Living

The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) had its second monitoring day for the summer of 2015 on Wednesday, July 1st. As you may recall, a large thunderstorm came through our area Wednesday morning which coincided, rather unfortunately, right with our sampling time. Some volunteers were out before the storm moved through, but about half our sites were not tested due to the inclement weather. Our volunteers are a valuable asset and we never want to risk their safety to get a few water samples!

          Bacteria levels tend to spike following a heavy rain event when more water falls on the ground than can be infiltrated, or soaked into, the ground and it runs off directly into rivers and streams taking everything loose on the ground with it. In the case of impermeable surfaces such as concrete, pavement, and compacted sand or gravel, no water can ever infiltrate and always becomes runoff when it rains.

The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) began its monitoring program for the summer of 2015 on Wednesday, June 17^th. We will be testing 27 sites on eight rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Rock River, North Branch Brook, Williams River (including South Branch and Middle Branch), Saxtons River, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.

Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli, is a bacteria that is found in the guts of all warm blooded animals, including humans. Most E. coli will not make a person sick, but sometimes they can become pathogenic which means they can cause illness. Additionally, the presence of E. coli in waters acts as an indicator for the presence of other, more difficult to test for pathogens. We publish our results to the public in order to help everyone make informed decisions about recreating in Vermont’s waters.

I found a bird this AM that might have an injured wing. I doesn’t try to move away when I approach it on my deck.

It seems to be a mature bird but on the smaller side. It is yellowish-green on top and white on the belly. The edges of the wing have a black and white pattern and it has a rather pointy beak.

It was breathing heavily I think (though maybe not?).

So my question is: Does anyone treat and try to rehabilitate injured or sick birds?
thanks

We’ve always heard birds from our backyard, singing in the woods behind the house, but until this year they never bothered to visit the yard itself.  I attributed this to the presence of cats, who are numerous in these parts, but even with many furry carnivores patrolling the vicinity, the birds have not been deterred this year.  Many varieties of ground feeding bird have been hanging about, including the elusive wood thrush—right here on Cedar Street!