• VCE Blog

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Week: Rough-legged Hawk

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Week: Rough-legged Hawk

    Keen birders have spotted the annual arrival of Rough-legged Hawk, a buteo of the north that winters here in Vermont….

    November eNews

    November eNews

    VCE’s eNews this month features articles on butterfly adaptation in winter, Snow Goose counts in Vermont, and “zombie leaves” on…

    Counting Snow Geese

    Counting Snow Geese

    By Ian Worley The first autumn snowfall in Vermont is the landing of Snow Geese in the Champlain Valley. This…

    The Last Butterfly

    The Last Butterfly

    For the past eight months they have flickered and fluttered among us – tiny flashes of red, orange, yellow and…

    Exposure to common herbicide could threaten global amphibian population

    Exposure to common herbicide could threaten global amphibian population

    Early-life exposure to the herbicide atrazine makes frogs more susceptible to death from chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), a fungal disease implicated…

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Week: Paper Birches

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Week: Paper Birches

    With the leaves dropping fast, the intricate peeling bark of birch trees becomes more noticeable. Many people don’t realize that…

    An Itinerant Avian Visitor from the South

    An Itinerant Avian Visitor from the South

    Two vagrant birds in a single season do not exactly constitute an “invasion”, but this October’s appearances of two White-eyed…

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Day: It's What the Fox Says

    Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Day: It’s What the Fox Says

    Fox Sparrows are coming to a feeder near you! Check out the Vermont eBird data from contributors like you. Some…

    Vermont Atlas of Life Photo-observation of the Month

    Vermont Atlas of Life Photo-observation of the Month

    Our September guest photo-editor, Andrée Sanborn, selected some amazing photos from over 2,000 observations submitted to the Vermont Atlas of…

    Zombie Leaves

    Zombie Leaves

    Yellow and brown and down to earth, they might appear dead. But they are not quite dead. They are the…

    Abscission and Marcescence in the Woods

    Abscission and Marcescence in the Woods

    Across the hillsides many deciduous trees have lost their leaves, but some still sport a full golden-brown canopy shining brightly….

    Help Us Map Red Oak Distribution Throughout Vermont

    Help Us Map Red Oak Distribution Throughout Vermont

    If you’ve driven interstate 91 through Vermont from the border of Massachusetts in the south to the international border in…

    Loon Defending Itself from an Eagle

    Loon Defending Itself from an Eagle

    With the increase in Bald Eagle activity in Vermont, confrontations and flyovers are becoming a more common sight. There were…

    Grassland bird experts seek solutions at national gathering

    Grassland bird experts seek solutions at national gathering

    This week leading grassland bird conservationists in the U.S. are wrangling with the drastic challenges faced by declining grassland bird…

    Vermont Vernal Pool Mapping Project: Results from the First Four Years

    Vermont Vernal Pool Mapping Project: Results from the First Four Years

    The Vermont Vernal Pool Mapping Project (VPMP) is an ongoing effort to map the location and distribution of vernal pools…

    Vermont Atlas of Life New Partner: Merck Forest and Farmland Center

    Vermont Atlas of Life New Partner: Merck Forest and Farmland Center

    We’d like to welcome Merck Forest and Farmland Center (MFFC) as the newest partner with the Vermont Atlas of Life….

    Help VCE Upgrade the Loon Nest-Warning Signs

    Help VCE Upgrade the Loon Nest-Warning Signs

    Hearing the ghostly call of the loon coming through the evening mist is one of the quintessential experiences of being…

    Another Record Year for Loons in Vermont

    Another Record Year for Loons in Vermont

    We feel like a skipping record saying, “it’s another record year,” but it was yet again! Thank you volunteers and…

    Studies report leading causes of bird deaths in Canada

    Studies report leading causes of bird deaths in Canada

    From cats to communications towers, the current issue of Avian Conservation and Ecology lays out the 9 leading sources of…

    VCE Presents 2013 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    VCE Presents 2013 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    Dave Hoag, a life-long resident of Grand Isle, is a man of few words but myriad natural history accomplishments. He’d rather talk about winged creatures than himself any day.

    VCE and Birds Brave the Elements on Final 2013 Mansfield Foray

    VCE and Birds Brave the Elements on Final 2013 Mansfield Foray

    After nearly two months away from our favorite mountain haunt, VCE staff could hardly resist a final Mt. Mansfield “fix”. …

    Turn Red or You're Dead

    Turn Red or You’re Dead

    I have often wondered why on one hillside the trees have muted autumn colors, while nearby on another they are…

    Mountain Birdwatch Season Opening- Magalloway Mountain (3 June 2013)

    Mountain Birdwatch Season Opening- Magalloway Mountain (3 June 2013)

    The Mountain Birdwatch season opened on June 1, and I confess, I’ve been counting down the days for weeks.  Months,…

    Tallying Birds County by County: Results of the Vermont County eBird Quest 2012

    Tallying Birds County by County: Results of the Vermont County eBird Quest 2012

    From the drop of the ball on January 1 to the last owl hoot on December 31, hundreds of birders…

    VCE Presents the 2012 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    VCE Presents the 2012 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    Citizen scientist Kevin Hemeon plans to continue his contributions to citizen science projects for as long as he can swing a net and hoist a pair of binoculars.

    TALLYING BIRDS COUNTY BY COUNTY:  RESULTS OF THE VERMONT COUNTY BIRD QUEST 2011

    TALLYING BIRDS COUNTY BY COUNTY: RESULTS OF THE VERMONT COUNTY BIRD QUEST 2011

    The past year was an historic one for birding in Vermont. From January 1 to December 31, 2011, hundreds of…

    VCE Presents the 2011 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    VCE Presents the 2011 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    From his urban roots in New Jersey to his life in rural Vermont, citizen scientist Ed Hack has maintained a love of nature and a steadfast commitment
    to participation in a wide array of citizen science projects.

    VCE Presents the 2010 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    VCE Presents the 2010 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    For more than 30 years, Ruth Stewart has been an avid student of natural history, an environmental advocate, conservationist, citizen scientist, and teacher.

    VCE Announces 2009 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    VCE Announces 2009 Julie Nicholson Citizen Scientist Award

    Roy Pilcher has arguably volunteered more time, logged more miles, and expended more energy than anyone in the past quarter century to advance bird and wildlife conservation in Vermont.