https://vermontalmanac.org/virginia-barlows-calendar/

Dry as a bone here and these droughty conditions must be especially difficult for those amphibians that need to keep moist to survive. Frog skin has glands that secrete mucous which keeps the fragile skin from drying out and helps the animal draw in oxygen.

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Fox sparrows often kick back leaf litter with both feet, just like chickens. Our fox sparrow visitor this morning was also pounding its bill hard into the ground, like a woodpecker might do.

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After wary house sparrows watched braver sparrows interact with new objects, the wary ones became more bold, even when the brave ones were not around. Once again, birds are more capable of learning new things than we usually think they are.

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Skunks are making a real mess of the lawn but maybe their digging and grub eating will result in fewer Japanese beetles next spring. Maybe.

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We shouldn’t have been surprised by the light frost last night, knowing that, despite a longer growing season, large variations from year to year are the rule, not the exception.

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A newly released study from the University of Illinois shows that neonicotinoid insecticides are causing declines in bird populations across the country. Birds suffer from both contaminated seeds and from there being fewer insects. Eating just a few bad seeds causes long-term damage to birds. Neonicotinoids are more harmful to birds than other pesticides and many of them have been banned by the European Union and other countries.

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At some friends’ garden, chipmunks carried off all the sungold cherry tomatoes. What on earth were they thinking? I’m thinking mold.

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Pileated woodpeckers are too heavy for alternate-leaved dogwood branches but they must really like the fruits because they thrash around, fall off, flap, and regain their footing over and over again.

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The churippy sounds of bluebirds are heard again in the yard as groups of four or five flutter around and nail down the location of possible rental units for next spring.

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