October 31, 2007

Snow Buntings and a Clouded Sulphur were both sighted at the Nature Center today. How strange to see a butterfly and visitors from the arctic in the same day! The group 5 Snow Buntings were seen in the parking lot this morning and the lone sulphur was seen visiting Johnny Jump-ups in the community garden. A mixed flock of Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings were also sighted flying over the Center.

Another surprise visitor was seen at the end of the day - a Northern Shrike. We were fortunate to watch the shrike catch and devour a dragonfly!

October 30 , 2007

The bird feeders at the Nature Center have been crowded lately! Visitors include Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and White-breasted Nuthatch.

October 25 , 2007

A Red-tailed Hawk was seen perched in the vacinity of the community gardens. Two Hermit Thrushes were also sighted.

October 23 , 2007

This past Thursday, 10/18, Larry found a dead moth in front of our barn. After further investigation, we discovered that we found a Pink-spotted Hawkmoth, a rare find in Vermont! Click here for more info on the Pink-spotted Hawkmoth.

October 17 , 2007

The NBNC teen birders headed over to the Champlain Valley today to check out the Snow Geese and search for other migrants. We estimated there were 750 to 1,000 Snow Geese visible in the fields north of Route 17 at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area. There also a few lingering shorebirds including Black-bellied Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs and a probable Long-billed Dowitcher.

The highlight of our day though was seeing the family of 3 Sandhill Cranes in Bristol that nesting this past summer at Lake Winona - a first nesting record for this beautiful species in Vermont

October 14 , 2007

The cover article of The Burlington Free Press featured citizen science projects in Vermont, and the photograph featured NBNC's Monarch Tagging Program offered in September. Click here to view the article. If you are interested in citizen science projects at NBNC, but missed out on the Monarchs, stay tuned for winter bird counts and Amphibian Monitoring this spring!

October 10 , 2007

It has been a spectacular day for wildlife sightings at NBNC! During lunch, we viewed a Peregrine Falcon fly directly overhead, a new addition to the NBNC bird list! Other sightings include White-crowned and Song Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet displaying. We also found a Common Snapping Turtle hatchling on its way to the river. Click here to see the baby turtle.

October 9 , 2007

Still lots of sparrows around the community garden at the nature center - mostly White-crowned, White-throated and Song Sparrows. The songs of migrating Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be heard occasionally and a Pileated Woodpecker has been seen flying over the center almost daily for the last week.

Pictures from our recent Plum Island teen birding trip are now posted! Scroll down to the News for 9/23 to see them

October 6, 2007

A NBNC trip over to Dead Creek to see the Snow Geese produced few Snow Geese (around 200 birds), but many other interesting migrants, including: American Pipit, Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Harrier, Black-crowned NIght-Heron, Merlin and 15 Great-blue Herons (all in one area!).

October 5 , 2007

A VESPER SPARROW put in an appearance today, down by the community gardens. The bird was quite skiddish, flying out and up into the tree tops when disturbed. Vesper Sparrows have only been seen here 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years.