Date: 7/21/26 2:58 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Costa Rica 2027
*Costa Rica Natural History and Birding Adventure:*
* April 10 – 19, 2027*
*Arenal Volcano Extension April 19 - 22, 2027*
*Away from tourist centers: 300 species of birds in twelve days,
crocodiles, red-eyed tree frogs, toads the size of sneakers, tapirs,
anteaters, and four species of monkeys. Neotropical otters. Coatimundis.
Tayra. Kinkajou. We’ll visit cloud forests, old-growth jungles, timberline,
both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, boat rides down remote rivers, and
along the southern Pacific coast.*
*Leaders:*
*1) Ted Levin—*Ted is a lifelong naturalist, whose work has appeared in
Houghton-Mifflin’s *the Best American Sports *Writing, *The New York Times*
, *The *Guardian, *Audubon Magazine*, *Sports Illustrated*, *The Boston
Globe Magazine*, *National Geographic Traveler*, and *OnEarth,* among many
other publications. He is the author of eleven books, including *Liquid
Land: A Journey Through the Florida Everglades*, the 2004 Burroughs Medal
winner, the highest honor given to an American nature writer. *Forbes*
chose *America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber *Rattlesnake, one
of the ten finest conservation books of 2016. *The Promise of Sunrise:
Finding Solace in a Broken World* was published in 2026. This will be Ted’s
tenth trip to Costa Rica, including hosting Vermont Public’s Citizens of
the World Tour in 2010.
*Email: **<tedlevin1966...>* <tedlevin1966...>
*cellphone: 802 399 9398*
*2) Gil Calvo— *A naturalist and Neotropical birder extraordinaire, Gil has
created & led custom natural-history tours throughout Costa Rica for 30
years, including four with Ted for Hanover High School, Hanover, NH. In
2000, inspired by a lifelong passion for his native country, Gil created
Tropical Advisors Costa Rica, Inc. (formerly Tropical Angel Travel). Today,
Tropical Advisors has evolved into one of Mesoamerica’s premier custom tour
companies.
Date: 7/14/26 8:38 am From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: [VTBIRD] birds and lovers
Just a Simple Love Affair, the third novel in the series “Love Stories of the Burlington Bird Club”, can now be ordered through most independent bookstores, or online through Barnes and Nobel, iTunes, Google Books, Kobo (e-book only), Amazon, Walmart, BooksAMillion, and Indie Bound. Vermont’s own BBC is fictitious, as are all the birders, but the birds and birding locations are real – and each book has a happy ending!
My first bird-themed historical novel, Sagebrush Sojourn, was also released recently. The book takes place in central Montana in 1890 and features a young woman who accompanies her grandfather after he is hired to do the first scientific census of birds in the area. (I apologize for the cover illustration! It’s instantly recognizable as Wyoming, even though I contacted the publisher twice and asked for buttes rather than mountains.)
Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
Date: 7/14/26 5:22 am From: Kent McFarland <kmcfarland...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Annual Vermont Moth Blitz 2026 (July 18-26)
Explore Vermont's astounding moth diversity! By participating in our annual
Moth Blitz, you will help the Vermont Moth Atlas
<https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vermont-atlas-moth/%20> develop a
better understanding of the moths that call the Green Mountain State home.
Over 2,000 moth species have been documented in Vermont with new species
being found all the time. Who knows, maybe you will find one! We encourage
everyone, from experts to amateur enthusiasts, to find, photograph, and
share their moth discoveries with the Vermont Moth Blitz during National
Moth Week (July 18-26). Can we beat last years' tally?
On a warm July night in Vermont, hundreds of people do something most would
find unusual: they leave their porch lights on, set up white sheets in
their yards, and wait. They're counting moths. What started in 2018 with 92
dedicated observers has grown into a statewide effort involving over 300
participants, collectively logging more than 29,000 observations across
700+ species. The Annual Vermont Moth Blitz has quietly become one of the
state's most productive community science programs — and eight years of
data are starting to paint a compelling picture of Vermont's moth diversity.
____________________________
Kent McFarland (he/him)
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
PO Box 420 | Norwich, Vermont 05055
Date: 7/14/26 5:10 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] 14 July 2026: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), WRJ
4:47 a.m.—a full thirty-four minutes before the sun breaks the horizon.
