Archivos de diario de marzo 2021

01 de marzo de 2021

February 2021 Photo-observation of the Month


A trio of North American River Otters ‘chilling’ on the ice. © Susan Elliott

Congratulations to Sue Elliott for winning the February 2021 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist. Sue’s image of three North American River Otters spotted lounging, fittingly, on Otter Creek, garnered the most faves this month.

The North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is a semiaquatic mammal that is found in and along waterways and coasts. An adult river otter can weigh between 11 and 30 pounds. The North American River Otter is protected and insulated by a thick, water-repellent fur coat. In the 1800s and early 1900s, otters were over-harvested almost to the point of extirpation in many areas of their range. Due to pollution, habitat loss, and unregulated hunting and trapping, otter populations declined precipitously in the Northeast. Greater conservation efforts combined with closely monitored harvesting have allowed their populations to rebound to a healthy and stable size.


With nearly 1,950 observations submitted by 364 observers in February, it was very competitive. Click on the image above to see and explore all of the amazing observations.

Visit the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist where you can vote for the winner this month by clicking the ‘fave’ star on your favorite photo-observation. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you, then submit your discoveries and you could be a winner!

Publicado el marzo 1, 2021 05:47 TARDE por nsharp nsharp | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

03 de marzo de 2021

Join the Green Mountain National Forest Telephone Gap BioBlitz

Calling all naturalists! From ant experts to moose watchers, the Green Mountain National Forest invites you to participate in a Telephone Gap BioBlitz. Now is the perfect time to get out in the Telephone Gap area and track animals or photograph woody twigs!

The Green Mountain National Forest’s Telephone Gap BioBlitz is now in its tenth month, with over 2264 observations of 719 species, reported by 135 observers! The variety of observations includes everything from wildflowers and trees to blue-green algae, mammals and birds, insects, and fungi, and most recently, animal tracks in winter.

Check it out in iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/gmnf-telephone-gap-bioblitz

As winter continues its frozen hold, this is the perfect time to document wildlife tracks of all sizes. It’s also a perfect time to photograph woody twigs in winter. Grab your camera, don your snowshoes, and explore some of the more remote areas away from roads and trailheads.

This a beautiful part of the Green Mountain National Forest, more diverse than we imagined, with substantial areas of old forest. Vermont Natural Heritage Inventory staff, collaborating with National Forest staff, indicate there are 28 significant natural communities to be mapped within the boundaries of the Telephone Gap BioBlitz. Wow! Come on out and join the fun!

Information packet:
https://usfs-public.app.box.com/s/keqnsbq16fpoh8xg5hzpugt0quryvdaa/file/673193658182

Maps and other downloadable supporting information:
https://usfs-public.app.box.com/s/keqnsbq16fpoh8xg5hzpugt0quryvdaa

OR, link to all this information from the BioBlitz summary page on the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests website:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gmfl/home/?cid=FSEPRD742756

Publicado el marzo 3, 2021 07:29 TARDE por kpmcfarland kpmcfarland | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

17 de marzo de 2021

The Vermont Wild Bee Survey is looking for help!

Join us for the next 8 months on a guided exploration of the wild bee fauna of the state. Each week from now until the last fall flowers have shriveled, we will be posting a mission to the new Vermont Wild Bee Survey project page: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vermont-bee-atlas

These missions will help you target distinctive, rare, or otherwise interesting bees and help us map their distribution. We realize bee’s tiny size and mind-blowing diversity (>300 species in VT) is daunting, so we will strive to make these weekly missions straightforward and attainable. We’ll teach you how to find, identify, photograph and report the bees you find with just a point and shoot camera or a smartphone and no prior bee knowledge.

Observations generated by iNaturalist users, like yourself, are a major source of information that help us understand this important group of pollinators in Vermont. Last year alone, 525 iNaturalist users reported over 5,000 bee observations, comprising 104 confirmed species from across the state, including one only known in Vermont from iNaturalist observations.

Join our Vermont Wild Bee Atlas on iNaturalist and keep an eye out for the weekly blog posts each Friday.

While we patiently wait for warmer days and the first flowers, check out the new simplified guide to identifying Vermont’s bees on the Vermont Wild Bee Survey website: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/all-genera/

Publicado el marzo 17, 2021 03:03 TARDE por beeboy beeboy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

31 de marzo de 2021

March 2021 Photo-observation of the Month

A Northern Flying Squirrel digging seeds out of the snow beneath a bird feeder. © Charlotte Bill

Congratulations to Charlotte Bill for winning the March 2021 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist. Charlotte’s image of a Northern Flying Squirrel foraging for fallen bird seed at her backyard feeder garnered the most faves this month. Click the image above to see more of Charlotte’s photos of this encounter!

The Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) is a primarily nocturnal species, and sightings of these adorable, big-eyed squirrels during the day are quite rare. Vermont is home to two very similar-looking flying squirrel species, the Northern and the Southern Flying Squirrel. Shortly after this observation was posted, mammal ID experts began to weigh in. They noted the reddish body fur (or pelage), particularly bushy tail, yellowish belly, and a dark stripe of fur on the side, all field marks identifying this as a Northern Flying Squirrel. This species is most likely to be found in mature woodlands, and is particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation. While these squirrels can’t technically “fly”, the flaps of skin that stretch between their limbs allow them to glide distances of 50 feet or more. March marks the beginning of the mating season of Northern Flying Squirrels, so in all likelihood this particular squirrel is fueling up on seed to begin looking for a mate and starting the next generation of Northern Flying Squirrels. If you’d like to learn more about these fascinating, rarely seen mammals, check out @jpupko's article, Flighty Furballs, in the Field Guide to March .

With nearly 4,000 observations submitted by 493 observers in March, it was very competitive. Click on the image above to see and explore all of the amazing observations.

Visit the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist where you can vote for the winner this month by clicking the ‘fave’ star on your favorite photo-observation. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you, then submit your discoveries and you could be a winner!

Publicado el marzo 31, 2021 10:47 TARDE por nsharp nsharp | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Archivos