Northern long-eared bat update, November 2020

While COVID-19 did not impact our other wildlife work this spring and summer, it did halt most of our bat research.  We were not able to handle any bats for fear of transmitting COVID-19 to them [...]

Over the summer, we documented 12 spotted turtles at four sites across the island. Two of these records were images people shared with us of spotted turtles they had found – one at a [...]

Spotted turtles are a Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in all 21 states in which they occur. The Status Assessment and Conservation Plan for the Spotted Turtle in the Eastern United [...]

Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) have recorded 224 different species since 1960, including 5 species seen during the count week but not on the count day. That is a shocking [...]

For the last few years, the spring months are a mix of worry and excitement as we focus our attention on maternity season for the rare Northern Long-eared Bat (Northerns) we study and their [...]

We’ve been using radio-telemetry to track the movements and habitat use of four black racers on Martha’s Vineyard. In order to track the racers through several seasons, and learn [...]

Many bats who develop white-nose syndrome face the same rude awakening. Stirred from their slumber by a fungal infection on their bodies, they emerge into a harsh winter landscape where the [...]

In the wee hours of January 5th, 2019, Robert Culbert was out owling to begin his species list for the 59th Annual Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count (MV CBC). He went to [...]

Northern long-eared bats have foregone the Batz Carlton, a fancy hibernation space that Simon Hickman built for them in April, opting instead for the same unfinished cinderblock basement on his [...]

A day in the field for our staff can be filled with many different experiences.  Much of our time is spent focusing intently on reading the behavior, tracks, and sign of beach-nesting birds as [...]