Woke to robins heralding the dawn, an hour before sunlight, their songs
stitching the velvet dusk, wide, luminous eyes gathering light. Through the
cranked-open windows, the bedroom fan off, robin song is
inescapable—especially the one serenading on the pergola outside my
bedroom. In the woods, a hermit thrush duets with himself, one bird, two
simultaneous threads of music, soft, rich, refreshing by comparison to
compulsively vocal robins.
The density of daybreak: a sky on fire. Orange. Purple. Pink. Color
stretches northwest above Jericho Hill and beyond. Brushstrokes. Pastel
purple clouds edged in pink. Swirls and windrows. Since I cannot paint, I
stand still, metabolizing sunrise ... my day invigorated. (Though a nap is
never far off.)
5:03 a.m., uphill, beyond my driveway, red-eyed vireos relieve robins,
making up in numbers and duration what they lack in volume. Woodland
elevator music. Southeast Alaska has been spared red-eyed vireos ... a
fortunate occurrence. With the nearly unending daylight, vireos would have
had the opportunity to sing twenty hours a day.
Red-flowering raspberry blooms along the roadsides, shades of sunrise.
Fruit bland as straw. Robins like it. Perhaps that's why they sing robustly.
A doe runs across the meadow. Dissolves into hemlock shade. Whitetails are
the oldest deer species in the New World. Black-tailed deer, the species
that pogo (biologists call the gait *stotting)* through the temperate
rainforests of southeast Alaska, evolved from ancestral whitetails two
million years ago. Mule deer, an open-country race of blacktails that
populate the arid West, are a backcross of black- and white-tailed deer and
are of hybrid origin, perhaps dating to as recently as 7,000 years ago,
thousands of years after the domestication of dogs. A byproduct of the end
of the Ice Age. Even red brocket deer of Mesoamerica evolved from ancestral
white-tailed deer. The generous spread of DNA, and, in the case of mule
deer, another example of the importance of hybridization in the evolution
of animals, once thought of as the realm of plants.
A flock of more than thirty common grackles, a dark cloud—a shaft of autumn
through the heart of summer—noisy and nosy. All over my deck and lawn,
lining the railing and the backs of the porch furniture. Cleaning up
spilled sunflower seeds. Long-tailed, iridescent, garrulous shopvacs. Most
of what they eat is a gift from the three-year-old black bear that walked
across my deck and took down my feeder yesterday, spilling seeds
everywhere. When I appeared on the deck, the bear sauntered off like a
familiar dog, slow and methodical, downhill toward my neighbor's berry
patch.
Among the birds: mourning dove, cooing in on naked, uppermost branch of a
roadside maple; tree swallow; blue-headed vireo; house wren; black-capped
chickadee; tufted titmouse; white-breasted nuthatch; red-breasted nuthatch
(chicks fluttering the feeder almost fly into my face); American crow
(three pester a broad-winged hawk); common raven; bluejay; wood thrush;
grey catbird; bluebird; common yellowthroat; ovenbird; black-throated green
warbler; pine warbler; indigo bunting; cedar waxwing; song sparrow;
chipping sparrow, recently fledged (still fluffy), hopping on the road,
paying me no mind; dark-eyed junco (fledged all four chicks from the plant
hanging from my pergola); red-wing blackbird; eastern towhee. Clouds of
American goldfinches, a meadow on the wing.
Thirty-two bird species, one mammal (and the aftermath of yesterday), and
the first monarch butterfly of the season.
Date: 7/13/26 4:38 am From: Miriam Lawrence <mirslamlawrence...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Golden-winged Warbler in Monkton
Heard a Golden-winged Warbler at our place in Monkton this morning (we’re just south of the Hinesburg/Monkton line). I’ve heard/seen them at Geprags Park in Hinesburg but I verified with Merlin to check myself because we’ve never had them here before.
Wasn’t able to get a visual, and the singing stopped after a few minutes so I think it must have been just passing through.
Date: 7/12/26 7:53 pm From: Ken Copenhaver <copenhvr...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Missisquoi NWR Bird Monitoring Walk
Please join us for our monthly bird monitoring walks on the refuge. Ken Copenhaver and Julie Filiberti lead the walks on various refuge trails on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December and May, when it is on the 2nd Saturday). The purpose of the walks is to gather long-term data on the presence of birds, their abundance, and changes in populations. Observations are entered into the Vermont eBird database, where the Cornell Lab of Ornithology stores the data. These walks are appropriate for birders of all skill levels and provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about birds throughout the seasons. After 195 months of walks, we have recorded 170 species of birds.
