March 30, 2010

While people might despise a 40 degree, rainy day in March, volunteers of NBNC's Amphibian Monitoring Program are ecstatic. The warm, moist weather triggered the first substantial migrations of amphibians this season, several weeks earlier than is typical in this part of the state. Amphibians were moving in many locations around the state, and in Middlesex, 24 Wood Frogs and 3 Spotted Salamanders were safely crossed (sadly, the only Spring Peepers found had been run over). If you have to drive on any rainy nights in the next few weeks, use extreme caution to avoid accidentally flattening our four-legged friends, and to learn how to help, contact Larry.

March 26, 2010

Despite the lack of new updates to the Nature News section, there has been lots of new nature sightings this spring around NBNC. Today we had lingering winter birds such as Tree Sparrows at the feeder and a singing Northern Shrike near the bridge. At the same time, the new spring arrivals are pouring back, with today's site survey recording Blackbirds, Grackles, a Flicker, Song Sparrows, and others. A male Eastern Bluebird that has been hanging around the past two weeks was joined by a female today.

The Nature News section is undergoing big changes, and will eventually become an interactive blog, where you can share your sightings and comment on ours. In the interim, updates may be sparse, but we'll try to make a post every now and then. Please keep your sightings coming though, we'd love to hear them!

January 20, 2010

After receiving a few inches of snow over the past few days, NBNC staff discovered fresh tracks in the vacinity of the buildings. Those tracks, belonging to a Red Fox, made a small loop down the driveway and past the bird feeders through the front yard. Fox scat was also found near the tracks very close to the building.

January 15, 2010

Today's big surprise during the weekly Site Survey for birds was a small flock (3) Snow Buntings flying and calling over the fields! Although a common winter visitor to Vermont, Snow Bunting are seldom seen at the Nature Center, and this marks one of the only records we have for the species. A very fine looking deer bed was also discovered on the property with fresh tracks and droppings in the area.

January 7, 2010

Happy new year to all! With the holiday season, a few pending updates went unmade, but expect several posts about last month's Christmas Bird Counts to be posted retroactively. Today's noteworthy sighting occured during the eBird site survey. A lone Canada Goose was seen foraging in the river! Although Canada Geese are overwintering in Vermont in increased numbers, they are still uncommon here in Central Vermont.

December 4, 2009

Today marked the first day of our eBird site survey for the North Branch Nature Center property. The eBird site survey will be performed weekly and data will be entered into eBird for use by scientists (learn more about the eBird site survey). We did turn up a bird that we rarely see on the property: a lone Carolina Wren was seen skulking around in a wet, brushy area near the river. Other noteworthy birds include American Tree Sparrow.

November 30, 2009

Although it wasn't the first time this season that American Tree Sparrows made an appearance, there were at least a half dozen hanging around the parking lot and bird feeders this morning. The photo of the individual to the right (taken at NBNC last year) shows some of the tell tale field marks for this winter visitor, including the rufous crown, gray face, bicolored bill, and white wing bar. If seen from the front, a dark spot would be visible in the center of the breast. Photo by Larry Clarfeld.