Posts by jbird24
VINS Raptor Camp Wrap-up!
By Katie ChristmanVINS Education Intern What has two legs, is full of energy and really, really loves birds? If you guessed a camper at VINS Raptor Camp then you guessed correctly! The last two weeks of raptor camp were bursting with excitement as kids grades 4-6 explored the world of raptors right here at VINS…
Read MoreSplish Splash
Remember our female mallard whose broken leg just recently healed? Well, that healed leg is now paddling her toward a new life. On August 22nd we sent her off in style at Dewey’s Mill Pond here in Quechee, VT. The duck came into our care after being hit by a vehicle in the Barre area…
Read MoreA New Leg to Stand On
This beautiful female mallard duck came to the VINS Wildlife Services department on August 1. She was transferred here from another rehabilitator and had been found on the side of the road after being struck by a vehicle. This little lady was so swollen around her left leg that at the time she came in,…
Read MoreSmall Falcon, Big Farewell
Last Saturday, VINS Education Intern Sarah Sincerbeaux released an American kestrel back into the wild. Watch a video of this bird’s release! The small falcon came to VINS’ rehabilitation department as a fledgling — he was old enough to have left his nest, but young enough that he may have been relying on his parents…
Read MoreLook For It Now: Dogday Harvestfly
As high summer reaches its peak of heat and humidity, we are annually serenaded by the high-pitched whining song of the cicadas as they emerge from their nymphal exoskeletons and prepare for life as adults. Here at VINS we have been listening to the song for weeks, and the other day were surprised to find…
Read More‘Moor’ Than Meets the Eye
By Sara Eisenhauer Lead Wildlife Keeper Last week, the staff in Wildlife Services received an interesting patient. It was small, fuzzy, had a beak that looked like candy corn and giant feet. We had never seen anything like it! Initially we thought it was a young sora, but after searching through several books and a…
Read MoreWild & Wonderful Woodpecker
By Jessamy Schwartz VINS AmeriCorps Member “All these injured birds are here because they share something in common. They are all here because someone cared enough to take the time to pick them up and bring them here,” said VINS Education Intern Sarah Sincerbeaux, at a recent raptor program. Watch a video of the pileated’s…
Read MoreTwins!
Well, nest-mates, anyway. These are the two young, fuzzy white faced broad-winged hawks who came into the care of the VINS wildlife services team last month. The two were rescued by a logger who, unknowingly, was also their downfall when he cut the tree in which their nest was perched. Below is the pair when…
Read MoreLook For It Now: Epipactis Hellborine
I’ve never been a fan of orchids. They’re too pretty, too perfect and just too exotic. Give me some hardy goldenrod and some frost-resistant aster any day over a dainty, fine-petaled orchid. But I’m starting to warm up to the Orchidaceae family since recently discovering epipactis hellborine — an orchid now blooming in abundance in…
Read MoreSuch Sweet Sorrow
The young crow who came in several weeks ago with a broken leg has successfully been released back in his home territory! Read about the juvenile crow’s history in our previous blog entries here and here. The crow was picked up from VINS last week, after we successfully splinted and healed a severely broken leg,…
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