This month's walk will be on *Saturday, July 18, from 8:00 to 10:00 AM a**t the Old Railroad Passage Trail*. Meet at the parking lot on Tabor Rd, about 1 mile south of the Refuge Visitor Center.
*Trail Description**:* The walk begins at a gravel parking lot and proceeds on a grassy path to the old railroad bed. From here, the trail is level except for a short section that loops away from the rail bed, up a short rise (where there is a bench at the top), and back down again to the rail bed. The remainder of the trail is level, but the trail's surface is uneven and has exposed tree roots. If we go the whole way to the end of the trail, the distance out and back is about 2.4 miles.
*Trail Conditions:* Since the grass at the beginning section of the trail could be dewy or wet from recent rain, waterproof boots or hiking shoes are advised.
If you have any questions, contact me at <copenhvr...>
Date: 7/9/26 6:19 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] 09 July 2026: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), WRJ
At 4:37 a.m., with the bedroom windows open, an American robin alarm
sounded forty minutes before the sun. I rose reluctantly, still held in the
heavy sway of jet lag from a journey that took me through Juneau,
Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Point, Anchorage, and the Olympic Peninsula.
Whether from the decks of the Silver Moon along the Inland Passage, the Hoh
Rainforest, in Olympic National Park, or here in the Vermont dawn, these
birds have remained a constant chorus on either side of North America.
The morning is sixty-three degrees with a gentle southern wind. To the
northeast, thin blue-gray clouds merge with the ridgeline, leaving Mount
Cube and Moosilaukee lost in a meteorological bruising. As a bright quarter
moon tips southward, the thick fog haunting the White and Connecticut
rivers vanishes, receding much like the Mendenhall Glacier I recently
witnessed. (Wolves and black bears patrol beneath a forest of Sitka spruce
and emerging western hemlock that, fifty years ago, was a river of receding
ice.)
Now, the colors of sunrise bloom over Smarts Mountain in a blend of pale
pink and orange.
In the uncut meadows, vetch, yarrow, and oxeye daisy are alive with
goldfinches. After nearly a month in the Pacific Northwest, I left my bird
feeders idle; once refilled, the sunflower-bright goldfinches returned
within the hour, followed by chickadees and blue jays the next day. While
the robins begin their third clutch, the goldfinches have yet to nest and
wander meadow to meadow harvesting seeds.
The morning procession unfolds in steady increments:
- 4:59 a.m.: Red-eyed vireos and tufted titmice joined the robins.
- 5:03 a.m.: An American crow called out, its pitch distinct from its
Alaskan cousins. Birds, like people, carry regional accents.
- 5:12 a.m.The acoustical floodgates opened with veeries, indigo
buntings, song sparrows, and the inventive and nonstop song of the grey
catbird.
- 5:17 a.m.: Rose-breasted grosbeak, sweet as ever.
- 5:21 a.m.: Northern cardinal.
- 5:28 a.m.: Chestnut-sided warbler and chipping sparrow
- 5:31 a.m.: A great crested flycatcher and a northern yellow warbler
offered a study in contrast—one gruff, the other sweet.
- 5:35 a.m.: On the top of Hurricane Hill, the pine warbler still sings
(louder and less musical than I recall).
The yellow-bellied sapsuckers had fledged while I was away, leaving behind
a pair of cavities in the aspen that marked their 2025 and 2026 nesting
efforts. Part of the sapsucker superspecies three-pack, red-breasteds of
the temperate rainforest, neon-bright, as yellow-bellieds dipped into
cabernet, were just beginning to nest; our local yellow-bellieds have left
an aspen tree to the elements, to become softer and even easier to excavate
next spring (if it doesn't fall).
- 5:44 a.m.: northern parula warbler and eastern wood pewee join the
chorus.
- 5:45 a.m., a brown creeper wanders up a nearby pine trunk, its song a
mere whisper as the day began in earnest.
Eventually, a broad-winged hawk, pileated woodpecker, mourning dove, common
raven, red-bellied woodpecker, common grackle, cedar waxwing, eastern
bluebird, Baltimore oriole, house finch, red-winged blackbird, scarlet
tanager, blue jay, dark-eyed junco, and both nuthatches, red- and
white-breasted. Thirty-seven species in all.
