As a field intern for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), I worked on multiple projects. For the month of June, my fellow intern and I conducted bird point count surveys at nine different locations in the Green Mountains, White Mountains and one location in Maine.

Each survey location had six points, and at each point we conducted 20 minute surveys in five minute segments. At each route we started the first survey point half an hour before sunrise. We recorded the location and interactions of each of the 11 target species specified in the Mountain Birdwatch protocol, however the project is aimed at gathering data about the Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a globally rare species that was split off from the Gray-cheeked Thrush in the recent past. We camped out close to each route the evening before. I became proficient in identifying high-elevation songbirds by song and call, and developed my backcountry camping skills along the way.

Throughout May, June and July we also assisted with the Vermont Loon Conservation Project (VLCP). We visited lakes and ponds throughout Vermont to survey for nesting pairs of the Common Loon (Gavia immer) and chicks to gather population data and success rate. We also built and deployed nest warning signs and loon nesting rafts. Loon nesting rafts have been placed on lakes and ponds where nests have continually failed due to human development. The rafts are loaded up with native vegetation to provide shade and protection for loons while they incubate their eggs.

We often worked alongside volunteers to create the best management plans for loon pairs on each lake. The loon season culminated with LoonWatch Day, an annual population count that occurs on the third Saturday in July, in which more than a hundred volunteers go out to lakes across the state to document loons. Communication with residents and interested recreationalists at boat launches was a critical part of successful surveys.

I also got to accompany the director of VCE on weekly bird banding trips to Mount Mansfield throughout July. Each week he trained us to remove birds from mist nets, take various measurements, and band them. VCE has been banding birds on Mansfield for the past 26 years, a project that started to track populations of the Bicknell’s Thrush.

To future interns, I recommend keeping an open mind and staying flexible. The best and most memorable parts of the internship were experiences I did not even know I would have at the beginning of the summer. Get to know the people you are working for and ask them questions about themselves, especially about how they ended up in their career. I learned so much from the conversations I had while driving to work sites with my supervisors. You will get out of an internship what you put into it, so stay open to making lasting connections with the people you meet along the way.