Category Archives: Conservation

What’s Not To Love About Loons?

My dentist lives on a nearby lake (Elmore) so while I was being examined by him the other day, I asked if the ice was out yet. He replied “No, but isn’t it amazing – the first day it’s gone … Continue reading

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Drilling for “oil” in the nursery

A disturbing article on the effect of tar sands on birds from Canadian blogger Sharon McInnes: Some of Enbridge’s oil tanks are decorated with illustrations of lovely Canada Geese in flight. Let’s just hope they don’t land in the tar sands … Continue reading

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Declining Grassland Birds & Pesticides

A new paper by Canadian scientists Pierre Mineau and Mélanie Whiteside identifies pesticide toxicity to birds as an important factor in grassland bird declines. “Pesticide Acute Toxicity is a Better Correlate of U.S. Grassland Bird Declines than Agricultural Intensification” was … Continue reading

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Bryan Pfeiffer Takes A New (old) Trail

Bryan Pfeiffer is a well-known Central Vermont writer, naturalist, photographer and educator.  Many of us have enjoyed his bird walks/tours, his humor-filled lectures, and his photographic skills.  His blog post the other day caught many of us by surprise — not … Continue reading

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A Birder’s Band for Vermont?

The onset of waterfowl hunting has spawned a lively discussion on VTBirds about ways for birders to get more credit for supporting conservation efforts.  As I blogged last month, we get little respect from our contributions for Federal duck stamps … Continue reading

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Won’t Get Fooled Again

I’m heading to Massachusetts next week and plan to do some birding and the Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” comes to mind.  Here’s the way I described it a couple of years ago: “Camera ready, I walked through the … Continue reading

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Decline of American Kestrels

“One autumn day, 15 years ago, I found myself perched on a ladder that was leaning against a highway sign on Interstate 89 somewhere in Vermont. There was a wooden box clamped to one of the sign poles at least … Continue reading

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Introducing the Birds of Paradise

This fall, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Geographic are bringing the Birds-of-Paradise Project to the public with a coffee-table book, a major exhibit at the National Geographic Museum (opening November 1), a documentary on the National Geographic Channel … Continue reading

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Do You Drink Bird-Friendly Coffee? Cornell Offers Guidance

Imagine you walk into the neighborhood coffee house for your morning cup of joe, and on the counter is a tip jar with a sign reading, “$ for wintering warblers” with a photo of a Chestnut-sided Warbler in a tropical … Continue reading

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Duck, Geese — Hunting Season is Near

I have been reading Julie Zickfoose’s fine book, The Bluebird Effect.  It’s a series of stories about bird rehabilitation and observation and is the kind of book that is nice to take your time reading.  I have it on the iPad … Continue reading

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