American Robin eggs!

I am often floored by how quickly the seasons go by, from our brief spring in Vermont, to the flurry of autumn colors. But what I find even more impressive is the speed of the full nesting cycle of our native songbirds. Despite this season’s length—our first Eastern Bluebirds were checking out the meadow boxes on March 2nd, and the last American Robins made their great leap skyward on August 26th—the lifespan of a single nesting attempt is surprisingly brief. The average incubation period for the songbirds we commonly see is just two weeks, and the average length of the brooding period, or time from hatching to when the babies leave the nest, is just 17 days. The whole cycle for one nest is over in a single month.

Due to this relatively short time commitment for one clutch, multiple clutches are not uncommon. As with last year, our resident Eastern Bluebird family raised two sets of five young in one of our meadow boxes, one right after the other. Several pairs of American Robins, never to be one-upped, raised three or even four clutches in a row. That last family of robins fledged on August 26th, having raised three clutches out of the same nest since beginning the season over three months prior, on May 15th. But this was long after the Tree Swallows were done, the last of their young fledging in mid-July.

American Robins, just a few days old

A lot of the difference in this timing has to do with the types of food available to a growing family, and how abundant that food is at different times of the year. For aerial insectivores like Tree Swallows, who grab flies and other insects right out of the sky, that food source has a peak, and quickly tapers off as the weather cools, requiring them to migrate to follow the abundance. American Robins, by contrast, can subsist on a variety of ground-dwelling insects, as well as berries, which are available much later into the summer and fall.

How do we learn this about our local species? Through the citizen science project NestWatch, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the staff and volunteers at VINS spent a little time each week checking on some 30 nest sites around the Nature Center. We collected data on the number of eggs, the ages of the hatchlings, and the behavior of the parents and reported this information to the NestWatch website. There, Cornell scientists pool our data with others from thousands of NestWatch volunteers all across the country.

Eastern Bluebirds, close to fledging

VINS is Vermont’s only NestWatch chapter, and we encourage our visitors and members to participate in nest monitoring on their own through training workshops in the spring. Our brave little state could use more data: over half of all the Tree Swallow and American Robin nests monitored this year in Vermont were right here at VINS. Would you like to get involved with citizen science projects at VINS or at home? Do you know of a nest near you? Join the effort! It’s free, and helps contribute to real science. Check out nestwatch.org or contact amorris@vinsweb.org for more information.

We also want to extend a special thank you to Aine and Ian, our stellar Citizen Science Volunteers, who made this very busy summer’s data collection possible. Without their weekly dedication to monitoring our Tree Swallow and Eastern Bluebird nest boxes, we would not have been able to make these vital observations that are aiding our understanding of breeding bird biology.

The post NestWatch Season Wrap-Up 2019 appeared first on Nature Blog.

Lead Environmental Educator

Common Feeder Birds (Project FeederWatch)

Another season of the citizen science program, Project FeederWatch is behind us, and it was a very big winter! Now in its 32nd year, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s winter bird-watching project aims to connect people with the wildlife in their backyards, and with the world of scientific research.

This is the 3rd year that VINS participated in the project, and this season we decided to count birds at 3 different sites each week. One site was visible out of our classroom window, in the roundabout overlooking the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation. Another was right behind the Crawl Space, which was itself turned into an entire exhibit about Project FeederWatch. The third was just outside a window in the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation, so even our busy rehabilitators could join in on the count!

A total of 48 two-day counts were submitted to Cornell (16 per site), containing observations of a whopping 30 different species. This is the most we have ever counted in one winter with this project, and we heard reports from other bird-watchers in the state of the diversity they were observing. Highlights at the VINS feeders included both Sharp-shinned AND Cooper’s Hawks, a Pileated Woodpecker, a Hermit Thrush, a Carolina Wren, a Field Sparrow, and a pair of Mallards. (And yeah, yeah, a Barred Owl; they seem to have been EVERYWHERE this winter).

Though many of us were missing the usual flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos at our feeders this year, over half of FeederWatch sites in Vermont did report the little gray birds consistently throughout the winter, with an average group size of just over 3. Still, this is quite low compared to last year, in which more than 80% of sites consistently reported Juncos, with an average group size of nearly 7.

