Mount Mansfield 2024 Midseason Report
With six trips up to Mount Mansfield’s peak and five trips to Mount Washington under our belts, VCE’s banding team is well into our summer 2024 montane bird banding and monitoring efforts! Battling rain, wind, chill, and scorching heat has been the baseline for this summer, but although perfect weather has been elusive, the birds we seek have not.
Field Guide to May 2024
The month of May is a show-off. Birds arrive on southern winds and liven the dawn with their chorus. Trees flower, and leaves burst from long-dormant buds. As pools and lakes awaken with new life, woodland wildflowers jump out of the ground to attract the attention of butterflies. Here’s your monthly guide to a month that shouts of life and rejuvenation.
VCE Wraps 32 Years on Mansfield with a Flourish
It’s impossible to keep VCE biologists away from Mt. Mansfield’s ridgeline, even after 32 years. Following a summer of record wet weather, VCE’s annual fall pilgrimage to the mountain yielded 183 mist net captures, including a fat-encased female Blackpoll Warbler about to undertake her 5th nonstop transoceanic fall migration to northern South America.
A Soggy Wrap to VCE’s 2022 Mansfield Season
VCE’s final Mt. Mansfield banding session of 2022 may have been a wash-out, but we captured a fat-encased Blackpoll Warbler ready for its astounding transoceanic southward flight, and we reflected on a highly successful season overall, with 17 GPS tags recovered from Bicknell’s Thrush.
VCE Mansfield Summer Season Wraps Up Quietly
VCE’s final Mt. Mansfield field session of summer 2022 featured a paucity of mist net captures, several heavily molting adult birds, and a welcome chance to mentor the next generation of bird banders.
Non-Locals Surprise Banders on Mansfield as VCE Winds Down Season #31
The Mansfield ridgeline may be a far quieter place than it was a month ago, but there is never a shortage of avian surprises to be found. As VCE wraps up its 31st consecutive field season on the mountain, our mist nets produced more than one unexpected capture.
Biologists and Bicknell’s Both Tote Backpacks on Mansfield
The VCE banding crew donned backpacks on July 6 for its ascent up Mt. Mansfield, following the toll road’s closure from a heavy rain wash-out. We gained a new appreciation for backpack-toting Bicknell’s Thrushes, and we recaptured a third GPS-tagged female, our 17th tag recovery overall. Two mist-netted Northern Saw-whet Owls were crowd pleasers.
Kinglets Rain on Mansfield Ridgeline as VCE Wraps Season #30
Tiny feathered gems–Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets–filled VCE’s mist nets and ushered in the autumnal equinox on Mt. Mansfield to conclude our 30th field season on the ridgeline. Among 222 birds captured and banded over 3 days, kinglets accounted for 101, but they weren’t the only notable migrants we encountered.
Birds, Bees, and Trees: A Summer Working for VCE
From long days spent in wooded hillsides to early mornings on top of Mt. Mansfield, it was a busy—but exciting—summer for VCE’s 2021 Alexander Dickey Conservation Intern.
Non-locals Light Up VCE Nets on Mansfield
VCE’s final summer banding session on Mt. Mansfield featured a striking–and puzzling–absence of locally-breeding birds but a strong showing by non-local warblers and our first-ever Northern Flicker.
