Bob Spear (1920-2014)
Long before your field guides and checklists, before bird apps and atlases, before nature centers and eBird, before VINS and VCE, there was Bob Spear. Bob died this week, leaving an incredible legacy for us all.
The Natural and UnNatural Life of Loons
VCE loon biologist, Eric Hanson, recently spoke to a crowd at our monthly Suds & Science series at the Norwich…
Take a Time Out for Turtles: Volunteers Needed for Nesting Beach Clean Up Day
The annual spiny softshell turtle beach cleanup day is on Saturday, October 21, and Vermont Fish & Wildlife is looking…
August iNaturalist Vermont Photo-observation Winner
To celebrate our wonderful plants and your amazing iNaturalist Vermont photo-observations, Sue Elliot, July’s winner, chose six wonderful photo-observations from…
‘Green wave’ explains migratory bird routes
1.7 million crowd-sourced bird checklists from eBird used to construct a detailed picture of species occurrence for each week of…
Field Report: Final 2014 Bird Banding on Mt. Mansfield
VCE wrapped up its 2014 mountain bird field season with an overnight visit to our Mt. Mansfield ridgeline study site…
Loons Post Record Year for Nesting Success, Bald Eagle Nesting Down
Vermont’s loon population had a record year for nesting success, producing 65 fledglings, or chicks that survived to leave the…
Loons on WCAX and Burlington Public Access Channel 17
The media likes a “feel-good” story and this summer they’ve picked up loons as a “good” topic. VCE biologist and…
A Sad Centennial
A sad 100th anniversary tomorrow. On September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon in the world, Martha, died in the…
After 90 Percent Decline, Federal Protection Sought for Monarch Butterfly
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety as co-lead petitioners joined by the Xerces Society and…
Do Non-Breeding, Single Loons Have Territories?
Last week, Chris Rimmer and I traveled to Lake Willoughby to meet with Carol Radic and Colm Darcy, who helped…
Notes from a Loon Necropsy
This story is not for the feint at heart, but I found Dr. Pokras’s quick note to me about this…
July iNaturalist Photo-observation of the Month Winner
National Moth Week was in July, so we made moths our iNaturalist Vermont observation of the month category. There were…
Laying the Groundwork for Loons in Fairlee and Fairfield
Back in July I presented a program on loons at the Lake Fairlee association annual meeting. We lined this up…
Vermont Atlas of Life BioBlitz Discovers New Species for Park
We found Dog Vomit Slime Mold (yeah, it’s real) and hundreds of other species. We counted any living thing we…
Mercury in the world’s oceans
Little was known about how much mercury in the environment was the result of human activities, or how much “bioavailable”…
A New Vermont Dragonfly
SALUTE THE FLAG. That dragonfly above is now a bit of Vermont natural history — the first Banded Pennant (Celethemis…
Maine IFW Seeks Comment On Proposed Changes To State Threatened And Endangered List
Public hearings set for August 4 in Portland and August 5 in Farmington; written comments accepted through August 15 AUGUSTA,…
Vote for the July iNaturalist Vermont Observation of the Month
National Moth Week was in July, so we made moths our iNaturalist Vermont observation of the month category. With over…
Bird Studies on Mt. Mansfield: 23 Years and Counting
Always a bittersweet summer milestone, VCE’s wrap-up visit to the Mt. Mansfield ridgeline in late July featured a quiet avian chorus…
June Observation of the Month
The June contest focused on observations submitted with sound recordings to celebrate the return of song to the forest and…
West Hill Pond- Fishing Line Loon
Vermont Loon Conservation Project (VLCP) volunteer, Melissa Perley, kayaked up to one of the resident loons on West Hill Pond…
Vermont Atlas of Life BioBlitz at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP
Part scientific endeavor, part festival, and part education, the BioBlitz at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park will bring together leading scientists,…
Vermont Loon Update 17 July 2014
Loonwatch day: The annual statewide loonwatch survey takes place this Saturday, July 19. Most of the high priority lakes are assigned…
Brute Force Biology Prevails on Mt. Mansfield
Steve Faccio and I were back on VCE’s Mt. Mansfield ridgeline study site earlier this week. It’s always hard to…
The Vermont Atlas of Life BioBlitz 2014!
Part scientific endeavor, part festival, and part education, the BioBlitz at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park will bring together leading scientists,…
Dominican Conservationists Gain a New Perspective
Few can lay claim to a close-and-personal encounter with a Bicknell’s Thrush on either its mountainous northern breeding grounds…
iNaturalist Vermont May Photo-observation Winner
The iNaturalist Vermont May photo-observation contest winner by popular vote was by Kent McFarland. His macro photograph of a Giant…
If You See It, Why Not e It?
Here a nice tutorial by John Acorn for beginners that want to add butterfly sightings to our new site, e-Butterfly.org….
Birding With Bigfoot?
The forests and fields of West Haven, Vermont, come alive when the sun sets, and calling Whip-poor-wills take center stage…
