A Mining Bee (Andrena sp.) hitches a ride on the tail end of an American Emerald in Starksboro, VT. © @bugeyedbernie

Congratulations to @bugeyedbernie for winning the May 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of an unusual insect pair received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

This month’s winning photo observation offers a reminder to look closely and pay attention to behavior to make exciting new discoveries! When Bernie noticed a dragonfly acting strangely on the ground, he got up close with his camera and documented a fascinating interaction between a bee and a dragonfly. Surprisingly, the bee was not shaken loose when the dragonfly took flight, and it’s anyone’s guess exactly what was going on here. Some hypotheses put forth by other naturalists guess that the bee may have been in search of salts, minerals, or other nutrients on a rather unusual substrate; or perhaps this male mining bee was confused by the pheromones exuded by the dragonfly and attempted to mate with it! Either way, this observation goes right up there in the pantheon of odd pairings on iNaturalist, including two of my personal favorites: a Wood Frog embracing a Spotted Salamander and an amorous male American Kestrel flirting with a skeptical Merlin.

With 25,171 observations submitted by 1,971 observers in May, 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!

A rare Yellow-crowned Night-Heron perches in the sun in a Winooski wetland. © @linxlookin

Congratulations to @linxlookin for winning the April 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Their photo of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, a Vermont rarity, received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

Every observation posted to the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist has the power to broaden our understanding of biodiversity, however only a select few observations have the power to excite and mobilize birders across the state! This was the case when an unmistakeable photo of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was posted by a curious naturalist exploring a tucked away wetland in Winooski. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are rare in Vermont, tending to prefer more coastal areas, where they feed primarily on crabs and other crustaceans. Looking back at Vermont eBird data shows only 7 previous confirmed records in the state, with no records since 2015. Shortly after this iNaturalist observation was posted, it was shared across regional birding networks and Vermont birders scoured the wetland at first light the next morning with no sightings. Perhaps this Yellow-crowned Night-Heron dropped in to snack on some crayfish before moving along, or perhaps it was hidden from view deep in the wetland while birders searched for it the next morning; either way, thanks to one community scientist, we know when and where this rare bird stopped in Vermont on its travels.

With 17,566 observations submitted by 1,403 observers in April, 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!

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks exhibit a “Probable” Breeding Code, in this case “C – Courtship, Display or Copulation.” © @ckhunt

Congratulations to @ckhunt for winning the March 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of copulating Red-shouldered Hawks received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

While it may not feel like it some days, spring is in the air and with every minute of lengthening daylight, bird courtship will continue to ramp up. Some species start early, like the Great Horned Owls that are sitting on eggs in the Vermont woods as early as February. Others, such as these Red-shouldered Hawks, begin the process of starting a family a little later, with courtship and copulation taking place in late March and early April. During multi-year breeding bird atlases, such as the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas or the recently wrapped up Maine Bird Atlas, special codes are used to note different types of breeding bird behaviors, and even outside of atlases these codes can be used as a valuable tool to learn more about breeding birds. These include everything from a male and female Northern Cardinal hanging out in a yard together (P – Pair in Suitable Habitat) to a Carolina Wren with a bill full of dried grasses (CN – Carrying Nesting Material) to a chattering tree cavity full of fledgling Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (NY – Nest with Young). To see a full list of these breeding codes and their definitions, click here. Assigning Breeding Codes to birds on a Vermont eBird checklist is more than just a good way to collect data on breeding birds, it is also a great way to focus on the study of bird behavior and to determine what birds might rely on your backyard, your local natural area, or your favorite patch of woods to raise the next generation.

With 3,050 observations submitted by 595 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!

Vermonters now have another excuse to get outside on sunny days: to join a statewide survey of the most angelic insects—butterflies. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) is recruiting volunteers to help search fields and fens, mountains and meadows, and even their own backyards to help document the status of Vermont’s butterflies.

Butterflies were largely a mystery in Vermont before hundreds of volunteer community scientists helped complete the first Vermont Butterfly Atlas (2002-2007), heralding a new era for their conservation. Twenty years later, the second atlas is poised to detect changes in butterfly populations and provide essential information for environmental management and policy.

“The 2nd Vermont Butterfly Atlas is a rare opportunity for us to understand long-term trends in butterfly populations and prescribe conservation actions to both keep common species common and reverse the trends for those in trouble,” said Kent McFarland, VCE biologist and director of the atlas.

The Vermont Butterfly Atlas is a five-year survey completed every 20 years to document the abundance, distribution, and conservation status of butterflies across Vermont with the help of volunteer community scientists. It is part of a network of atlases across the Northeast, spanning from Connecticut through the Canadian Maritimes, and gives a landscape view of the butterfly fauna invaluable for conservation and a priceless snapshot for future comparisons. Vermont is poised to be the first state or province in the region to repeat a butterfly atlas 20 years later.

Most anyone with a sharp eye can contribute. Everyone knows what a butterfly looks like, and many carry a digital camera at all times—their smartphones. With a bit of training, it's easy to watch butterflies and report results to the Vermont Butterfly Atlas at e-Butterfly.org, a worldwide butterfly reporting system built by VCE, the Montreal Space for Life, and other partners. There is even a built-in computer vision system to help users identify the butterflies in their images.

“We’re excited to offer training sessions for new participants at butterfly hotspots across the state as well as online workshops on butterfly atlasing,” said Nathaniel Sharp, VCE biologist and atlas coordinator. “While there are tons of great field guides and online resources listed on our website, getting outside searching for butterflies is the best way to meet other butterfly lovers, learn how to identify our local species, and get motivated to document the butterflies in your neighborhood and beyond.”

Vermont is home to over 100 butterfly species, with several new species discovered by butterfly watchers since the last butterfly atlas, including North America’s largest butterfly, the Eastern Giant Swallowtail.

