Posts by Chris Rimmer 
Tribute to Steve Parren — a Conservation Champion and VCE Friend
Steve Parren, longtime cornerstone of non-game wildlife conservation efforts at the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, will soon retire. VCE salutes this conservation champion and reflects on his remarkable legacy.
2020: an Unforgettable Year for Birding in Norwich
Birders in Norwich pulled out all the stops during 2020, documenting 190 species in a year that is unlikely to ever be rivaled. Yet, the 2021 challenge flag is down with a call for 195 species, 2,500 eBird checklists, and at least 5 new species. Join the Norwich 2021 Bird Quest!
Craig Provost: A Birding Quest for the Ages
In June 2020, lifelong birder Craig Provost achieved an extraordinary milestone that precious few Vermont birders will ever realize, becoming just the second person in history to document 150 species in all of Vermont’s 14 counties, each within a single calendar year!
A Misplaced Avian Visitor from the West
Most birders (present company definitely included) are shameless thrill-seekers; nothing electrifies us like the unexpected appearance of a rarity. To be sure, keeping track of common species throughout the year…
Mansfield Wrap-up: Bountiful Migrants and a Venerable Thrush
VCE’s 2020 wrap-up banding session on Mt. Mansfield may have been our most memorable. It yielded an impressive diversity of birds, including our first-ever Western Palm Warbler and a truly venerable 10 year-old Bicknell’s Thrush.
Mansfield Update: YBFLs, NSWOs, and FOYs
VCE’s penultimate 2020 summer banding session on Mt. Mansfield featured another diminutive owl, several first-of-year captures, and 2 new Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, bringing our seasonal total to 14 for this species, a station record.
Mansfield Update: Owls, Cones and Crossbills
VCE’s capture of two juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls was the undisputed highlight of our week 7 banding session on Mt. Mansfield. This species’ occurrence in montane forests reflects a complex and fascinating ecological phenomenon related to cyclical production of balsam fir cones.
Mansfield Update: Returning Sharpies and Thrushes
With only three weeks before VCE’s 2020 banding season on Mt. Mansfield wraps up, free-flying juveniles, molting adults and wandering post-breeders were highlights, along with a 4+ year-old returning Sharp-shinned Hawk.
The Masked Banders of Mansfield
VCE’s 29th year of banding birds on the Mt. Mansfield ridgeline now finds staff and visitors sporting masks, a concession to safety in the COVID era. Our enthusiasm remains undiminished.
Sharpies, PUFI and Blackpolls: Week 3 on Mt. Mansfield
VCE’s third weekly banding session of 2020 on Mt. Mansfield featured a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a ‘PUFIgeddon’ of Purple Finches, several non-locally breeding warblers, and a resurgence in Blackpoll Warbler numbers. And, transport via ATVs appears to have been relegated to a memory.
VCE’s 29th Season on Mansfield off to an Unusual Start
ATVs, sleeping in a parking lot at 3900-ft elevation under the full moon, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. These and more highlighted an unusual start to VCE’s 29th consecutive field season of studying birds on Mt. Mansfield’s ridgeline.
VCE Staff “Bird in Place” for Backyard Bird Quest 2020
VCE’s annual Birdathon took on a new form this spring, as the Green Mountain Goatsuckers “birded in place” for Backyard Bird Quest 2020. Sallying forth individually from our home bases—some even outside Vermont—we collectively found 134 species during the day, raising crucial funds for VCE’s wildlife conservation work.
