Team VCE-BIOECO Perseveres on Cuba’s Pico Turquino
VCE’s late January field expedition into the rugged Sierra Maestra mountains of eastern Cuba featured abnormally high rainfall, majestic cloud forests, grueling pre-dawn hikes, lively interactions with our Cuban partners, and… 7 Bicknell’s Thrushes. As always with this enigmatic songbird, more questions were raised than answered, but VCE’s work to clarify the species’ overwinter status on Cuba is making solid progress.
Seeking Puerto Rican Birds in the Wake of Hurricane Maria
After scouring the island of Puerto Rico for Bicknell’s Thrush (BITH) with our partners from Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña (SOPI) during the winters of 2015-16 and turning up only 11 birds, VCE figured our work there was largely done. Then Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck this past September.
A Tale of Two Recoveries
It’s extremely rare that banded birds are recovered or re-sighted outside of the immediate area in which they were banded. Imagine VCE’s surprise and excitement upon learning of two “foreign” band recoveries in 2017.
Memories of a Summer Bird Banding on Mt. Mansfield
Nate Launer, VCE’s 2017 Alexander Dickey Conservation Intern, shares his reflections on banding birds at our long-term study site on Mt. Mansfield. After five overnight field trips in July and early August, Nate gained proficiency in handling and banding small songbirds like Bicknell’s Thrush and Blackpoll Warbler.
Humans and Songbirds Meet Up on Mt. Mansfield
VCE’s 11-12 July field trip to Mt. Mansfield featured favorable weather and plentiful mist net captures. Banding highlights included the season’s first Winter Wren (it’s astounding how tiny these birds are, given the volume of their song!) and Magnolia Warbler, and free-flying juveniles of 3 species. The human element of this trip was especially rewarding, with a 10 year-old and his grandfather, our two summer interns, and several other enthusiastic visitors.
VCE’s 26th Year on Mt. Mansfield Off to a Wet Start
VCE’s 26th consecutive field season on Mt. Mansfield has been so far hampered by wet weather, but neither the birds or our resolve to monitor them have been affected. Our second visit of the young season yielded many mist net captures of birds banded in previous years, underscoring the value of this long-term demographic study.
VCE Teams Up with Lawson’s Finest on Bit o’ Balsam Beer
Join us at Mad River Glen on June 17 for a celebration to launch Bit o’ Balsam American IPA, LFL’s brand new beer featuring wild-crafted Balsam Fir tips harvested at high elevations in the Green Mountains with proceeds going to Bicknell’s Thrush conservation.
VCE Awarded 2017 TechGrant
From birds to bumble bees, salamanders to swallowtails, VCE biologists harness the power of technology to help solve complex wildlife conservation issues. A 2017 TechGrant award from the TechFoundation will now enable us to accomplish even more.
VCE’s Cuba Expedition a Resounding Success
VCE’s inaugural field trip to Cuba may not have yielded many Bicknell’s Thrush (2, to be exact), but it laid a strong foundation for our future work on this captivating island. We forged a promising partnership with our sister institute BIOECO, made many great friends, learned the ropes of conducting field there, and, yes, managed to see half of Cuba’s 26 endemics.
Cuba Next on VCE’s Horizon
Cuba is on VCE’s horizon, as Chris Rimmer and John Lloyd venture this week to the island’s eastern tip, in search of overwintering Bicknell’s Thrush. Backpacking to cloud forests of Sierra Maestra, where Fidel Castro famously hid out in the 1950s, and then venturing east to the serpentine forests of Humboldt National Park, they expect to find some thrushes, and a good number of Cuba’s 26 endemic birds.
