info on how to participate, check out the GBBC website. https://www.birdcount.org/

11/13/2025

Two new species captured on FLWC camera traps!

1. The first few clips show a flying squirrel. We know it's a flying squirrel because a) it's nocturnal (nighttime) whereas most other native squirrels are diurnal (daytime), b) we can see its patagium (the membrane between front and hind limbs used for gliding).

There are actually two species of flying squirrel in NYS. I believe this is a southern flying squirrel, which are more common in deciduous forests in the Finger Lakes region. The northern flying squirrel is more common in the mixed coniferous forests of the Adirondacks.

2. The second species is a gray fox. We have had several generations of red fox here, but this is the first time in ~9yrs that we've captured a gray, distinguishable by its shorter, rounded ears and black-tipped tail. Gray fox are smaller than reds, so they are vulnerable to over-competition from the larger canids. Grays are also genetically unique, with no living relatives. They have semi-retractable claws and forearms that swivel like a cat, allowing for a life more suited to climbing trees and denning in tree cavities.

I'm excited to see that the gray has been here more than a week, so hopefully it's going to move in. I also noticed in the final footage that there appears to be two gray fox. Perhaps young grays dispersing from neighboring properties? I refreshed the batteries in the cameras and look forward to watching and learning more this winter.

10/08/2025

In 9 years of living on this farm, this is my first camera trap "capture" of a bobcat. This year has been particularly dry in the wetlands, my guess is that the bobcat has been travelling along the drainage ditch/man-made creek that is for the first time dry enough to traverse. Maybe a big male dispersing to new territory. (*including clip of my ~35-40lb blue heeler for size comparison. Location Palmyra, NY).

Factoid: the spots on the inner foreleg of a bobcat are unique to the individual, like a fingerprint. Therefore, in camera trapping you could potentially identify individual bobcat from each other, which could lead wildlife managers to an index for local population size.

Address

Palmyra, NY
14522

Telephone

+15852897177

Website

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