Patience and Loon Watching

Volunteers spread across the state today to survey most of Vermont's larger ponds and lakes.  It was a gorgeous day with only a slight wind in some areas.  I made my way up to Great Averill Lake for long paddle starting around 7:30 a.m.  The north pair near the boat access did not nest this year, but usually pairs stay around through the summer.  I scanned the calm waters for 15 minutes from shore but did not see any loons.  Are the birds off visiting the "inlet" pair further south or did they fly over to Little Averill?  I then paddled south with a few zigs and zags across the wide lake.   I probably paddled close to 4 miles in this pattern to cover the shores and open water on this 2.5 mile long lake.  I had observed the "inlet" pair and a chick 10 days ago, so was hoping to still find them.  After an hour of paddling, I had heard one loon call but had observed nothing on this prime loon lake.  Where are they? Finally, at the furthest end near the Quimbys Resort boat house, I finally picked out the gray fluff of a chick 10 feet off shore; a minute later I see an adult head.  It took several more minutes to realize there were 2 adults continually diving and surfacing with minnows for the chick.  Despite having just a bit of experience looking for loons, loons are difficult to pick out when 1) they are near shore and 2) when diving frequently.  I paddle back north more directly and this time decide to paddle closer to the far north shore.  A single loon is moving along 15 feet off shore; all I see is the black head briefly.  Was this bird there almost 2 hours ago when I thought I had scanned the area thoroughly.  It probably was.  I unloaded the boat and took one more good scan of where I last saw the loon; the mate was there too.  I had also missed that one earlier.   It pays to spend the extra time and take the extra look.  Over the next week, reports will be coming in via mail, email, and phone on what everyone saw.  It's always enjoyable to see where loons are congregating in larger numbers, where the pairs are holding their territory well, and which lakes have loons for the first time.   Thanks everyone.  E. Hanson.

Conflict Avoidance: loons and loons

A non-breeding loon, a.k.a intruder, was observed on 35-acre Zack Woods Pond several times this June.  The bird was identifiable by the color-bands on its legs.  (I have contacted BioDiversity Research Institute to find out where this loon was originally banded.)   On 7 July, Alexis, a Green River State Park intern, found this loon 30 feet from the water on the main path to the pond.  Loons usually beach themselves only when they are sick, injured, or exhausted from chases with other loons.  I drove down an hour later but the bird had left the access area.   We found the loon on another shoreline, but while I was taking a photo, it clamored back into the water.   Its first dive was over 40 seconds long, a sign the loon was relatively healthy.  Diseased and compromised loons often never dive, and if they do, the dives are usually short and shallow.  The bird also had a strong wing flap when preening showing no signs of wing injury.  Alexis thought the bird must be hurting because it floated so low in the water.  A loon pair on a small pond like Zack Woods will pursue an intruder until it leaves; this bird was keeping a low profile.

Two days later, Sue Premo and Phil Etter, founders of the Friends of Zack Woods Pond, made at trip to check on the bird.  In the glare of the sunrise, Sue almost tripped over the loon not seeing it until too late.  The loon proceeded to climb up behind an exposed tree root 100 feet down the shore, where I found it four hours later.  I thought the bird was dead.  It wasn’t.   After placing it in a cardboard box, the loon proceeded to peck huge holes in the box indicating that was full of life. 

My hunch is that this loon had been exploring the idea of a takeover but lost.  He or she was now too exhausted to actually take flight from the pond and any activity on the open water to preen, fish, or try to fly would bring on another chase from the resident pair.  It had had enough and beached itself to avoid conflict.  We also discovered that one eye was cloudy in color based on a photo taken by Phil Etter.  Dr. Mark Pokras, Tufts University Wildlife Veterinarian, thinks the eye might be blind from a traumatic cataract obtained in a loon fight.  Can a one-eyed loon survive?  To give it the best chance, I released the loon across the road on 20-acre Mud Pond where hopefully it can be at peace from chases and either recover or live out its days.  A week after we caught and moved the loon (July 15), it was still swimming about Mud Pond, but did look like it was having difficulty catching food.  The loon was not diving, just swimming with its head down trying to nab minnows.  We usually allow “natural” conflicts like this to play out on their own, but it’s also human nature to assist when we have the chance.  I wish there was more we could do, but sometimes we have to just sit back and watch. 

