eNews | December 2022
A snowy Vermont forest © Kent McFarland
A Field Guide to December
Fear not; during these short days and long nights of December, there’s still plenty of life in the fading light. Once we pass the winter solstice, which strikes at precisely 4:47 PM on December 21st, more light will creep back. Until then, here’s some wintry natural history to keep you going.

Click here to read the full field guide to December.
VAL Gets a "Boost"
Kent McFarland pauses while surveying for butterflies. © Nathaniel Sharp
For over a decade, VCE has been a leader in discovering and monitoring biodiversity. With the help of a legion of community scientists, VCE’s Vermont Atlas of Life (VAL) has spearheaded groundbreaking wildlife atlas projects from butterflies to bumblebees and online crowdsourced projects like e-Butterfly, Vermont eBird, and iNaturalist Vermont. Recently, Kent McFarland, director of VAL, was recognized on behalf of the team’s work with a 2022 SciSTARter Boost Award. Ten individuals received this inaugural award for their outstanding work with community science.

Check out the full article here.
VCE Gift Guide 2022
VCE project-specific t-shirts, sweatshirts, and more are available for purchase!
‘Tis the season of giving! If you know (or are) a nature lover, we’ve put together a list of gift ideas that is sure to please conservation-minded folks. From wildlife enthusiasts to art lovers to appreciators of delicious coffee, there’s a little something for everyone on this list, and all with a conservation twist!

Read the full list here.
Together We Conserve Biodiversity
Ruby-crowned Kinglet banded on Mt. Mansfield © Michael Sargent
Thanks to you, VCE’s wildlife and biodiversity research is furthering conservation efforts! Partners like you are the single greatest source of support for our community engagement, monitoring, and research programs. There are many ways to give—please visit VCE's online donation page to learn how. 

However you choose to contribute, please know that we deeply appreciate your support for VCE and your commitment to conservation. Thank you!
Winter Finch Forecast Released
Purple Finches (2+ year-old male on left, yearling male on right) © Michael Sargent
The 2022-2023 Winter Finch Forecast has officially been released! Prognosticators are predicting a flight year for several species this winter season and a good overall turnout in New England. Check out the full report here for individual species predictions and more.
Photo-observation of the Month
by Sam Darmstadt
Peek-a-boo! A weasel pokes its head out from behind a spruce in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
© Sam Darmstadt
Congratulations to Sam Darmstadt for winning the November 2022 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of a wily weasel received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.
It seems cuteness outweighed the need for a species ID this November when it comes to the photo observation of the month! The winning observation of a weasel will remain unidentified in all likelihood, as the two possible species in Vermont—the Long-tailed Weasel (Neogale frenata) and the American Stoat (Mustela richardsonii)—are quite similar and can only be safely differentiated by their tail length. These two species are ferocious predators, capable of taking down prey many times their size. Their pursuit of prey often brings them into contact with humans, and especially during the winter, it is not uncommon for a weasel to take up residence in or near a house where mice and kitchen scraps can be a welcome and easily accessible mid-winter food source. This individual, though, was found and photographed far from human habitation in Vermont’s spruce-fir forest, possibly in search of such large prey as Snowshoe Hare! To see more of Sam’s photos from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, click here.

Visit the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist, where you can vote for the winner this month by clicking 'fav' on your favorite photo-observation. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you, then submit your discoveries—and you could be a winner!
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