First snowfall at dawn on Mount Tom © Kent McFarland
|
|
A Field Guide to February |
|
This month wildlife and the rest of us here in New England will cross an arbitrary, yet not insignificant threshold: 10 hours of daylight. You can begin to sense it when you head out in the morning. Northern Cardinals, House Finches, and Black-capped Chickadees break out into song, and Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers start to drum. Even though we’ve got lots more winter, at least the sounds of spring are in the air. So here’s a Field Guide to February to help keep your hopes up, no matter what that sleepy woodchuck predicted.
Click here to read the full field guide to January.
|
|
iNaturalist: 2022 in Review
|
|
Top 10 species reported to iNaturalist Vermont in 2022 © Kent McFarland
|
|
Come check out our report, as we look back on a year of iNaturalist observations and data analysis! We take a look at just how many people made projects like the Vermont Atlas of Life possible, and highlight some key happenings and observations in the past year.
Read the full report here.
|
|
Give the Gift of Conservation |
|
Bunchberry growing along the forest floor near Quimby © Charles Gangas |
|
Conservation’s a Sweet Gift for Valentine’s Day!
Does your valentine love loons? Is your beloved abuzz about bees? This Valentine’s Day, show your cherished conservationist or your favorite nature nut how much you love them with a gift in their honor to VCE. That's sweeter than a box of chocolates, don't you think? VCE receives every contribution with heartfelt gratitude, using your gifts for cutting-edge biodiversity research applied to real-world conservation problems. We invite you to join us every step of the way. Make a generous gift in their honor, or join us yourself!
|
|
Let's Talk About the Birds and the Beans |
|
Do you consider yourself a birder? How about a coffee fanatic? If you answered "yes" to both these questions, we have a mission that might interest you. Over the next three years, VCE's dedicated partner and producer of our chosen office coffee, Birds & Beans, is pursuing an audacious goal—inspiring 8 million coffee drinkers to switch to Bird Friendly® certified coffee.
Since they first launched in 2008, Birds & Beans® has championed Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee certification. The field has since expanded to include about 30 certified roasters; however, Birds & Beans hopes to recruit more support. By increasing the number of individuals purchasing Bird Friendly® coffee, they aim to deepen support for existing certified family farms and add 1 million acres of Bird Friendly® coffee to the certification.
Here’s where birders come in. Over 40 million "birdwatchers" live in the U.S., and approximately 65% (or 26 million) of them are likely coffee drinkers based on national averages. To meet Birds & Beans’ goal, approximately one-third of birding coffee drinkers will need to “go Bird Friendly.”
At VCE, we believe that creating a brighter future for birds means using rigorous research to inform land management practices. Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly® coffee certification exemplifies this, and Birds & Beans always goes the extra mile to ensure that certified coffee is brought to consumers with social best practices in mind at every step. Over the years, Birds & Beans has become beloved by many in the Upper Valley’s two local “coffee clubs,” with over 13,604 pounds of coffee purchased since the program began in 2012. VCE is also extraordinarily grateful to be among the conservation partners who receive 5% of Birds & Beans’ Upper Valley sales.
If you’re interested in becoming part of Birds & Beans’ loyal flock—and helping them in their pursuit of expanding Bird Friendly® coffee—please visit their website.
|
|
VCE biologist Nathaniel Sharp doing some birding © Gloria Towne |
|
Our March Suds and Science event will take place March 7th, and feature our very own Nathaniel Sharp, as he recounts the time he and his team won the World Series of Birding! The in-person event will be held in the front room of the Norwich Inn, and the zoom link can be found here for those that want to attend remotely. The event starts at 7:00 pm, but be sure to come a bit earlier if you want to mingle beforehand.
VCE has officially posted summer job opportunities! Come check out our website to see if any of the internships or technician positions are a fit for you.
|
|
Photo-observation of the Month
by Joshua Lincoln
|
|
A Ruffed Grouse feeling frugivorous while walking the crabapple tightrope this winter. © Joshua Lincoln |
|
Congratulations to Joshua Lincoln for winning the January 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His image of a Ruffed Grouse taking advantage of a mid-winter food source received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.
A Ruffed Grouse’s diet is usually quite high in fiber, and in winter they can be found foraging on the buds, twigs, and catkins of trees and shrubs. Thanks to their specially-adapted digestive system, Ruffed Grouse are able to process food high in cellulose that many other species avoid, and in turn, their scat is easily identifiable when found on the forest floor in winter. Occasionally, Ruffed Grouse will take advantage of other food sources present in the winter, like the tasty crabapples this individual is after as it carefully navigates the thin branches in the treetops.
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
