On the Wing: An Intern’s Experience in Bird Research and Conservation

From boating out to Popasquash Island for Common Terns to banding sessions at the Green Mountain Audubon Center to early-morning survey sessions throughout the Champlain Valley, my summer became a season of deeper understanding of fieldwork.  

As an Environmental Studies student at the University of Vermont, I consider experiential learning core to my identity and education. Through UVM’s Fellowship for Restoration Ecologies and Cultures (FREC), a field-based service-learning program oriented in an integrated approach to ecological restoration, I worked directly in UVM’s Carse Natural Area. As I collaborated with my peers and community practitioners, my engagement with field-based restoration broadened, and my desire to learn intensified. The experiences in FREC only deepened my passion for curiosity and field-based study, which have been foundational to my role as a Priority Species Conservation Intern for Audubon Vermont.  

Entering fieldwork at full speed, I was thrown into the ring of the unknown, an exciting realm of discovery that required adaptability, persistence, and resilience. Over the first two days, I monitored the population of the Common Terns on Northern Lake Champlain and conducted a winged warbler survey at Geprags Community Park. In the days that followed, I was energized by the opportunity to diversify my ecological knowledge, to meet a wide array of challenges with resilience and flexibility, and to learn from every encounter. Each day opened my eyes to a professional future in conservation and fieldwork.  

In my role as Priority Bird Conservation Intern, I moved between projects, gaining incredible field experience and the opportunity to work alongside numerous field professionals and local partners. Additionally, learning from Audubon AmeriCorps members, interns, and staff offered other valuable avenues for growth, perspective, and collaboration. I was able to work on many of Audubon Vermont’s priority bird species programs under the guidance of Conservation Program Manager, Mark LaBarr. These projects include:  

• Winged warbler surveys throughout the Champlain Valley. This year we participated in a University of Maine diet study by collecting winged warbler fecal samples. Mark says I became a “pro” at this.
• Common Tern population monitoring on the Champlain Islands to assess predation, population success, and resilience. At the beginning of the nesting season, we placed buoys around the two islands as informational and protective markers. During one of our visits, I was able to hold a chick!
• Building on the work of previous interns by monitoring the migratory patterns of Wood Thrush for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s range-wide Wood Thrush Motus project, a challenging effort that required immense adaptability and persistence. We were able to pick up the nanotag of one female at the Green Mountain Audubon Center!
• Early mornings conducting Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) bird banding sessions at the Green Mountain Audubon Center. We banded numerous bird species and collected data such as weight, age, and sex. I became quite good at removing birds from the mist nets.

In every dimension of my role, in every landscape I worked within, and with every project I contributed to, I learned that challenge is inherent to conservation and restoration. From shortcomings in data translation and discouraging nesting results to unwarranted weather halting project progress, minor problems and roadblocks are strongly interwoven into my work. However, these challenges were never a burden but rather, avenues for growth. An integral component of my role was embracing hardship, thus making the power of adaptability and persistence unmistakably clear.  

This experience was awakening. I was offered great opportunities to collaborate and test myself intellectually, with a steep learning curve in understanding things like molt limits, Common Tern nesting habits, Wood Thrush migration routes, and bird calls. This hands-on experience was a foundational opportunity of conservation work that has only amplified my eagerness to pursue a restoration and conservation-oriented future. I am so grateful to FREC and Audubon Vermont for these unforgettable experiences that will undoubtedly continue to shape my educational and professional future.