Black-throated Blue Warbler singing upon arrival in May. © Kent McFarland
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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.
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Neighborly Mining Bee (Andrena vicina) © Spencer Hardy
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Historically, VCE’s spring fundraiser has been a birdathon, in which VCE staff and supporters spent a day recording as many birds as we could find. Why would we change it up this year? Well, birds comprise less than 3% of Vermont's known species, yet they comprise 89% of the 7.9 million records in the Vermont Atlas of Life (VAL). Those 7 million avian entries in VAL provide a robust scientific basis for countless conservation decisions. Imagine if bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, and other winged species received that kind of attention, and think of the fuel those data would provide for their conservation!
So this year, VCE’s staff will spend 24 hours counting every winged creature we can find in Groton State Forest. Do you think we can find 200 species? We sure hope so! You can even check out our progress on our iNaturalist project page.
Make a difference for conservation today!
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However you choose to participate in Biothon: Wings Over Vermont, you are supporting VCE’s biodiversity research, monitoring, and community engagement programs. Thank you!
We can't wait to see all the winged wonders we discover together this May!
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Take the VCE Summer Yard and
Garden Projects Survey
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A Great Spangled Fritillary © Desiree Narango
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Spring is here! If you’re like us, you’re more than ready for warmer weather so you can get out in your yard and start gardening. Spring also means we’re gearing up for this summer's field season!
This year, we're conducting a few new projects involving pollinators and songbirds in yards and gardens across Vermont, New Hampshire, and beyond. One of our new projects will evaluate plant-insect interactions in different managed green spaces like residential yards, community gardens, and nature trails.
But we need your help! We’re looking for participants willing to volunteer their time and/or yards to these efforts. Participation could involve:
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using iNaturalist to collect data on plants, pollinators, and caterpillars in your yard using a simple survey protocol;
- allowing VCE interns to make periodic, scheduled visits to collect data;
- filling out a 20-minute survey about your yard characteristics and management behavior, and provide feedback on your experience; or...
...you could do all three!
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Mountain Birdwatch Survey Routes are Available! |
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Mountain Birdwatch community scientists in their element. Photos courtesy of VCE's archive. |
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Whether you’re a hiker that likes to bird or a birder that likes to hike, we could use your help conducting Mountain Birdwatch surveys this June. These surveys give us crucial information about the health of bird populations that live in high-altitude spruce-fir forests—the highest occurring forest community in the northeastern U.S.
The protocol is simple. You only have to monitor 10 bird species (including Bicknell’s Thrush and White-throated Sparrow), and you can conduct your survey on any day in June with fair weather. Check out this interactive map to see what routes are available for adoption in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, or the Adirondacks. You don’t have to be an expert—just enthusiastic.
Reach out to VCE biologist Jason Hill (jhill@vtecostudies.org) for more information, and until then, hike mountains, count birds, and be merry.
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Whip-poor-will Survey Volunteers Needed |
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Whip-poor-will volunteers pause to listen. © Kent McFarland
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If you venture outside on a warm spring evening, luck may grace your ears with an Eastern Whip-poor-will's distinctive call. Once common throughout the Northeast, this species is listed as "Threatened" in Vermont due to declining habitat.
By volunteering for VCE's Eastern Whip-poor-will Project, you will collect valuable data that will help us track population trends and identify where this species is still abundant. Participating is easy and open to all, from enthusiasts to experts. With their loud, easily-identifiable call, Whip-poor-wills are hard to miss. And you're likely to hear other Vermont nocturnal wildlife, too!
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Thinking About Spraying for Ticks in Your Yard? |
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American Dog Ticks © Brendan Burke |
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Then let us come survey your property this summer to count ticks, butterflies, and bees. We’re launching a new backyard tick research project in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, and we’re looking for upwards of 50 properties to join our study.
If you have your property chemically sprayed for ticks with either traditional pesticides or organic essential oils, then we will biologically survey your property before and immediately after the companies spray your yard. If you don’t have your property sprayed, that’s OK too—we can still survey your property, which will serve as part of our statistical control group for this study.
We're interested in understanding the effects of these chemicals on tick abundance in
your yard, but we also want to understand if they unintentionally impact beneficial insects like bumble bees. Our surveys will take less than one hour to complete, and we’ll come mid-day with plenty of advanced notice and coordination with you.
We’ll share all of our data with you, too, so that you can make informed decisions about future tick control measures on your property. Property owners with all types of yards are welcome to participate throughout the Upper Valley. Reach out to VCE biologist Jason Hill (jhill@vtecostudies.org) to learn more.) to learn more. Thank you!
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Community scientists participate in a grassland bird workshop. © Liza Morse |
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Join us in the field to learn more about VCE's work directly from our staff scientists. There's still space on a few of our small-group field trips this summer, and we want you to participate! Visit VCE's website to learn more about these free field trips and reserve your spot(s).
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Birding on Monhegan Island |
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Monhegan Island © Bryan Pfeiffer |
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Ten miles off Maine's mid-coast, songbirds pour from the skies at dawn on Monhegan Island. Whales feed offshore, and monarch butterflies stop to find rare nectar at sea. After a three-year hiatus, VCE is once again offering a very special, four-day birding trip to Monhegan Island! We invite you to join us to experience the fall migration spectacle this September. Learn more and register for this trip here.
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Photo-observation of the Month
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
by iNaturalist user linxlookin
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A rare Yellow-crowned Night-Heron perches in the sun in a Winooski wetland. © iNat user @linxlookin |
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Congratulations to iNaturalist user linxlookin for winning the April 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Their photo of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, a Vermont rarity, received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month. You can learn more about this species and see photos of this month's runners-up on the VCE blog.
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The Vermont Center for Ecostudies promotes wildlife conservation across the Americas using the combined strength of scientific research and community engagement. Find us online at vtecostudies.org
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