Field Guide to April 2024
As grays and browns permeate the muddy landscape of late spring, summer colors lie just beneath the surface, almost ready to bloom. Strolling through your neighborhood or favorite woodland in April, you may begin to notice flashy dapples of the season’s first wildflowers. The trees around you will start to reverberate with birdsong while the ponds echo with choruses of Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers. If you’re lucky, you may even catch the buzz of an early-season bee as it forages. Here’s our guide to some of the new life bursting forth this month.
VCE is Abuzz with High-impact Bee Work
For over a decade, VCE has been positively buzzing with activity, surveying far and wide for bee species across the state. Our efforts kicked off with the Bumblebee Atlas in 2012 and reached a crescendo in 2022 with the State of Vermont’s Wild Bees report. Little did we know that this would start a multi-state ripple of pollinator work.
VAL Director Provides Testimony on Proposed Neonicotinoid Ban
On February 9, 2024, VCE Conservation Biologist and Vermont Atlas of Life Director Kent McFarland provided testimony to the Vermont State Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry Committee on H.706, a bill requiring restrictions on neonicotinoids. What follows is the text from the written testimony.
Field Guide to October 2023
The month of October reminds us of the cyclical nature of life. Like spring, autumn is a season of change. The forested hills fade from summer emerald to a watercolor painting of red and gold and brown. Here’s your field guide to some moments that you might not otherwise notice during these few precious weeks that feature colored hills beneath a deep blue sky, with the calls of migrating geese high overhead and the last Monarchs gliding silently southward.
Bumblebee Photographed in Backyard is a New Species for Vermont
It took a photo, a drawing, a naturalist’s boundless curiosity, and bee experts from across the nation for Vermont to claim a new bumblebee species for the state last week.
How I Became a Bee Expert
The summer after I graduated high school, I found a dream job. Kent Mcfarland had just launched the Vermont Bumble Bee Atlas and needed help tracking down Bumble Bees throughout the state.
Field Guide to May 2023
The month of May is a show-off. Grass glows green under the deep blue sky. Woodland wildflowers jump out of the ground. Trees flower, and leaves burst from long-dormant buds. Birds arrive on southern night winds and liven the dawn with their chorus. May shouts of life and rejuvenation. Here’s your monthly guide to some of this month’s delights.
Gardening for Bees
A guide this spring, for the do’s and don’ts of backyard gardening if you want to attract native bees.
Field Guide to November 2022
With November comes a stronger nip to the morning air and the rushed activity of wildlife either preparing for their winter stay or leaving Vermont for their winter location. There is a sense of fall finality as the last deciduous trees drop their leaves. November also hails some of Vermont’s winter migrants, coming just in time to catch the first flakes. Learn more in our Field Guide to November.
Field Guide to October 2022
October is a memorable month for many reasons. The leaves change from summer emerald to autumn auburn and gold. Creatures of all sizes flit and scurry as they prepare for winter. And people’s homes become adorned with carved pumpkins, cackling witches, and looming ghosts. This field guide highlights a handful of Vermont’s Halloween-themed biodiversity in honor of the season. But beware—some of nature’s marvels can be frightful.
ECO Americorps Members Reflect on Their Time at VCE
ECO Americorps members Abbie Castriotta and Julia Pupko reflect on their term here at VCE. Abbie has been involved with multiple invertebrate studies, and has even created regional field guides for VCE. Julia has been working on the Lady Beetle Atlas project, surveying the entire state. She has even discovered several new species of Lady Beetle during her time here.
Meet Vermont’s Newest Endangered Species
The latest Vermont Endangered and Threatened species list celebrated the recovery of Bald Eagles and the Canada Black Snakeroot, while five new species and three critical habitats were added. Learn about the newest members of the list that will need our help for their recovery.