Sunlight makes the maple canopy gleam, backlit as I pause underneath,
sunshine oozing down the trunk. Living green. Makes oxygen, sequesters
carbon, and is gorgeous ... what more could you want on a cool July morning?
Date: 7/8/26 4:28 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Costa Rica 2027
*Costa Rica Natural History and Birding Adventure:*
* April 10 – 19, 2027*
*Arenal Volcano Extension April 19 - 22, 2027*
*Away from tourist centers: 300 bird species in 12 days, crocodiles,
red-eyed tree frogs, toads the size of sneakers, tapirs, anteaters, and 4
species of monkeys. Neotropical otters. Coatimundis. Tayra. Kinkajou. We’ll
visit cloud forests, old-growth jungles, the timberline, both the Caribbean
and Pacific coasts, and take boat rides down remote rivers along the
southern Pacific coast.*
*Costa Rica Premium Birding and Wildlife Nature Expedition*
This carefully designed birding and wildlife journey is far more than a
standard nature vacation. It is a serious tropical birding expedition
designed for dedicated birders, wildlife photographers, and nature
enthusiasts seeking access to some of the world's richest ecosystems.
From sea level to 12,000 feet, our itinerary covers Costa Rica’s most
productive birding regions, including *Rancho Naturalista in Turrialba*,
the *cloud forests of San Gerardo de Dota*, *Corcovado* and *Puerto Jiménez
in the biologically intense Osa Conservation Area,* the *Central Pacific
region around Tarcoles*, and the *volcanic landscapes of Arenal*.
These locations were selected not simply for comfort or convenience, but
for habitat diversity and birding potential. During a single journey,
participants will experience *Caribbean foothill rainforest*, *cloud forest*
, *Pacific lowland* *forest*, *freshwater wetlands*, *mangroves*, *transitional
forest*, and *primary tropical rainforest*, each with its own distinct
wildlife community and birdlife.
Depending on weather, season, and group pace, our expeditions regularly
produce between 300 and 350 bird species. Among them are many of Costa
Rica’s most sought-after tropical birds, including:
Resplendent Quetzal, scarlet Macaw. Multiple species of toucans and
trogons, motmots, manakins, antbirds, hummingbirds, tanagers, hawks, owls,
cotingas, jacamars, puffbirds, woodcreepers, among other tropical
specialties.
One of the greatest strengths of this program is our collaboration with
highly experienced local birders and naturalist guides throughout the
country. At key destinations we work with specialists who know their
ecosystems intimately and understand the habits, calls, and seasonal
movements of local target species. This greatly increases both the quality
of the experience and the likelihood of exceptional sightings.
Our expeditions regularly produce remarkable encounters with tropical
wildlife, including sloths, four species of monkeys, tapirs, coatimundis,
kinkajou, agoutis, collared peccary, basilisks (two species), iguanas
(three species), poison-dart frogs, red-eyed tree frogs, American
crocodile, spectacled caiman, eyelash viper, scorpion-eating snake, coral
ground snake, fer-de-lance, and a remarkable diversity of tropical
butterflies and moths
Costa Rica remains one of the world’s premier destinations for combined
birding and wildlife observation due to its extraordinary biodiversity,
accessibility, political stability, and long-standing commitment to
conservation.
*The tour price includes*:
1) Professional guiding throughout the expedition
2) Specialized local birding guides
3) All transportation during the tour
4) All hotels and lodges
5) All meals
6) Entrance logistics for included destinations
Carefully planned natural history/birding routes and habitat transitions
This is a premium birding experience designed for travelers who value
expertise, biodiversity, efficiency, comfort, and meaningful access to
world-class tropical ecosystems.
For dedicated birders, photographers, and wildlife travelers, a
multi-region expedition of this type offers exceptional value compared to
many international birding programs.
*Ted Levin*
As a lifelong naturalist and Yankee fan, Ted follows a trail blazed by John
Burroughs and John Muir, neither of whom paid much attention to baseball.
