Give ‘Em Space: Observe Nesting Loons from a Distance
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is asking boaters and anglers to enjoy loons from a safe distance this summer.
VCE Vlog: Field Update from the Great North Woods
VCE Director of Science John Lloyd recently emerged from the Great North Woods long enough to seek out a WiFi signal to share this brief update from the field. All of us here at VCE were relieved to see that the mosquitoes had not yet carried him away.
Grassland Ambassadors: Laughing Brook Farm
The Bobolink’s bubbly song has filled the summer fields of Julia and Greg Smist’s 100-acre farm in Westminster, VT for at least 30 years. A decade or so after buying the farm, Julia noticed fewer Bobolinks in the fields. Her observations echo a grim region-wide statistic: Bobolinks have declined by 75% in the region over the past 50 years.
Lead Fishing Tackle Detrimental to NH Loon Population
A recent study of mortality in New Hampshire loons over 24 years reveals that ingestion of lead fishing gear (primarily jigs and sinkers) is the leading cause of death among adults. This troubling discovery helped spur a regulatory ban on sale and use of lead tackle, and lead-caused loon mortality rates have since declined statewide.
VCE Awarded 2018 TechGrant
VCE’s scientists continually seek to incorporate emerging technologies to enhance their data gathering and analysis capabilities, and thanks to a generous 2018 TechGrant award from the TechFoundation, VCE’s Vernal Pool Monitoring Project will benefit from such a technological boost.
Success: Crossing Boundaries for Conservation
VCE announces finalization of the Strategic Conservation Plan for Sierra de Bahoruco National Park in the Dominican Republic. The plan, which VCE helped to both fund and facilitate, aims to preserve the park’s unique forested habitats for the benefit of plants, wildlife, and humans alike.
Habitat Selection with a Twist: A Story of Two Opportunistic Loons
VCE summer intern Kirsti Carr recounts her unexpected discovery of a long-abandoned swimming raft that a Common Loon pair used for nesting on Chandler Pond in 2017. She and her Vermont Loon Recovery Project team rehabilitated the raft – easily Vermont’s largest – in late July and hope that the loo pair will approve of its new, improved home for continued successful nesting in 2018.
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.
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.
Kent McFarland Receives 2016 Sally Laughlin Award
At VCE’s annual holiday celebration on December 6, our very own Kent McFarland received the first-ever Sally Laughlin Award for the Conservation of Endangered and Threatened Species. ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz presented the award, and Sally Laughlin – who inspired it – was there to share the special moment.
