Nest Watch Update – July 2016
By Anna AutilioEnvironmental Educator The nestboxes are empty again as the breeding season passes us faster than a Tree Swallow can fly! While monitoring our boxes for Project NestWatch, we here at VINS were lucky enough to see 7 Tree Swallow families and 1 House Wren family raise between 1 and 6 young birds each.…
Remembering Burlington, An Owl Ambassador
By Jordan Daley, Science Outreach Coordinator Last week VINS lost a treasured animal ambassador and member of our VINS family. Burlington, a resident Great Horned Owl passed away after ten years of greeting and inspiring visitors to the Nature Center. Burlington came to VINS in June of 2006, well into his adult years. He was…
Project NestWatch Update: June 2016
By Anna Autilio Environmental Educator Baby bird season is well underway all over Vermont, and here at VINS we are monitoring the 16 nestboxes on our campus for Project NestWatch. This citizen science program, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, aims to monitor the status and trends in bird reproductive biology, including when nesting…
Baby Bird Season Begins at VINS with lots of Barred Owlets
By Jordan DaleyScience Outreach Coordinator Did you know that Barred Owls are Vermont’s most common owl? They inhabit our old forests and wetland areas. They love large dark trees with cavities and plenty of prey around. These silent flyers will sneak up on anything they can get their talons on, from rodents to crayfish. They are…
National Poetry Month: Wild Words from a VINS Fan
By Jordan DaleyScience Outreach Coordinator April is National Poetry Month and VINS staff, volunteers and fans are celebrating! We recently received a letter from Gabby Baker, a 4th grader who loves VINS. She included a poem that she composed for her fourth grade class. Miss Baker’s poem got me thinking. Poetry has long been the…
It Takes a Village to Heal an Owl
By Lauren Adams, Lead Wildlife KeeperAnd Jordan Daley, Science Outreach Coordinator On January 16th the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation admitted our 6th patient of 2016. BDOW 16-006 is a very lucky Barred Owl. Some kind individuals rescued her after a collision with a vehicle in Thetford, VT on the evening of January 15th. Ted…
Minnesota, A Truly Great Gray Owl ~1993-2016
By Lauren Adams, Lead Wildlife Keeperand Jordan Daley, Science Outreach CoordinatorOn Monday, March 7, we lost a very special member of our VINS family, our female Great Gray Owl, Minnesota. She was a magnificent bird, both a staff and visitor favorite, and she will be greatly missed. In November of 1993, she was admitted as a…
A Goose, a Road Trip and an Important Lesson in Wildlife Rehabilitation
By Lauren Adams, Lead Wildlife Keeper Last weekend, I took a goose on a road trip. I know what you’re thinking. 1. What? 2. Why? Excellent questions. When I started work as the new Wildlife Keeper at VINs in December, the Canada Goose had already been there for 10 days. She had come in to our Center for Wild…
Art and Science: Eyes on the Natural World
By Jordan Daley Research and Education Coordinator My dad often took me hiking as a little girl. I’d fill my pockets with granite I found along the trail and tuck leaves and bird feathers in my hair. Over peanut butter sandwiches next to a lake or atop a mountain Dad would pluck each little treasure…
The Outside Story: Have You Seen A Mountain Lion?
by Madeline Bodin In the photo, the mountain lion lies on its side on the shoulder of a Connecticut parkway. Tail lights shine in the distance. A Connecticut state trooper snapped the photo after a motorist had struck and killed the animal on a June night in 2011. Wildlife biologists quickly confirmed this mountain lion…