Ted’s work has appeared in Houghton Mifflin’s *The* *Best American Sports
Writing, Audubon*,* Sierra, Sports Illustrated, National Wildlife, OnEarth,
National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Books, Yankee, The New
York Times*, *Newsday*, *The Boston Globe, The Chicago Sun-Times, The
Guardian, and The Daily Telegraph, *among other publications and
anthologies. For twenty-four years, he was a regular commentator on Vermont
Public Radio, and occasionally on NPR. Ted’s books include *Backtracking:
The Way of a Naturalist *(1987), *Blood Brook: A Naturalist’s Home
Ground *(1992),
and *Liquid Land: A Journey Through the Florida Everglades* (2003), among
other works of nonfiction. I received the Burroughs Medal in 2004, the
highest literary honor awarded to an American nature writer. E. O. Wilson
called *America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake *(2016)* a
beautifully written book *[that] *demonstrates just how good nature
literature can be*. Ted's most recent book, *The Promise of Sunrise:
Finding Solace in a Broken World*, was published in 2026. This will be
Ted's tenth trip to Costa Rica, including hosting Vermont Public's Citizens
of the World Tour in 2010.
Together with our Costa Rican team and local specialists throughout the
country, this collaboration creates an immersive field expedition centered
on biodiversity, conservation, and meaningful tropical natural history
observation.
*Gil Calvo*
Costa Rican naturalist guide Gil Calvo has spent more than 30 years
exploring and guiding across Costa Rica's diverse ecosystems, developing
extensive experience in tropical birding, wildlife observation, natural
history, and expedition logistics. He is widely appreciated for his ability
to locate and interpret tropical wildlife in the field, often transforming
an ordinary walk into a rich natural history experience filled with
unexpected discoveries.
Known for his sharp field skills (and humor), deep knowledge of Costa
Rica’s habitats, and passion for tropical biodiversity, Gil specializes in
immersive nature experiences that combine serious birding with broader
wildlife observation and rainforest ecology.
Over the years, Gil has guided birders, photographers, families,
researchers, naturalists, and high school students through Costa Rica’s
most biologically rich regions. His long-standing friendship and 25-year
collaboration with Ted Levin create a uniquely personal and professionally
organized experience that combines local expertise, conservation awareness,
natural history interpretation, and access to some of the finest birding
and most beautiful locations in Central America
Date: 7/6/26 5:14 am From: Veer Frost <0000038039fb4cf6-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Sapsuckers and Colorful Birds -- PHOTOS
It is striking how grounding it feels after taking in these sights of
the ones who fly : ), brilliant Jim, many thanks, Veer, BellowsFalls
On 7/5/2026 at 10:59 AM, "<jim...>" wrote:SCARLET
Tanager, INDIGO Bunting, RED-shouldered Hawk, YELLOW-bellied
Sapsucker, Eastern BLUEbird, RUBY-throated Hummingbird, RED-eyed
Vireo, American GOLDfinch, and even a BLACK Bear. All photos in my
recent blog post are from our Etna, NH yard from June 9 to July 4
except for the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at a nest hole in White River
Junction, VT.
If you are interested you can find the photos here:
Date: 7/6/26 4:46 am From: <kj813...> <0000002d57029402-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Sapsuckers and Colorful Birds -- PHOTOS
These are wonderful. I especially loved seeing the Red-eyed Vireo who we often hear but rarely see. Thank you, Kay in Hinesburg
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
On Sunday, July 5, 2026, 10:59 AM, <jim...> <jim...> wrote:
SCARLET Tanager, INDIGO Bunting, RED-shouldered Hawk, YELLOW-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern BLUEbird, RUBY-throated Hummingbird, RED-eyed Vireo, American GOLDfinch, and even a BLACK Bear. All photos in my recent blog post are from our Etna, NH yard from June 9 to July 4 except for the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at a nest hole in White River Junction, VT.
If you are interested you can find the photos here:
Date: 7/5/26 7:59 am From: <jim...> <jim...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Sapsuckers and Colorful Birds -- PHOTOS
SCARLET Tanager, INDIGO Bunting, RED-shouldered Hawk, YELLOW-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern BLUEbird, RUBY-throated Hummingbird, RED-eyed Vireo, American GOLDfinch, and even a BLACK Bear. All photos in my recent blog post are from our Etna, NH yard from June 9 to July 4 except for the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at a nest hole in White River Junction, VT.