American Crows were more frequently seen as the winter progressed, showing up at 44% of FeederWatch sites in Vermont during the last week of March. A similar trend was seen in Barred Owls, who had a rough time dealing with the thick ice layer covering the snow, which prevented many from hunting their usual mice and voles in their subnivean tunnels.  Evening Grosbeaks were seen across Vermont early in the winter (November & December), but gave way to Common Redpolls and Pine Grosbeaks later (February & March). And though a Carolina Wren stuck around the VINS feeders all winter long, only about 10% of Feederwatch sites in Vermont ever reported one as a visitor.

Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla (Flickr)

By far, our most unusual visitor was the Field Sparrow. This scrubland-dwelling bird is normally only seen in Vermont during the summer breeding months, but one showed up to our feeders in early December, and again in mid-February. Though Field Sparrows are common, their populations have been experiencing a steep decline over the last 50 years.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed observations, and a super-huge thank you to Citizen Science volunteers Aine and Ian, who made nearly all of the Crawl Space observations. They watched the feeders with extreme dedication every weekend for 2 hours, and counted 13 species.

The post Project FeederWatch Season Summary appeared first on Nature Blog.

One morning, a January dawn, I walked the VINS trails before my volunteer shift. I turned on a trail which ran alongside the icy river. I heard a crack in the ice. I crouched down and held still. This was the crepuscular time of day (at dawn) when many mammals and birds are active. Suddenly, in a part of the free flowing river, three huge forms rose up. They threw themselves to the bank and rolled in the snow. They chased each other; they ran; they bounded and dove back into the water to repeat. I had just witnessed a rare sighting of North American River Otters at play.

North American River Otter (Wikimedia Commons)

With spring arriving river otters are taking to dens as birds to their nests. With the Ottauquechee River running alongside VINS’s property, the woods, fields and marsh lands will be filled with new life. Can I spot an otter pup? Perhaps–but very carefully!

River otters are plentiful in North America. They prefer non-polluted water and inhabit both marine and fresh water in streams, ponds, rivers, marshes and coastal-ways. Their food source is mostly fish, but they eat turtles, salamanders, and mollusks. At VINS, educators often find hatchling turtles on the property, and help transport them to the pond for a improved chance at life.

Otters are muscular, streamlined mammals with beautiful waterproof fur consisting of the rich brown pelage: the stiff, oily guard fur and the thick silvery underfur. Otters are sleek, powerful swimmers with webbed feet. They have the third, nictitating eye membrane, allowing them to see in murky waters. When otters want to chat, they usually sound like a low frequency chuckle.

These characteristics are important to know as I go “otter observing” in springtime.

It is the start of birthing season for river otters. The female will find a good den. She is creative and will use an old beaver lodge, hollow tree or she will dig one in the riverbank. Either way, she keeps it scrupulously clean. 2 to 3 pups are born from March through May. They nurse until about 7 weeks of age. I may first see them when they emerge from the den for solid food and then throughout the summer. So spring and summer will be great months to attempt the covert observation of otters!

Otter tracks (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife)

I first look for signs of their habitation. Otters spend much of their day marking their territory and grooming.  I can, therefore, observe along the banks of rivers and streams for their prints in the mud and soft earth. Look for their oily scat which mostly consists of fish scales and sharp, tiny bones. Their prints are about 3 inches across with 5 toes atop a heeled pad. Also look for any paths approximately 7 inches across in either mud or leftover snow and slide marks in the banks. With their high metabolism, otters hunt frequently–mostly at night, but also in the hours of dawn and dusk. Hopefully, I’ve scouted a feeding, play or nesting site.

Otter scat (Karen Richardson)

Then, I will go to a high, covered spot amidst shrub or trees where it will be difficult to hear or smell me, like before. While otters have a very keen sense of smell and hearing, they are nearsighted and will not see me if I am extremely quiet. I will never approach an otter too closely, however, as a female with pups can be quite unpredictable. I have to wait patiently. With binoculars and silent stealth, I may just encounter another of these splendid creatures.  To see an otter play in the wild without fear is a chance, elusive meeting. To spot a pup would be a wonderment.

This Spring, join me hidden and silent, by the banks of a river, for just that chance.

The post Spring Brings River Otter Pups appeared first on Nature Blog.

For many of us at VINS, this winter has been remarkable. In addition to the cold, snow, and ice, the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation has seen record-breaking numbers of patients. But one of the most interesting things about those patients was who they turned out to be.

