Catching Up

Quite a number of fun natural history highlights have come and gone since my last blog post. Each of the following events of the past month could certainly have been it's own long blog post, but a quick review will have to do. Anyhow, here's a synopsis:

October 2 & 3 - FungiBlitz!
Over 150 people, 16 workshops & forays, and over 117 species of fungi and lichens made our first FungiBlitz a great success! Planned and executed with great help and leadership from others in NBNC, the North Branch Mushroom Club, and volunteers. I only got to go to one workshop, but it was great! Kay taught me tons about lichens!



October 4 - Woolybears!
A sure sign that fall is here. A couple present at NBNC



October 17 - Western Conifer Seed Bug!
Yet another sign of the coming winter... this guy was near a building in South Burlington... I guess it hadn't found its way in yet!



October 21-23 - NEEEA Conference!
After 18 months of planning with a great group of people, we pulled off a great annual New England Environmental Education Alliance conference in Lake Morey, VT. 250+ people, over 40 workshops & field trips, 3 keynotes (Bill McKibben, Peter Forbes, & Dana Hudson). Plus, some great birds including Black and Surf Scoter, Common Loon, Merlin, and others.



November 6 - Champlain Valley Birding
You can never go wrong birding in the Champlain Valley. Started out with the Audubon Group and had over 20 Coot, Pied-billed Grebe and others. The quality birding continued after with Bonaparte's Gulls, Pine Siskin, and a Mockingbird!



November 13 - Long-tailed Duck at Berlin Pond!
I had never seen one of these away from the coast, even though they're not an unusual fall migrant. Got great looks as it approached within 30 feet!