If you are interested you can find the photos here:
Date: 6/30/26 5:17 am From: Toni Mikula <wldlfgrl...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Vermont's Turkey Brood Survey begins July 1
The turkey brood survey runs from July 1 to August 31. During this time, when you see turkeys, particularly hens with or without young, you can go to vtfishandwildlife.com and report your sighting. The turkey brood survey is a citizen science driven effort to monitor the reproductive success of Vermont's turkey flock. There's no account to create or logging in, just visit the website and report your sighting! https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/
Date: 6/28/26 3:57 pm From: R Stewart <2cnewbirds...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Fwd: eBird Report - 324 Morse Hill Rd E. Dorset, Jun 28, 2026
A Triple Play at my feeder today!!
Date: Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Subject: eBird Report - 324 Morse Hill Rd E. Dorset, Jun 28, 2026
324 Morse Hill Rd E. Dorset, Bennington, Vermont, US
Jun 28, 2026 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: 60 - 74 deg. Partly cloudy.
21 species
Mourning Dove 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 1
Wood Thrush 1 Singing mid-day.
American Robin 2
Evening Grosbeak 1 Male at the feeders. Surprise. Presant all
afternoon.
House Finch 5
American Goldfinch 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
* Scarlet Tanager 1 * Male on roost snag by feeder at the same time
EVGR and RBGR were at feeder. What a colorful sighting!!
Northern Cardinal 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 Surprise!
Date: 6/21/26 12:56 pm From: Brenda Detfurth <brenda.detfurth...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] the disappearance of CSWA eggs
Hi Maeve,
I completely understand and would feel exactly the same way! Poor CSWA Mama
and family; I’m sorry for your loss 😞
Warmly,
Brenda
On Sun, Jun 21, 2026 at 12:15 PM Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> wrote:
> Thanks to everyone who responded about the loss of the Chestnut-sided
> Warblers eggs and the possibility of re-nesting.
> I rarely react negatively to predation, and I’m sure the Blue Jay who took
> the eggs thoroughly enjoyed them, but jeezum, they were our babies! And
> that little female had sat on them during very hot sunny days and in
> close-to-freezing downpours!
> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>
> > On Jun 16, 2026, at 5:09 PM, Richard Littauer <
> <richard.littauer...> wrote:
> >
> > I dunno, Maeve, it sounds like a Blue Jay or Crow got to have a nice
> lunch.
> > I'm happy for them. Nice to have a full stomach.
> >
> > This Google Scholar Search says that some papers mention CSWA renesting:
> >
> https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Chestnut-sided+warbler%22+%22renest%22&btnG= > > .
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 8:02 AM Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> wrote:
> >
> >> Chestnut-sided Warblers have nested in our yard for many years (along
> with
> >> catbirds, redstarts, Common Yellowthroats, chickadees, Hairy
> Woodpeckers,
> >> robins and House Wrens). This year, for the first time, we discovered a
> >> nest! Here’s a photo: https://ebird.org/checklist/S357347347 > >> We rerouted our regular path from house to veggie garden so we wouldn’t
> >> agitate the little female. But yesterday I glanced over at the nest, and
> >> it’s empty - no eggs, no egg shells. The birds couldn’t have hatched and
> >> fledged in the last three days, so clearly something got the eggs -
> maybe a
> >> Blue Jay or a crow? Does anyone know if this species renests?
> >> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Richard Littauer | burntfen.com <http://www.burntfen.com> | socials:
> > richard.social
>
Date: 6/21/26 9:15 am From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] the disappearance of CSWA eggs
Thanks to everyone who responded about the loss of the Chestnut-sided Warblers eggs and the possibility of re-nesting.
I rarely react negatively to predation, and I’m sure the Blue Jay who took the eggs thoroughly enjoyed them, but jeezum, they were our babies! And that little female had sat on them during very hot sunny days and in close-to-freezing downpours!
Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
> On Jun 16, 2026, at 5:09 PM, Richard Littauer <richard.littauer...> wrote:
>
> I dunno, Maeve, it sounds like a Blue Jay or Crow got to have a nice lunch.
> I'm happy for them. Nice to have a full stomach.
>
> This Google Scholar Search says that some papers mention CSWA renesting:
> https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Chestnut-sided+warbler%22+%22renest%22&btnG= > .