Last winter the northeast experienced an irruption—a term biologists use to describe a sudden change in the population density of an animal—of Snowy Owls. Large numbers of these normally arctic tundra-dwelling raptors found themselves moving south through the United States, looking for open territories and good hunting grounds for small rodents and birds. This winter we are once again experiencing an irruption, but this time of boreal songbirds.

Adult Male, wikimedia commons

Boreal songbirds are birds that breed in, migrate through, or otherwise rely on North America’s boreal forest habitat, according to the Boreal Songbird Initiative. This unique habitat, consisting of mostly spruce, pine, and larch trees, covers 1.5 billion acres of land in Canada and Alaska. The boreal forest not only provides a safe haven for more than 300 bird species and large mammals like caribou and wolves, but the trees sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, slowing the effects of climate change.

Evening Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings, Common Redpolls, and Pine Grosbeaks are among the boreal songbird species that bird-watchers all over Vermont have been seeing in unusually high numbers this winter. Professional “finch forecaster” Ron Pittaway of the Ontario Field Ornithologists documents the abundance of boreal bird food crops like conifer seeds and berry-bushes each winter, and predicted that these four species would be abundantly seen due to the low amount of their normal food resources in the summer of 2018.

He appears to have been exactly right. At the VINS Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation, we have seen 7 Pine Grosbeaks as patients since the beginning of December 2018. (In 2017 and 2016, we saw none at all). Pine Grosbeaks are large, frugivorous (“fruit-eating”) finches, a food source which is highly variable year-to-year, and so occasionally drives them to seek out more resources further south than their normal range. Their 10 inch length and 2-3 ounce bulk may not seem “large”, but you might spot Pine Grosbeaks foraging in large flocks in the winter for nuts and seeds as well. Their scientific name, Pinicola enucleator, means “pine tree dweller, who removes the kernel”, as from seeds.

Adult Female, wikimedia commons

Of our 7 Pine Grosbeak patients this winter, nearly all came in with head trauma, which was likely sustained from colliding with windows. These northern birds have little experience with human settlements, and clear glass confuses them, causing injury. There are many ways to minimize window collisions by birds, and save lives. Putting up ultraviolet reflective stickers or protective screens will help birds recognize an unsafe place to fly.

Our patients in December came from towns farther north in Vermont, and those recent comers have been from right at our latitude, so it has been interesting to track the southward movements of this species in our own state. Three of our Pine Grosbeak patients were able to be released back into the wild, and one young male has joined our resident songbirds on exhibit at the VINS Nature Center.

Stop by VINS soon and meet our newest songbird educator, Hanover. Hanover the Pine Grosbeak came into our care on January 17th, 2019 with a fracture to his left radius/ulna (forearm bones) near the wrist. Though he was in a body wrap for a week to try to heal the fracture properly, it was deemed too severe for release as he is unable to get enough lift for flight even after 3 weeks of healing—bird bones heal a lot faster than humans, and so by this point we know that Hanover’s injury is permanent. He sits near the top of the enclosure, and we’re sure he’s eager meet his new fans!

The post Winter of the Pine Grosbeak appeared first on Nature Blog.

2018 marked the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world joined forces to celebrate 2018 as the “Year of the Bird.” Now that the year has come to a close, we at VINS would like to celebrate 2018 with a list of some good things that happened this year for the birds.

Bald Eagle, by Vermont Audubon

1) Here in Vermont, it was an excellent year for nesting Bald Eagles. Though the Bald Eagle is still listed on the state’s endangered species list, this year’s crop of young eagles may see the species down-listed or de-listed entirely.

2) In California, a second-generation wild California Condor chick was born, the first in over 50 years.

3) We were treated to the sighting of a very rare bird visiting our northern climes from the tropical south. A Great Black Hawk arrived in Portland, ME in November, a bird normally native to Peru.

4) Detection of migrating raptors at wind farms is getting better and better, thanks to AI technology. The program IdentiFlight could help wind farms prevent the deaths of hundreds of eagles, while producing clean renewable energy.

California Condors, by All About Birds

5) Cities around the United States banned the use of plastic grocery bags, following several states and countries that have already done so, or begun taxing the bags to prevent this waste product from ending up in our ecosystems.

6) We learned about bird migration and helped birds at the Tribute in Light in NYC. This gorgeous memorial poses problems for migrating songbirds, but by collaborating with the city, the Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology have been able to make it an opportunity for learning and for conservation.

