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Join the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz
July 27, 2020Join thousands of volunteers in Canada, Mexico and the United States, from July 24 to August 2, 2020 for the 4th annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz. With limited ability to do field work due to COVID-19 restrictions, researchers need your observations now more than ever.
It’s Not Just You, There Actually Are A Lot More Chipmunks Out There
July 15, 2020If you’ve been spending any time hiking this summer, walking through the woods or even just driving along Vermont roads, you wouldn’t be alone in thinking: Are there chipmunks, like, everywhere this year? We turn to a small mammal biologist for answers. It’s been a good year for chipmunks in the northeastern U.S. A really good year.
Join the Vermont Moth Blitz During National Moth Week July 18-26
July 14, 2020National Moth Week offers everyone, everywhere a unique opportunity to become a citizen scientist and contribute information about moths. You can help map moth species distribution. Just find a moth, snap a photo, and add it to the Vermont Moth Blitz project on iNaturalist!
The Bees of July
July 2, 2020As June fades into July, summer strengthens its grip on the landscape, bringing with it sweltering days and billowing thunderheads. It also means increased bee activity after a month with relatively little. In terms of diversity of genera, July may be the best month for bee watching in Vermont.
The Bees of June
June 3, 2020As spring begins to fade into summer, bee diversity shifts. In fact, June is a slow month for northeastern bee diversity—most of the spring specialists have come and gone, many bumble bee queens are underground laying eggs, and a majority of workers won’t appear in significant numbers until the end of the month. Of course, there are still plenty of bees to find, and several genera appear for the first time in June.
Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas Finds Lost Species
June 2, 2020Over 100 Biologists and citizen scientists have photographed and reported more than 183 lady beetle observations representing perhaps a dozen species to the Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas just since its inception this spring, including one species that hasn’t been seen since 1976!
From Panama to the Arctic a New eButterfly is Here
May 21, 2020It’s been over a year in the making. We’re excited to announce a completely new and retooled eButterfly. Now you can track butterflies you’ve seen from Panama to the Caribbean and north to the far reaches of the arctic, covering over 3,000 species of butterflies.
VCE Kicks Off New Project with Backyard Lady Beetle Blitz in May
May 4, 2020Help us kick launch the Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas. From May 15th to 18th to participate in the Backyard Lady Beetle Blitz. Participating in the Backyard Lady Beetle Blitz is as easy as search, photograph, and upload!
Join the Vermont Spring Backyard BioBlitz on iNaturalist
April 17, 2020Discover the natural world right at home! Though we may be physically distanced this season, we’re still a united community of curious nature lovers and naturalists. From April 20th through May 20th, we invite you to join the Vermont Spring Backyard BioBlitz!
Rare Crested Caracara Visits Vermont
April 17, 2020On March 23, 2018 Mark Bessette surprised the Vermont iNaturalist community. Mark had snapped some photographs of an unusual-looking bird that he dubbed, “Elvis, the juvenile bald eagle.” The bird appeared to have a black wig that reminded Mark of the “King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis Presley. The iNaturalist community was quick to weigh in on the real identity of this bird. To seasoned birders, it easily stood out as a misplaced Crested Caracara.
Discover the Bees in Your Backyard this Spring
April 8, 2020Despite the human world grinding to a halt in the past month, spring is still on schedule. As evidence, two bee species were reported to the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist in March – Frigid Mining Bee (Andrena frigida) and Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) – and many more will soon be flying! Spencer Hardy, VCE’s Vermont Wild Bee Survey Project Coordinator, shares a video from the field, and how you can get involved in the Vermont Wild Bee Survey.
Join Our Spring Wildflower Phenology Annotation Blitz!
April 3, 2020Long-term flowering records initiated by Henry David Thoreau in 1852 have been used in Massachusetts to monitor phenological changes. You can be like Thoreau right from home! There are thousands of images of plants that observers like you have added to the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist. But, they have not been annotated so that we can easily track phenology.
