Mansfield Update: A Bird in the Bag is Worth Two in the Net
It was a slow night on Mansfield this week, that turned into an incredibly foggy but productive morning. Click to read the first-hand account from our communications assistant, who joined us this week.
VCE’s Bicknell’s Thrush Work Recognized with Prestigious Award
VCE’s 30+ years of Bicknell’s Thrush work was recently recognized by the Wilson Ornithological Society, which awarded us the prestigious Margaret Morse Nice Medal at its annual meeting in Santa Fe, NM. Nice’s pioneering studies of Song Sparrows in her Ohio backyard during the 1930s set the benchmark for “longitudinal” avian population research, an approach VCE has embodied through our hemispheric work on Bicknell’s Thrush.
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.
June 2022 Photo-observation of the Month
Congratulations to Levi Smith for winning the June 2022 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of a charmingly-patterned lady beetle received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.
Loon Update July 2022
We’re absolutely wailing that loon season is halfway over already, but so much has happened since we started monitoring our lakes this spring. As of June 30, we have confirmed 96 nests, 34 successful nests, 14 failed nests, and 47 chicks in the state.
Evolution in Spatial Tracking of Bicknell’s Thrush
In VCE’s 30+ years of Bicknell’s Thrush (BITH) research, we’ve used many different methods to unlock the species’ ecological secrets. We’re talking tissue samples, nest cameras, and a myriad of…
Field Guide to July 2022
‘Tis the season for summer foraging! June has passed, with its delicious wild strawberries and serviceberries. July is ushered in, bringing wild blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, along with some non-berry foraging opportunities–true Chanterelles (Cantharellus sp.). Start the month here.
Predicting the Forests of Tomorrow with the Observations of Today
Michael T. Hallworth Nearly 14,000 different species have been observed in Vermont, and with new ones being reported almost daily this time of year, there are likely many more out…
Fairy Shrimp Survey Results in New Species for Vermont
Results from our pilot Fairy Shrimp survey this spring doubled the number of species known in Vermont…from one to two. Previously, the Knob-lipped Fairy Shrimp (Eubranchipus bundyi) was the only…
Tags Keep Coming on Mansfield, and from Quebec
VCE’s ground-breaking study of GPS-tagged Bicknell’s Thrush yielded more exciting results on 14-15 June, with the recovery of an additional 5 backpacks from Mt. Mansfield, and the addition of 3 tags retrieved in Quebec.
Field Guide to June 2022
Spring ephemerals have begun to fade, and baby critters abound—June has arrived, and summer is hot on its heels. Across the landscape, wildlife dramas large and small unfold. Warm breezes carry away the last memories of winter frost. June has much to offer, from tapeworms using mind-control to Eastern Cottonwoods shedding their downy seeds. Start the month off here.
Backpacking Thrushes Return to Mansfield
VCE’s first Mansfield banding session of 2022 exceeded all expectations, as we recovered 5 of 36 GPS tags that we affixed to adult Bicknell’s Thrush last summer. Preliminary data from these birds–all males–show that 4 individuals overwintered in the Dominican Republic, 1 on Cuba, and that 3 birds undertook early spring movements of 25-185 km prior to northward migration.