Other loons in trouble:
Volunteers on Seymour Lake were able to catch a loon that had become entangled in ribbons, string, and other remnants of 4th of July festivities.  Ron Frascoia had assisted me about 10 years ago catching a loon caught in fishing line, thus he knew the basic procedures.  Thanks Ron and friends for giving that loon a second chance.  Another loon was reportedly caught in fishing line on Echo Lake in Charleston, but today George Thompson and I found six healthy adults.  Hopefully the line fell off.  And another loon is lethargic near shore on Peacham Pond this morning because of territorial battles.  Hopefully that situation will resolve itself.

Surveying Butterflies in the Alpine Zone

Brendan Collins surveying butterflies.

Two butterflies occur only in the Presidential Range alpine zone in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The White Mountain Arctic (Oeneis melissa semidea) and the White Mountain Fritillary (Boloria titania montinus) are confined to just the 1,000 hectare alpine zone centered on Mount Washington. While these fragile animals have persisted here since the last glaciation left them behind, their future is uncertain due to their restricted habitat and possible changing environment. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department listed the arctic as threatened and the fritillary as endangered on September 20, 2008.

Building off our past surveys in 2003 and 2008, VCE in cooperation with the White Mountain National Forest, has embarked on a 2-year project to better understand the population size and habitat use of the White Mountain Fritillary. We completed our first surveys of the year last week under deep blue skies and warm temperatures, perfect for butterflies. Hiking to random survey points scattered across the alpine zone is no easy task for our biologists. They logged many rugged miles of hiking, endured bothersome black flies, and ended each day exhausted. The fritillary is just beginning its annual flight. We were able to find about a dozen fresh adults nectaring among the alpine flowers.

In the 1880s the great lepidopterist Samuel Scudder wrote, “Probably no wandering collector has often seen more than eight or ten of these butterflies in a day’s scramble among the mountains …”. Later he wrote, “The [butterfly] indeed seems really doomed to destruction. In the scanty numbers that one may find upon the mountain slopes, one sees the sign of their early departure; for, in the many years that I have searched for them with special pains, I have never seen more that a dozen or two specimens in a single day.”  Over a hundred years later his words still ring true. But we hope in a hundred more they’ll still be bouncing from one alpine flower to the next, perhaps with a little help from us.

Sound and Sustainability: National Park Artist Exhibit and New Studio Opening Featuring Some of VCEs Work

On Sunday, July 15th from 3:00-6:00PM visiting Artist in Residence Andrea Polli will unveil the culminating exhibit of her multimedia exploration called “What do you Hear” at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont. 

The project includes a series of fanciful sculptural 'listening vessels' loosely based on the late 19th century acoustic devices and a sound installation calling attention to the tragic disappearance of native bat populations in New England. The exhibit coincides with the opening of the park’s new Pony Barn Studio, a historic barn remodeled in to an artist in residence workspace using sustainable design approaches that are both beautiful and functional.

Polli’s glass listening vessels are designed to resonate with the park, to create an interactive, playfully experience that focuses on the importance of the soundscape of this national treasure and other Vermont green spaces. The devices were inspired by Helmholtz resonators, an object that exploits the phenomenon of air resonance in a cavity, such as when one blows across the top of an empty bottle. They were created in the 1850s by the German engineer and scientist Hermann von Helmholtz in order to identify the frequencies or pitches present in music and other complex sounds.

Polli will also present work in collaboration with park scientists.  Over the past 5 years North American bats have been defenseless against an infectious killer leading to the worst epidemic of wild mammals ever observed on this continent. This white nose fungus has killed a vast majority of the once-thriving bat population in the state of Vermont. Although bat vocalizations are inaudible to human ears, contemporary ultrasound recording technology and computer analysis has allowed scientists to study these calls and associated bat behavior.

Prior to the white nose fungus epidemic in 2001, conservation biologist Kent McFarland from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and resource manager Kyle Jones recorded bat calls in the park as part of a wildlife survey. In 2011 they recorded the calls again and found a 97% decline in detection. Polli will arrange these recordings and other park sounds into an ambient soundscape installation highlighting the fascinating complexity of these calls.


The acoustic exhibit will be installed in the new Pony Barn Studio, an historic barn in the center of the park that has been remodeled to serve as a work space for visiting artists and park programs. The Studio is completely off-the-grid, powered by solar panels and heated with a wood stove. The interior has been refurbished using wood harvested from the park.
The Studio is a partnership project of the NPS and Woodstock Foundation, Inc. The project was designed and managed by Smith, Alvarez, and Sienkiewycz Architects from Burlington with general contracting services provided by Corner Stone from Reading, MA.  

