Journal archives for August 2015

August 3, 2015

Help Document Painted Turtles Missing from Towns

Vermont has a total of seven native turtle species. Painted Turtles are one of our most common turtle species. Yet, there are 64 towns without a verified Painted Turtle observation. Many of these are central Vermont mountain towns where Painted Turtles are likely to be less abundant, but they may well be present. Your mission is to find and document this turtle in the missing towns for the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, a project begun in 1994 to map the distribution of all reptiles and amphibians in the state.

Painted Turtles can frequently be seen basking on logs or rocks in or along still water lakes and ponds. They are unusual in that hatchlings usually overwinter in the nest underground before emerging the following spring.

Check out the list of 64 towns with missing observations listed below and get out and explore, photograph and submit your sightings to iNaturalist Vermont. All observations in iNaturalist are shared with the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas and added to their database. But don't just limit yourself to the missing towns. Photos of any turtle species from any place in Vermont help us to understand their distribution now and compare changes in the future.

Towns Missing Painted Turtle Reports:

Andover
Averill
Averys Gore
Baltimore
Barre City
Barton
Bethel
Bridgewater
Brookline
Brownington
Burke
Canaan
Chester
Danville
Dover
East Haven
Fayston
Glover
Granby
Granville
Guildhall
Hancock
Hardwick
Ira
Killington
Kirby
Lemington
Mendon
Middlesex
Middletown Springs
Montgomery
Mount Holly
Newbury
Newport Town
Northfield
Norton
Orange
Plymouth
Readsboro
Rochester
Rupert
Searsburg
Shrewsbury
Somerset
St. Johnsbury
Stannard
Stockbridge
Stratton
Sutton
Tinmouth
Topsham
Troy
Vergennes
Waitsfield
Wardsboro
Warners Grant
Washington
Waterbury
Westfield
Westmore
Weston
Whitingham
Wilmington
Woodford

Posted on August 3, 2015 03:51 PM by kpmcfarland kpmcfarland | 0 comments | Leave a comment

August 6, 2015

July Photo-observation of the Month Winner

Congratulations to Julie Filiberti for winning the July 2015 iNaturalist Vermont photo-observation of the month contest. Her image of a fly covered moose staring back was the most popular shot as measured by 'favs'. Check it out at http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1745879.

You can vote for the August winner by clicking fav on your favorite photo-observation on iNaturalist Vermont. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you and submit it to iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life, and you could be a winner this month!

Posted on August 6, 2015 02:18 PM by kpmcfarland kpmcfarland | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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