Wisdom, the Laysan Albatross, by Smithsonian Magazine

7) Finally, Wisdom, a 68-year-old Laysan Albatross who is the oldest known wild bird, laid another egg on Midway Atoll. She was banded originally in 1965 and returns to the island every year to raise one chick.

We’d also like to give a big thank you to everyone who made the Year of the Bird possible, including National Geographic, BirdLife International, the Audubon Society, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Thank you for getting us thinking about the ways in which we can live our lives a little better for birds. Happy New Year!

The post Year of the Bird – 7 Things to Be Thankful for About 2018 appeared first on Nature Blog.

A flat fly (Christian Hugues)

Alan Graham (Seven Days VT)

Feather lice parasitizing a flat fly. (Alan Graham)

The post What is a Flat Fly? Curiosity and Research at the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation appeared first on Nature Blog.

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Nestling Eastern Bluebirds

Another season of nesting birds at the VINS Nature Center is behind us, and the world is full of young fledglings learning to make their way in the wide open world. It was quite a busy summer here, between the rush of baby birds needing care at the Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation, and the wild birds being raised by their wild parents right next door in our meadow nest boxes (and under the eaves of our buildings!)

Eastern Bluebird eggs

Through the citizen science project NestWatch, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the staff at VINS spent a little time each week checking on some 30 nest sites, observing the hard-to-reach ones with a bent mirror on the end of a broomstick. We collected data on the number of eggs, the ages of the hatchlings, and the behavior of the parents and reported this information to the NestWatch website. There, Cornell scientists pool our data with others from thousands of other NestWatch volunteers all across the country to learn more about breeding bird distribution and abundance.

American Robin eggs

Here’s a brief summary of the 2018 Season at VINS:

Number of nesting attempts monitored: 19
Number of species nesting at VINS: 6
Number of eggs laid, total: 72
Number of young hatched, total: 58
Number of young fledged, total: 48
Number of fledglings per nesting attempt, average: 2.5

Nestling Eastern Bluebird

The six species nesting here were the expected resident Tree Swallows, American Robins, and Eastern Phoebes, but we also had a family of Black-capped Chickadees take up residence in a nest box, a Red-eyed Vireo build a tiny, delicate nest in an oak tree behind the Bald Eagle exhibit, and an Eastern Bluebird family, the first in several years, fledge 5 young out of one of our nest boxes in two separate nesting attempts, a phenomenon called “double-clutching”.

Our Eastern Bluebird nest was actually one of only 10 monitored in Vermont this year, and our Black-capped Chickadees were one of 5 monitored. Do you know of a nest near you? Join the effort! You can participate in NestWatch too! It’s free and help contribute to real science. Check out nestwatch.org and create your free account. You’ll learn how to safely monitor nests in your yard, and hopefully join other NestWatchers all across the country next year!

The post NestWatch 2018 Report appeared first on Nature Blog.

 

Exploring your public lands is a great idea for this summer. Get closer to the unique flora and fauna of your region in these places that belong to all of us equally. Plan a picnic, a birding trip, wading in the water, or a lazy afternoon absorbing the woods in your local state park this weekend!

The post Discover Your Parks and Public Lands this August with VINS appeared first on Nature Blog.

1. Do some Citizen Science. Anyone can be a scientist, especially with long-running citizen science projects like iNaturalist and eBird, that allow you to document the cool things you find in nature and send your observations to biologists around the world. What’s that caterpillar on the sidewalk? iNaturalist’s community can even help you identify the animals and plants around you!

2. Make a habitat for wildlife. Your backyard has the potential to be a perfect habitat for wild species. With the right food, water, shelter, and space, you can arrange even a small corner of your yard to be a friendly home to birds and other wildlife.

3. Create a nature journal. Feeling artistic? Put together a few pieces of paper with a long rubber band, and find something interesting to draw. It doesn’t have to be a perfect rendering, just a sketch to remember the shape and color or your natural ecosystem.

4. Cool off and discover an underwater world. Have a stream or pond nearby? Plan an adventure and visit your local freshwater ecosystem! See who you can find hiding out under rocks in the stream, or sit quietly and count how many birds you can find.

5. Build something big! Balance rocks on top of one another to make a tall tower, or construct a mud house for a toad. Gather together some bark, leaves, twigs, and pine needles and create your own “fairy” house in your backyard!

6. Visit your local Nature Center! Whether it’s learning about nesting birds, hiking the trails, or talking to a naturalist, nature centers have so much to offer kids who want to learn and explore. Come see what it’s all about!

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