2023 Field Season Project Summaries
Wow, what a field season! Do we feel like that every year at VCE? Truthfully, yes, but this year is one for the books.
VCE Wraps 32 Years on Mansfield with a Flourish
It’s impossible to keep VCE biologists away from Mt. Mansfield’s ridgeline, even after 32 years. Following a summer of record wet weather, VCE’s annual fall pilgrimage to the mountain yielded 183 mist net captures, including a fat-encased female Blackpoll Warbler about to undertake her 5th nonstop transoceanic fall migration to northern South America.
Mansfield Update: VCE Interns Reflect on a Summer on the Mountain
An essay on our summer interns’ final trip to Mount Mansfield, written by two of the interns themselves, Emily Marple and Julia Stahl.
Dodging Downpours on Mansfield
Dodging downpours and sitting out showers has become routine for VCE’s Mansfield banding team this summer. Yet, astonishing discoveries keep on coming, most recently via a GPS-tagged female Bicknell’s Thrush who returned to the exact same territory In Cuba’s remote cloud forest in consecutive winters.
The Road (that Used to Be) Less Traveled: Off-trail Hiking, The Catskills and Montane Birds
Historically, bushwhackers had to be highly skilled at backcountry orienteering to summit trailless peaks. In the age of the internet however, the hurdles to bushwhacking are considerably lower, and there are many websites with accessible step-by-step route instructions for anyone with a smartphone to use. This is all too obvious in the nearby Catskill Mountains.
Baby Birds and Bicknell’s Backpacks
This week marked the beginning of a very exciting time of the summer–when we start catching fledgling baby birds!
Mansfield Continues to Provide New Experiences, New Surprises, and New Research!
This week Mansfield provided beautiful weather and cooperative birds for week four. A crew of myself, Chris Rimmer, Melory Brandao, Kevin Tolan, Nathaniel Sharp, and Chris Hansen trekked up the mountain for two days. We were joined by new VCE intern Natalie DeVito, who is joining us for the summer between her semesters at Brown University.
Mansfield’s Ridgeline Lures VCE Back for Season #32
One could argue that after 31 years of studying Mt. Mansfield’s ridgeline breeding birds, the time has come to seek new horizons. Well, sorry, that’s just not the VCE way. We launched season #32 on May 31, taking advantage of unseasonably summerlike weather to capture a total of 58 birds.
Further Adventures in the D.R.: On the Trailless Trail of the Bicknell’s Thrush
Part two of our DR trip brought us north to Reserva Privada Zorzal. This one-of-its-kind preserve hosts an entirely different assemblage of species and provided our crew with opportunities to attach a few more GPS tags.
Field Report: Playing “Tag” with Bicknell’s Thrush in the Dominican Republic
A VCE team recently traveled to the Dominican Republic to tag overwintering Bicknell’s Thrushes in the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, with colleagues from Grupo Jaragua. Executive Director Susan Hindinger recounts the experience, which was her first trip to the Dominican Republic and Director-emeritus Chris Rimmer’s 50th+/-.
A Soggy Wrap to VCE’s 2022 Mansfield Season
VCE’s final Mt. Mansfield banding session of 2022 may have been a wash-out, but we captured a fat-encased Blackpoll Warbler ready for its astounding transoceanic southward flight, and we reflected on a highly successful season overall, with 17 GPS tags recovered from Bicknell’s Thrush.
VCE Mansfield Summer Season Wraps Up Quietly
VCE’s final Mt. Mansfield field session of summer 2022 featured a paucity of mist net captures, several heavily molting adult birds, and a welcome chance to mentor the next generation of bird banders.