“Name a color, and you’ll find it on a butterfly's wing,” McFarland said. “Yet butterflies can also tell us a lot about the state of Vermont’s environment under the forces of changing land use practices, climate change, and other human-induced pressures.”

Financial support for the atlas is provided by the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife – State Wildlife Grant, Charles E. & Edna T. Brundage Foundation, Davis Conservation Foundation, the Park Foundation, and individual supporters and donors of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.

To learn more and join the survey, visit https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vermont-butterfly-atlas/.

Friends of Missisquoi NWR is hosting a series of free online events on invasive species. The first session in the series, Invasive Pest and Forest Health, is this Thursday, March 9, at 7:00. Savannah Ferreira, Forest Health Specialist from the VT Agency of Natural Resources will be sharing her knowledge of the destructive pests and pathogens that are threatening Vermont's forests. Learn how to identify the Emerald Ash Borer, the Asian Long-horned Beetle, and other forest invasives, and become aware of what to do if you find them. She will present important identification information that all birders should be aware of when heading out into Vermont forests in order to help keep a look out for these invasive pests. Registration for this event and others in the series can be found at https://friendsofmissisquoi.org/calendar/

A stunning portrait of a Barred Owl dusted with snow. © @ckhunt

Congratulations to @ckhunt for winning the February 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His snowy Barred Owl portrait received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

There’s more than one kind of “snowy” owl in Vermont! Craig’s stunning image of a Barred Owl dusted with snow offers an intimate glimpse at the facial discs surrounding the eyes that funnel sound towards this owl’s highly-sensitive ears. Barred Owls are able to use their heightened auditory abilities to listen for the faint sounds of shrews, mice, and other small mammals, even when they’re under the relative cover of snow. When the snowpack is soft enough, Barred Owls often secure a meal by plunging talons-first, wings-splayed into the snow, leaving behind an unmistakeable imprint and story of a life lost and a meal gained. The Barred Owl is the species of owl most likely to be encountered by people in Vermont, and though they often appear quite comfortable around people, it is important to give them space as you would any wild animal. Thanks to a long telephoto lens, Craig’s photo allows us to appreciate the astonishing details of this owl while it snoozes and relaxes on a snowy February day.

With 2,250 observations submitted by 500 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!

A Ruffed Grouse feeling frugivorous while walking the crabapple tightrope this winter. © @joshualincoln

Congratulations to @joshualincoln for winning the January 2023 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His image of a Ruffed Grouse taking advantage of a mid-winter food source received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

A Ruffed Grouse’s diet is usually quite high in fiber, and in winter they can be found foraging on the buds, twigs, and catkins of trees and shrubs. Thanks to their specially-adapted digestive system, Ruffed Grouse are able to process food sources high in cellulose that many other species avoid, and in turn their scat is easily identifiable when found on the forest floor in winter. Occasionally though, Ruffed Grouse will take advantage of other food sources present in the winter, like the tasty crabapples this individual is seeking out while carefully navigating the thin branches in the treetops to reach for nutritious morsels.

With 1,508 observations submitted by 288 observers in January, 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!

An American Stoat stands out like a sore thumb against the brown hues of a warm Vermont winter. © @cynthiacrawford

Congratulations to @cynthiacrawford for winning the December 2022 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! Her photo of an American Stoat received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

For the second month in a row, a snowy-white mustelid has won the top slot of photo-observation of the month! This time, with the tail of the weasel visible in photographs, we can be fairly certain that this species is Mustela richardsonii, also known as the American Stoat or Short-tailed Weasel. Looking at the surroundings of this stoat, we can see a classic example of what’s known as a phenological mismatch. In this case, the diminished snow cover across much of Vermont this winter has rendered this species’ sparkling white camouflage nearly useless. With the amorphous white landscape of snow replaced at least for now by brown tangles of sticks and thickets, this weasel will have to be extra cautious to avoid predators and sneak up on its prey successfully.

With 2,375 observations submitted by 257 observers in December, 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!

Peek-a-boo! A weasel curiously pokes its head out from behind a spruce in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. © @sdarmstadt

Congratulations to @sdarmstadt for winning the November 2022 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of a wily weasel received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month.

It seems cuteness outweighed the need for a species ID this November when it comes to deciding on the photo observation of the month! The winning observation of a weasel will remain unidentified in all likelihood, as the two possible species in Vermont – the Long-tailed Weasel (Neogale frenata) and the American Stoat (Mustela richardsonii) – are quite similar, and can only be safely differentiated by their tail length. These two species are ferocious predators, capable of taking down prey many times their size. Their pursuit of prey often brings them into contact with humans, and especially during the winter it is not uncommon for a weasel to take up residence in or near a house where mice and kitchen scraps can be a welcome and easily accessible mid-winter food source. This individual though was found and photographed far from human habitation in Vermont’s spruce-fir forest, possibly in search of such large prey as Snowshoe Hare! To see more of Sam’s photos from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, click here.

With 3,442 observations submitted by 534 observers in November, 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!

From Jim Armbruster's observation of a Red Fox in the snow on New Year's morning, to Levi Smith's Tufted Titmouse eating seeds on New Year's Eve, iNaturalists added over 202,000 biodiversity records to our rapidly growing database of life in Vermont in 2022.

Top 10 species reported to iNaturalist Vermont in 2022. Click to on the image to explore at iNaturalist.

The number of observations shared with iNaturalist Vermont each day in 2022.

Amazing observations kept coming all year long. We had 4,756 species verified by 7,661 people, culminating in a total of 202,204 observationsin 2022. Over 4,220 naturalists and experts helped to identify and verify data.

Read the entire Blog post, from interesting findings to special plants, on the Vermont Atlas of Life Blog.