Mount Ascutney in spring © Kent McFarland

As grays and browns permeate the muddy landscape of late spring, summer colors lie just beneath the surface, almost ready to bloom. Strolling through your neighborhood or favorite woodland in April, you may begin to notice flashy dapples of the season's first wildflowers. The trees around you will start to reverberate with birdsong while the ponds echo with choruses of Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers. If you're lucky, you may even catch the buzz of an early-season bee as it forages. Here’s our guide to some of the new life bursting forth this month.

Upcoming VCE Events

VCE board member Jared Keyes leading one of the 2023 Mount Auburn Cemetery trips © Alex Johnson

Log into our last Conservation Coffee Hour on April 24th, where we will chat with VCE Biologist Steve Faccio about vernal pool monitoring. Don't forget to register in advance!

You can also join us later on April 24th in Woodstock as VCE Biologist Dr. Desiree Narango leads a workshop about year-round pollinator gardens. More details about the event here.

Join VCE for the start of the City Nature Challenge in Burlington on April 25th at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (check out the bioblitz going on all weekend here, and join us on Sunday, April 28th in Burlington for special events led by VCE scientists.)

On May 7th Suds and Science will feature Joseph Savage sharing his knowledge about the spread of Lyme Disease in the Northeast. NOTE: Suds and Science is now held at the VCE office and will still start at 7:00 p.m. This event is B.Y.O.B and B.Y.O.S(nacks).

VCE will host a birding field trip at the Mount Auburn Cemetery on May 10th from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. There are a limited number of spots for this trip, so be sure to click the link and reserve yours! (Interested in a different VCE field trip experience? Check out our full list.)

A red stalk of Bug-on-a-stick Moss points skyward from a carpet of other green and brown mosses. © iNat user @origamilevi

Congratulations to iNat user Levi Smith (@origamilevi) for winning the March 2024 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photograph of Bug-on-a-stick received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

Bug-on-a-stick is not actually a bug on a stick, but a unique-looking moss (Buxbaumia aphylla) found in temperate regions across the world. Named for its tiny fungus-like stalk and capsule that looks like a bug perched on the end of a stick, this moss is a pioneer species that likes disturbed soil with minimal competition from other plants. After the snow melts in the spring, green stalks and capsules begin to appear, turning coppery red as they mature. With any luck, you might find these elusive mosses in the forest growing from the decaying wood of old logs or along the edges of creeks.

Smith was also the recipient of the 2022 Youth Community Scientist of the Year Award and was the subject of an article in Fall 2022 Field Notes.

Volunteer Opportunities

Mountain Birdwatch scientists on their survey routes

Interested in becoming a community scientist (or finding a new community science project)? We're looking for volunteers! Check out some of the cool opportunities below.

Eastern Whip-poor-will surveys

Backyard Tick Project (in search of properties to survey)

Pollinator Interactions on Plants

Mountain Birdwatch surveys

2nd Vermont Butterfly Atlas

Go ALL IN with VCE and Double Your Impact

Be on the lookout for these Blackpoll Warblers!

We believe in the power of community science to guide conservation. In that same spirit of community, we invite you to join us in one of the most ambitious undertakings in VCE’s 16-year history: our ALL IN for Biodiversity fundraising campaign!

This $5 million campaign is fueling scientific discovery and conservation planning through strategic investments in pioneering science, on-the-ground conservation, and more inclusive community engagement, and you can help with a gift today!

The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation is matching ALL IN gifts, dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $50,000. What a great opportunity to double your conservation impact!

The ALL IN for Biodiversity campaign will close when the Blackpoll Warblers return to central Vermont. They haven’t arrived yet, so there’s still time to participate and double the impact of your gift.

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.