![Blackpolls Abound as VCE Launches Year #30 on Mansfield](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BLPW_Collage-280x200.jpg)
Blackpolls Abound as VCE Launches Year #30 on Mansfield
VCE’s first 2021 foray to Mt. Mansfield marks our 30th year of monitoring the ridgeline’s montane forest breeding birds. Banding highlights included a bounty of Blackpoll Warblers, 7 Bicknell’s Thrushes (5 from previous years), and our first-ever Veery capture.
![Mansfield Wrap-up: Bountiful Migrants and a Venerable Thrush](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Avery-Clothesline-280x200.jpg)
Mansfield Wrap-up: Bountiful Migrants and a Venerable Thrush
VCE’s 2020 wrap-up banding session on Mt. Mansfield may have been our most memorable. It yielded an impressive diversity of birds, including our first-ever Western Palm Warbler and a truly venerable 10 year-old Bicknell’s Thrush.
![Mansfield Update: YBFLs, NSWOs, and FOYs](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Blackpoll-Warbler-04-280x200.jpg)
Mansfield Update: YBFLs, NSWOs, and FOYs
VCE’s penultimate 2020 summer banding session on Mt. Mansfield featured another diminutive owl, several first-of-year captures, and 2 new Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, bringing our seasonal total to 14 for this species, a station record.
![Mansfield Update: Owls, Cones and Crossbills](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Northern-Saw-whet-Owl-02-Pair-280x200.jpg)
Mansfield Update: Owls, Cones and Crossbills
VCE’s capture of two juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls was the undisputed highlight of our week 7 banding session on Mt. Mansfield. This species’ occurrence in montane forests reflects a complex and fascinating ecological phenomenon related to cyclical production of balsam fir cones.
![Mansfield Update: Returning Sharpies and Thrushes](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Jacqueline-Swainsons-Thrush-Release-280x200.jpg)
Mansfield Update: Returning Sharpies and Thrushes
With only three weeks before VCE’s 2020 banding season on Mt. Mansfield wraps up, free-flying juveniles, molting adults and wandering post-breeders were highlights, along with a 4+ year-old returning Sharp-shinned Hawk.
![The Masked Banders of Mansfield](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Avery-Bicknells-Thrush-Michael-Sargent-280x200.jpg)
The Masked Banders of Mansfield
VCE’s 29th year of banding birds on the Mt. Mansfield ridgeline now finds staff and visitors sporting masks, a concession to safety in the COVID era. Our enthusiasm remains undiminished.
![Sharpies, PUFI and Blackpolls: Week 3 on Mt. Mansfield](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sharpie_claws_CMG2345-copy-280x200.jpg)
Sharpies, PUFI and Blackpolls: Week 3 on Mt. Mansfield
VCE’s third weekly banding session of 2020 on Mt. Mansfield featured a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a ‘PUFIgeddon’ of Purple Finches, several non-locally breeding warblers, and a resurgence in Blackpoll Warbler numbers. And, transport via ATVs appears to have been relegated to a memory.
![VCE's 29th Season on Mansfield off to an Unusual Start](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mansfield-ATV-4Jun20-CGangas-280x200.jpg)
VCE’s 29th Season on Mansfield off to an Unusual Start
ATVs, sleeping in a parking lot at 3900-ft elevation under the full moon, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. These and more highlighted an unusual start to VCE’s 29th consecutive field season of studying birds on Mt. Mansfield’s ridgeline.
![Fir Mast and Winter Weather Drives Survival in a Montane Forest Bird Species](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/BITH-closeup-Marc-Faucher-280x200.jpg)
Fir Mast and Winter Weather Drives Survival in a Montane Forest Bird Species
Recently published VCE paper describes unexpected findings in the quest to understand how environmental processes shape the population dynamics of Bicknell’s Thrush throughout their annual cycle.
![A mid-sized brown, speckled bird (Bicknell's Thrush) sings atop an evergreen branch.](https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/VCE_2016_1_BITH-singing-1793-280x200.jpg)
Mercury in the Mountains: VCE Research Yields More Questions than Answers
VCE’s recently published paper from our long-term research on mercury accumulation in montane forest birds describes unexpected results.