Posts by Kent McFarland

Browse the Blog

Fish & Wildlife and VTrans Partner to Save Snakes

June 3, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has partnered with the Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation to provide habitat for a rare snake species…

Wildlife Officials Seek Help Tracking Tagged Bear

May 30, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

A young black bear has been getting into bird feeders and garbage cans in southeastern Vermont and the Fish & Wildlife Department is asking for help from local residents.  Members…

Birdathon 2014: By foot and float yields over 100 species

May 28, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

The VCE team opted for our customary low-carbon Birdathon this spring, but swapped hiking boots and mountain bikes for water shoes and kayaks/canoes.  This all but quashed the possibility of…

From Barely a Peep to a Cacophony

May 17, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

It’s a warm spring evening. The sun has set. Down in the valley, there is a chorus erupting, and up on the hill in a pond, another is just beginning….

April Photo-observation of the Month Winner

May 12, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

The iNaturalist Vermont April photo-observation of the month by popular vote was The Scribbler. The caterpillars of this tiny geometrid moth feed on alders, birches, maples, and willows. The adults…

Boreal Birds Need Half

May 9, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

One of the world’s greatest migrations is happening now.  Billions of migratory birds are heading from the U.S., Central and South America to what’s been dubbed “North America’s bird nursery”…

Please Give Nesting Bald Eagles Space

April 23, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is asking bird-watchers to give nesting bald eagles a hand this spring by enjoying them from a safe distance. Bald eagles are slowly recovering…

Back from the Nearly Dead

April 22, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

Just a few days ago they were frozen rock hard, a frog-sicle. But today, they are barking up a storm in the pond. They’re back from the nearly dead. Late last…

Snowy Owl by Sue Wetmore

March Photo-observation of the Month

April 9, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

It seems that Vermont iNaturalists are behaving like the weather. They just can’t let go of winter. The March winner was an amazing shot of a Snowy Owl at the…

Results of New Hampshire Bat Hibernacula Surveys Dismal

April 8, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

Recent surveys for bats in New Hampshire hibernacula, places where bats spend the winter, resulted in biologists finding a total of only 28 bats, with two formerly very common species…

Vote for the March iNaturalist Vermont Observation of the Month

April 4, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

Here are the candidates for the March iNaturalist Vermont observation contest selected by Kyle Jones. Take a look (or listen!) to each one and vote by replying to this post…

Grassland Birders Sought to be ‘out standing in the field’ This Summer

March 31, 2014  |  Kent McFarland

Birders across New England are invited to greet the sunrise and enjoy the tumbling song of the bobolink on clear mornings this Spring and Summer in open fields, conducting bird…