GMAS had a full roster of spring and summer outings organized and led by Pat Phillips. Our outings took place at Catamount Community Forest, Little River State Park, Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, Butternut Hill, and Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge.
President’s Message Spring 2024
You may have heard about Thirty by Thirty, an intention to conserve 30% of our landscape by 2030. The underlying goal is to preserve biodiversity in the face of climate change and other pressures on natural communities. As a bird enthusiast, I support the general concept of Thirty by Thirty as one means of helping our feathered friends.
Fortunately, Vermont has taken a leading role in this effort. In June 2023 the Vermont Legislature passed the Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act. This Act sets a goal of conserving 30% of Vermont’s landscape by 2030 and conserving 50% of Vermont’s landscape by 2050. This sounds like a challenging set of goals.
Many will agree that we need a challenging set of goals.
Sap and Songbirds
Spring in Vermont often arrives in fits and starts before finally settling into a season that any of us might fully call spring. With an unseasonably warm winter behind us, this spring has decided to play its normal psychological games with us for yet another year. But while the rest of us may be growing anxious for the migrant birds to arrive or for the days of shoveling to be behind us, no one experiences the rollercoaster ride of Vermont spring quite like our sugarmakers.
March Outings Report
On the first Saturday in March, a large contingent of 30 birders ventured out from the Ethan Allen Homestead on the surrounding Intervale trails. This walk, which had been postponed due to frigid temperatures the previous Saturday, began with inauspicious conditions due to strong winds, cloudy skies, and cool temperatures. Some felt that they would be fortunate to see a few bird species, but it seemed that the birds had other ideas.
Welcome New Board Members
GMAS welcomed three accomplished new board members at its January meeting, filling vacancies left by the retirement of several long-term board members. The two women and one man represent a diversity of backgrounds and ages, and they are already hard at work attending outings and serving on committees.
The Morrison Place
On a beautiful fall morning, GMAS members met with Larry Orvis and Matt Leonard for a stroll in the southernmost portion of Camels Hump State Forest. Spanning 3 towns in as many counties (Buells Gore, Starksboro, and Fayston), this 625-acre parcel has been known by locals as The Morrison Place for over a century. Granted to the state in 1936 by Alvah Stevens, the state refers to it as The Stevens Block. By any name, it is a rare gem for birding high in the foothills of the Green Mountains.
Birders were given a rare opportunity to learn personal and “recent” historical accounts from Larry. He is a direct descendant of families who lived here, working small farms and a mill in the 1800s. The group visited apple orchards, haying fields, cellar holes, and a mill where forestry products such as butter bowls were produced (in 1870 by Buell, Thompson & Co.).
Early Winter and Fall Outings
GMAS outings continue to be well attended and are spread out geographically among the three counties to make it easy for as many people as possible to participate. Below are some of the highlights from recent fall and early winter outings:
Twenty-four people covered more than three miles on Shelburne Farms on a mild October day that yielded 26 species, including the usual gulls, loons, and woodpeckers, a few Common Mergansers, some Eastern Bluebirds, and several dozen White-throated Sparrows.