2024 Loon Season Summary
Well, folks, it’s that time of year. Lakes are freezing over, and the season of loon rescues, raft building, and watchful monitoring has drawn to a close. Here’s a recap of what our team of biologists and more than 350 dedicated volunteers found this year.
2024 Field Season in Review
Wow, what a field season! Do we feel like that every year at VCE? Truthfully, yes, but this year is one for the books.
Weekly Reflections from a Summer at VCE
Working with VCE this summer has been immensely rewarding, seeing the animals I love in person and seeing how environmental disturbance affects them in real life. Birds hold a special place in my heart (I have a somewhat unattainable goal of seeing every species in North America before I die), and I’m proud to say I added 42 new birds to my Life List this summer.
Lead Poisoning and a Love Triangle: A Tale of One Common Loon’s Brush with Death
Nothing prepares you for your first close encounter with an injured loon. Thanks to countless individuals, this loon’s tale has a happy ending. However, its journey touched many, demonstrating that conservation on all scales requires a village of curious, passionate people.
Field Guide to June 2024
Here in Vermont, we dream of June during the darkest days of January. Verdant wooded hillsides glowing brightly under a robin egg sky. Warm afternoon breezes roll through the valleys as we lounge by the clear waters of a cold river. Choruses of birds wake us each morning. The smell of freshly cut grass wafts through the window. Enjoy this guide to some of the month’s delights as the dream of June comes true.
VCE Internship Supports the Future of Ecology
As an organization that strives to “unite people and science for conservation,” we recognize that to become stronger and more resilient, we must create a culture that embraces diversity and fosters inclusivity. With that goal in mind, VCE launched our Future Ecologists internship in 2022.
2023 Loon Field Season Summary
Well folks, it’s that time of year, and the 2023 field season is officially behind us. What a year it was, filled with loon chick rescues, raft building, dedicated volunteers, and historic flooding throughout the state. Here is a 2023 recap of everything loon.
A Tale of Two Loon Chick Rescues
This past summer VCE was involved in two very different loon chick rescues with very different outcomes. Although these ordeals did not have a lot in common, they each had dedicated and caring volunteers, willing to use their time and resources to help these birds.
The Caretakers: Reflections from 40 Years of Loon Volunteers
Loon conservation in Vermont is as much a story of people as it is of birds. From the most disheartening days of the state’s loon census in the 1980s through the incredible recovery we’re witnessing today, VCE volunteers on the Vermont Loon Conservation Project have been the beating heart of the stewardship effort.
Field Guide to July 2023
The avian breeding season is winding down. Even a few southbound shorebirds will trickle through the region this month on their “fall” migration. But as the dawn bird chorus fades from northern woodlands, fields and wetlands erupt in the sparkle and drama of summer insects. Here’s a short guide to some of the other glitter now on the wing.
