Choose Native Plants When Landscaping
Beyond the beauty new gardens provide, landscapers can make a big difference for wildlife with the plants they choose.
What Are They Worth to You?
On May 21 the VCE staff will watch birds with even greater purpose and determination than usual: Birdathon. In our annual 24-hour birding blitz, we’ll be raising funds to support VCE’s wildlife and habitat conservation projects.
Be Aware of Endangered Piping Plovers Nesting on the Beaches
Be aware of endangered birds on the beaches this holiday weekend and beyond, as the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department reports there are six pairs of piping plovers nesting along the sandy shores of Hampton and Seabrook.
Discover Biodiversity Locally, Tally Globally
From May 15th through May 25th, people all over the world are documenting biodiversity for the Global Bioblitz 2015. Let’s put Vermont biodiversity on the global map. Learn how you can contribute…
eBird Wins Award
eBird is the recipient of the first ever Leon Levy Award for Innovation in Bird Conservation, awarded by the American Bird Conservancy.
A Field Guide to May 2015
The month of May is a show-off. May shouts of life and rejuvenation. Read all about it in our Field Guide to May.
Nightlife With Upland Sandpipers
VCE’s research into the migratory routes, timing, and wintering grounds of grassland birds took us first to the prairies of Kansas, where we fitted Upland Sandpipers with tracking devices called “geolocators.”
Shelly Melendy: VCE’s New Multi-Tasker
With the launch of a new field season here at VCE, our office staff and far-flung biologists find themselves even more organized now that we’ve hired Shelly Melendy as our new administrative assistant.
Spring Wildfire
As if on cue, wildfires ignited around Vermont this spring. Several of our biologists are also volunteer firefighters, and while in the woods fighting wildfires, they’ve also got an eye on forest life.
‘No Bird Sighting Left Behind’
VCE today launches an ambitious project to retrieve historic bird sightings, some a century old, now trapped in notebooks, on scraps of paper and in dusty file drawers. It turns out that bird conservation depends in part on what we can reclaim from the past.
A Vernal Explosion of Life
On an early spring day, biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra stand in front of a vernal pool in Strafford. It’s noisy. Early spring heralds the return of life to the pools.
Loon Sign Overhaul
The Vermont Loon Conservation Program is currently upgrading and maintaining one of our most useful management tools – nest warning signs. Learn how you can help.
Cliff Tops and Overlooks Closed to Protect Nesting Peregrines
Hiking Vermont’s hillsides is a great way to enjoy a spring day, but the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department and Audubon Vermont recommend you check to see if the area you’re planning to hike or climb is open. Several cliff areas are currently closed to protect nesting peregrine falcons.
Merlins: Murder, Mayhem and Magnificence Now Flying Near You
Like a cross between a cruise missile and a T-Rex, they are flying and killing machines. At this moment, most of you are probably not too far from a Merlin. Here’s how to find one.
Photo-observation of the Month Winner
Congratulations to Larry Clarfeld for winning the March iNaturalist Vermont photo-observation of the month contest.
A Field Guide to April
April is the carnal month. The forest and wetlands return to live with cold desire. Here’s VCE’s Field Guide to April.
Abbott Fenn Remembered: “A Warrior for the Natural World”
A gentle, unassuming man with a thirst for wilderness and a huge commitment to our natural world left us last week.
A Warbler and a News Media Maelstrom
How a tiny warbler unleashed a media feeding frenzy on an unassuming conservation biologist. A crazy, wonderful day here at VCE.
Loon Spring Fever
This past Friday, on March 27, a Common Loon crash-landed at the Berlin Airport. We’re serious – no foolin’ today. This loon was likely already performing reconnaissance flights to return to its territory.
The Blackpoll Warbler’s Daring Trans-Atlantic Migration
VCE has helped to document one of the most amazing feats of migration on the planet: the Blackpoll Warbler’s flight over the Atlantic Ocean non-stop for up to three days. Our research on the flights is published today in the journal Biology Letters.
The Invisible Boundaries of Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
Recently, journalists and photographers used a new generation drone that gave them impressive bird’s-eye view of the same sites they visited on foot two years ago when they first exposed the deforestation happening within the national park.
Spit and Survival Among Gray Jays
In this edition of VCE’s Outdoor Radio, Kent and Sara discuss, among other things, how Gray Jays use saliva to cache food and get through harsh winters.
A Big Birding Year in Windsor County
As part of the annual Vermont County Birding Quest, Windsor County, Vermont birders made history in 2014, putting up record numbers that may never again be matched.
Are Chickadee Nests the Key to an Effective Bumble Bee Nest Box?
Given that no effective bumble bee nest box exists in North America this is a call to action to flesh out the possibilities of this technique. You can help!
Over 1,000 New Ocean Fish Species
Over 1,000 new-to-science marine fish species have been described since 2008 – an average of more than 10 per month – according to scientists completing a consolidated inventory of all known ocean life.
February Photo-observation of the Month
Congratulations to Joshua Lincoln for winning the iNaturalist Vermont February photo-observation of the month contest.
A Field Guide to March 2015
On Friday, March 20th at 6:45 PM spring arrives in the north. While the sun may be predictable, March weather is not.
Ghosts from the Arctic
Like ghosts from the Arctic, snowy owls have descended from the far north this winter. They’re showing up in fields, along highways and even in a few backyards.
Bad Landing, Good Person
A lady from Michigan called to say she thought she had a loon land in her field and she put it in a box after chasing it down. But it wasn’t a loon…
Friday the 13th Brings Good Luck on Puerto Rico
Nearly a month into VCE’s Bicknell’s Thrush field surveys on Puerto Rico, our quarry has finally revealed itself.