Andrea Polli is a digital media artist and Associate Professor of Art and Ecology with appointments in the College of Fine Arts and School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico.  She holds the Mesa Del Sol  Endowed Chair of Digital Media and directs the Social Media Workgroup, a lab at the University's Center for Advanced Research Computing. Her work with science, technology and media has been presented widely in over 100 presentations, exhibitions and performances internationally, has been recognized by numerous grants, residencies and awards.

The Art and Conservation Stewardship program is a partnership of K2 Family Foundation and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. By working with contemporary artists, the park and foundation hope to help extend the conversation between artists, land, and audience. The program provides each artist with the time and space needed to explore new conservation thoughts and ideas in their own artistic manner. For more information about the Art and Conservation Stewardship program, visit www.k2ff.org. 

The exhibit opening on July 15 will include a free reception from 3:00-6:00PM to celebrate Polli’s work and the opening of the new Pony Barn Studio. After July 15th both the listening vessels and sound installation will be accessible in the Pony Shed Studio.  Please contact the park at (802) 457-3368 ext. 22 for more information and visiting hours. 

Got Bats? New Rule Protects Vulnerable Bats with Restriction on Exclusion; White-nose Syndrome Documented in Another New Hampshire County

Are you planning to remove bats from your property? Be aware that a new rule designed to protect bats prohibits the exclusion of bats from unoccupied structures by licensed Wildlife Control Operators from May 15 through August 15, unless the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services has documented a rabid bat on the property. The rule was established this year in response to growing concern for the status of many of New Hampshire's bat populations, which have been decimated by white-nose syndrome (WNS) in recent years.

Bats in New Hampshire have suffered greatly as a result of white-nose syndrome. Populations of five of the state’s eight species of bats have plummeted, with hibernating numbers of the once-common little brown bat plunging over 99%, according to Emily Brunkhurst, a biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program.

"This rule helps protect our remaining bat populations during the time when they are raising young," said Brunkhurst. "While this measure is certainly helpful, we strongly urge people to avoid evicting bats from any structure, occupied or otherwise, during the summer months. Our bats are in big trouble, and, this is something concrete you can do to help them survive."

WNS was recently found for the first time in Rockingham County, bringing the total number of New Hampshire counties where the deadly bat disease has been found to four.

"It was very sad to see bats with white muzzles this winter in a new county. So far we only know the fungus is on the bats, but not if they are severely infected. We had no dead bats to test, which is good. We will continue to monitor these hibernating bat colonies to see how they do," said Brunkhurst.

There are indications that some bats are surviving several years of exposure to WNS. Bats in a maternity colony in Fort Drum, N.Y., have returned to breed for at least three years in a row. There are also a small number of bats still hibernating in three of the New York caves where WNS was first found. A new banding effort this year may provide some insight into whether the returning bats are the same individuals.

In New Hampshire, biologists are continuing to investigate some World War II bunkers where bats hibernate, to see if these may be serving as refuges from the fungus. In March 2011, biologists banded several bats there and tested them for the fungus. Unfortunately, five bats did test positive for the fungus, and yet they looked healthy. This year, nine banded bats returned to the bunkers, including three northern long-eared bats, one of the species hardest hit by WNS.

"Two of the returning bats had previously tested positive for the fungus, so it was encouraging to know they had survived," said Brunkhurst. "In March, we again tested big brown and long-eared bats for the fungus, and banded those we could reach. Sadly, three new bats showed visible fungus, and we will not be able to track them over time, as they were up on a high ceiling and could not be captured for banding. Perhaps this year's early spring helped them survive, as they could get food earlier than usual."

So far, there has been no success with finding a treatment for WNS, and the disease continues to appear in new bat colonies across the country every winter; it has spread from the Northeast through the Midwest and arrived in states in the Deep South and west of the Mississippi River this year.

"Summer surveys are echoing what winter ones have shown us, that there are few bats left in the skies over New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire," said Brunkhurst. "But there are ways that you can help. If you have a bat colony, please allow it to remain. If you need to remove it, please do not do so until after the bat pups are ready to fly off. They need the roost for a week or so after they learn to fly, for protection during the day. By mid-August, they will have left with their mothers to fatten up and seek winter shelter. Then you can plug up those access holes."

To learn more about New Hampshire's bats, white-nose syndrome, and how you can help, visit http://www.wildnh.com/Wildlife/Nongame/bats.html.