>
> On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 8:02 AM Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> wrote:
>
>> Chestnut-sided Warblers have nested in our yard for many years (along with
>> catbirds, redstarts, Common Yellowthroats, chickadees, Hairy Woodpeckers,
>> robins and House Wrens). This year, for the first time, we discovered a
>> nest! Here’s a photo: https://ebird.org/checklist/S357347347 >> We rerouted our regular path from house to veggie garden so we wouldn’t
>> agitate the little female. But yesterday I glanced over at the nest, and
>> it’s empty - no eggs, no egg shells. The birds couldn’t have hatched and
>> fledged in the last three days, so clearly something got the eggs - maybe a
>> Blue Jay or a crow? Does anyone know if this species renests?
>> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>>
>
>
> --
> Richard Littauer | burntfen.com <http://www.burntfen.com> | socials:
> richard.social
Date: 6/20/26 4:48 pm From: R Stewart <2cnewbirds...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Mansfield VCE banding
So GREAT to get a working season update on what's going on on Mansfield.
Hoping to read more. I missed this last year. Ruth S.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2026 at 6:54 PM Leslie Dee <ladonawhim...> wrote:
> Thad
>
> Pretty interesting work being done at top of Mansfield.
>
> Leslie
>
> > On Jun 19, 2026, at 2:14 PM, Chris Rimmer <ccrimmer...> wrote:
> >
> > This update isn't exactly hot off the press, but I had an overdue
> reunion
> > tour on Mt. Mansfield early this week with the VCE banding crew of Anna
> > Peel, Desiree Narango, Mike Hallworth, and field intern Jackie Quinones.
> > VCE's work on montane forest birds there, now in its 35th year, continues
> > with a focus both on long-term monitoring and intriguing shorter-term
> > ecological research questions. We operated the usual array of ~30
> > constant-effort mist nets on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, followed
> > by target netting of Bicknell's Thrush and Blackpoll Warbler on
> Wednesday.
> > We captured a total of 76 individuals of 13 species; 35 of these were new
> > bandings and the remaining 41 were recaptures, either from earlier this
> > year or previous years.
> >
> > Totals included:
> > Yellow-belled Flycatcher -- 1 new
> > Red-eyed Vireo -- 1 new female (probably a failed breeder)
> > Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 1 new female
> > Winter Wren -- 2 new males
> > Bicknell's Thrush -- 19 (16 males, 3 females), of which only 4 were new
> > bandings and the rest previously banded. The oldest bird was a male
> banded
> > as a yearling in 2022.
> > Swainson's Thrush -- 5 males (4 new). The lone recapture was of a bird
> > banded last year.
> > American Robin -- 2 new males
> > Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco -- 9 (7 males, 2 females)
> > White-throated Sparrow -- 4 new males
> > Ovenbird -- 1 new female (a probable failed breeder)
> > Magnolia Warbler -- 4 males (2 new, 2 recaps from earlier in June)
> > Blackpoll Warbler -- 18 (14 males, 4 females), of which 8 were new birds
> > and 10 previously banded, several from previous years. The oldest of
> these
> > was a male banded in 2022 as a yearling.
> > Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler -- 8 (6 males, 2 females)
> > Black-throated Green Warbler -- 1 new male; these are now regular on the
> > ridgeline
> >
> > With longtime VCE colleague Bill Deluca of National Audubon, Mike
> Hallworth
> > is spearheading a truly innovative and exciting research project on
> > Blackpoll Warblers. In a continentwide effort to investigate the
> migration
> > patterns and flight altitudes of this diminutive transoceanic migrant,
> > Mike, Bill and others are deploying tiny barometric pressure tags on
> > Blackpolls on Mansfield and 4 other breeding sites from Newfoundland to
> > Alaska. These miniature backpacks will be recovered when the birds
> return a
> > year from now, yielding priceless data that will reveal the intricacies
> of
> > their migrations, with important impacts for siting planned offshore wind
> > developments. Learn more at
> >
> https://www.masscec.com/blog/ocean-science-field-notes-mapping-songbird-migration-routes-and-altitudes-over-atlantic-inform > .
> >
> >
> > VCE's 2026 banding season is off to a strong start, with solid numbers so
> > far of signature montane forest species like Bicknell's Thrush and
> > Blackpoll Warbler. For me, being back up there evoked many fond memories!
> > My dawn opening net run on the Amherst Trail was magical:
> > https://ebird.org/checklist/S358330259.
> >
> > Chris
> > -------------------
> > Chris Rimmer
>
