Nature Blog

Farr Cross Returns

Insights from the Rough-legged Hawk Project Farr Cross, a Rough-legged Hawk we’re tracking with the Rough-legged Hawk Project, has returned to Vermont for the winter! This season, he’s been frequenting an area northwest of Middlebury. Outfitted with a GPS transmitter in winter 2022, Farr Cross has successfully migrated to and from the Arctic multiple times,…

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Exploring Vermont’s Wildlife: Field Research Updates

Trout in the Classroom: Raising Brook Trout VINS recently received approximately 100 Brook Trout eggs from the Roxbury Fish Culture Station, continuing our commitment to the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program. This environmental education initiative allows students to raise brook trout from eggs, ultimately releasing them into state-approved streams. We’re proud to collaborate with…

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VINS Research Updates

by Jim Armbruster, Lead, Center for Field Research Some exciting updates from the research world! July 2024 Broad-winged Hawk Monitoring The VINS Field Research team, in collaboration with Hawk Mountain’s Broad-winged Hawk Project, recently deployed a second transmitter on a Vermont Broad-winged Hawk. “Billings” was encountered at Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock,…

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American Kestrels Return

by Jim Armbruster, Lead, Center for Field Research Some exciting news in the American Kestrel world! The VINS Research team is certain that a female kestrel we banded last year (pictured on the left) has returned to a nest box in Vermont with her mate (this will be confirmed by making sure she has a green…

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The Remarkable Journey of Manu the Golden Eagle

By Grae O’Toole, Director, Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation and Ambassador Care On January 2, 2024, our team at the VINS Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation and Ambassador Care received a phone call from a concerned member of the public who had spotted what they believed to be an eagle on the ground in a…

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Broad-winged Hawk Movement Update October 2023

After a summer of waiting we finally began to see movement updates for Ottauquechee!

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Broad-winged Hawk Research 2023

Several months of following Broad-winged Hawks around Vermont culminated in a successful trapping expedition with researchers from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary’s Broad-winged Hawk Project.

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American Kestrel Nest Boxes

The VINS research staff are continuing our important work with American Kestrels in Vermont and New Hampshire.

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Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 7.21.22

Another unfortunate update on birds from our winter season. Two more rough legs, Champ and Lemons, were found dead in Quebec within the last few weeks. Again, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, is the likely suspect. That leaves Farr Cross, the only male bird with a backpack unit. He was the only bird to be outfitted…

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American Kestrel Research Updates From the Field – 2022 Season Wrap Up

Our kestrel monitoring season is winding down and we are just waiting on a few boxes to fledge at this point.

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