Counting Snow Geese
By Ian Worley The first autumn snowfall in Vermont is the landing of Snow Geese in the Champlain Valley. This year these white wonders have been few and far between,…
The Last Butterfly
For the past eight months they have flickered and fluttered among us – tiny flashes of red, orange, yellow and blue floating above hayfields and dancing in flower gardens: Spring…
Exposure to common herbicide could threaten global amphibian population
Early-life exposure to the herbicide atrazine makes frogs more susceptible to death from chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), a fungal disease implicated in amphibian declines around the globe. The research, Early-life exposure…
Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Week: Paper Birches
With the leaves dropping fast, the intricate peeling bark of birch trees becomes more noticeable. Many people don’t realize that we have two types of paper birch in Vermont, Paper…
An Itinerant Avian Visitor from the South
Two vagrant birds in a single season do not exactly constitute an “invasion”, but this October’s appearances of two White-eyed Vireos in Vermont’s Upper Valley have been remarkable. While birding…
Vermont Atlas of Life Map of the Day: It’s What the Fox Says
Fox Sparrows are coming to a feeder near you! Check out the Vermont eBird data from contributors like you. Some are now showing up in the Champlain Valley and soon…
Vermont Atlas of Life Photo-observation of the Month
Our September guest photo-editor, Andrée Sanborn, selected some amazing photos from over 2,000 observations submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life during September. The most popular photo-observation by vote was…
Zombie Leaves
Yellow and brown and down to earth, they might appear dead. But they are not quite dead. They are the undead: zombie aspen leaves. Find them as you walk the…
Abscission and Marcescence in the Woods
Across the hillsides many deciduous trees have lost their leaves, but some still sport a full golden-brown canopy shining brightly. Most of these are oak or beech trees. They have…
Help Us Map Red Oak Distribution Throughout Vermont
If you’ve driven interstate 91 through Vermont from the border of Massachusetts in the south to the international border in the north with an eye on the trees along the…
Loon Defending Itself from an Eagle
With the increase in Bald Eagle activity in Vermont, confrontations and flyovers are becoming a more common sight. There were at least two chicks taken by eagles this year in…
Grassland bird experts seek solutions at national gathering
This week leading grassland bird conservationists in the U.S. are wrangling with the drastic challenges faced by declining grassland bird populations. In a symposium at The Wildlife Society’s national annual…
