Although the days are slowly lengthening, flora and fauna in the Northeast now face the deepest depths of winter. January is about survival. Wildlife that doesn’t migrate adapts instead in order to make it to spring. Learn about the natural history happenings this month on the VCE blog.
iNaturalists Help VAL Build Biodiversity
Big Data in 2021
The top 20 research grade species in 2021.
From Barred Owls to Eastern Boxelder Bugs, iNaturalists contributed thousands of observations to the Vermont Atlas of Life in 2021. Among the 4,516 species verified were 500 brand new to Vermont, including at least one invasive and five previously unknown native insects.Check out all the 2021 observation highlights on the VAL blog.
Vermont Birders Rally During 11th Annual eBird County Quest
Vermont's first-ever Mexican Violetear sips from a hummingbird feeder at a private residence in Hartland.
From frigid early January mornings of the final 2020-2021 Christmas Bird Counts to November's discovery of displaced, ocean-going Razorbills and Northern Gannets on Lake Champlain, 2021 was full of birding surprises. Unsurprisingly, 2021 was also a year full of friendly competition during the 11th annual Vermont eBird County Quest. As always, this statewide birding effort produced mountains of invaluable data for science and conservation. Read the full season summary on the VCE blog.
With checklists from the tropics of Panama to the islands of Hawaii and as far north as Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories, 2021 was an amazing year for eButterfly. Butterfly watchers added over 6,000 complete checklists, tallying nearly 30,000 observations of a record-breaking 660 species to the ever-growing eButterfly database. Find out which species were most common, who were the top users, and more in eButterfly's latest news.
February Suds & Science
A White-tailed Deer pauses along a wooded edge in West Windsor Township, NJ.
Ready for the next installment of Suds & Science 2022? February's presenter is Dr. Jay Kelly, a professor at Raritan Valley Community College Center for Environmental Studies. His research examines the effects of urban deer populations on forest health. Join us February 1 at 7pm to hear his presentation titled "Impacts of Overabundant Deer and Invasive Plant Species on Forest Understories in Northern NJ". This is definitely a talk you won't want to miss, so make sure to register soon!
The Giant Silkmoth Cocoon Watch resulted in observations of four silkmoth species.
The results are in and it's clear that the first-ever Giant Silkmoth Cocoon Watch was a tremendous success! Over 100 cocoon observations were submitted between November 1 and December 31, representing a 2,000% increase in silkmoth cocoon observations, compared with 2020. Does that mean that Vermont's silkmoth populations have increased? Not likely—but it does mean that, thanks to our outstanding community scientists, we are doing a better job documenting the silkmoths already here. Learn more on the VAL blog about how these data will be used.
Mission Identify
When the January air is bitingly cold and darkness falls much too early, many of us prefer to explore the natural world from the comfort of a cozy chair. For all of our iNaturalist and eButterfly enthusiasts who are looking for a fireside activity, the Vermont Atlas of Life team has a challenge for you! Should you accept it, your mission is to verify identifications on iNaturalist and eButterfly, ultimately helping more observations obtain "research-grade" status. Learn more on the Vermont Atlas of Life website.
Congratulations to Charlotte Bill for winning the December 2021 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Charlotte’s photo of a Great Blue Heron braving the cold of northern Vermont winter received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month. Visit the VCE Blog for more info and view fantastic images of the runners-up in the December 2021 Photo-observation of the Month!
Visit the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist, where you can vote for the winner this month by clicking 'fav' 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!
The Vermont Center for Ecostudies promotes wildlife conservation across the Americas using the combined strength of scientific research and community engagement. Find us online at: vtecostudies.org
