For the coming spring season, numerous programs and bird walks have  
been planned for the Upper Valley. Below is a partial, incomplete,  
list including 24 events arranged by the Mascoma Chapter of New  
Hampshire Audubon, by the Hanover Conservancy, by 2013 Windsor County  
Birding Quest, and by other organizations. All listed events are free  
and open to the public.

1) On Monday March 11, 2013, at 7:00 PM, Kent McFarland, a Founder and  
Conservation Biologist of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), is  
to present an illustrated talk in the Mayer Room at the Howe Library  
in Hanover, NH, on "Get the Buzz on Bumblebees", a program arranged by  
the Mascoma Chapter of NH Audubon.

The recent “buzz” on bee populations has been anything but positive.  
Most has involved the decline of European Honeybees that are important  
pollinators of North American crops. In the late 1990s, biologists  
started to notice a decline in the abundance and distribution of  
several bumblebee species in the Northeast. Today, three species may  
actually be extirpated from Vermont. Join VCE biologist, entomologist,  
ornithologist, and photographer Kent McFarland and learn about the  
natural history and conservation of bumblebees in the region. Kent  
McFarland is currently spearheading the Vermont Bumblebee Survey (http://www.vtecostudies.org/vtbees/ 
).

2) Other upcoming Upper Valley events are scheduled for the dates  
listed below. Look for later announcements providing additional  
details. The schedule listed below could change depending on weather  
or other conditions.
See www.mascomabirds.org for more information.

March 23 (bird walk), April 10 (evening bird walk), April 11 (evening  
bird walk), April 20 (bird walk), April 23 (evening program), April 25  
(evening program), April 27 (bird walk), May 1 (bird walk), May 3  
(bird walk), May 4 (bird walk), May 8 (bird walk), May 10 (bird walk),  
May 11 (bird walk), May 15 (bird walk), May 17 (2 bird walks), May 18  
(bird walk), May 22 (bird walk), May 24 (2 bird walks), May 29 (bird  
walk), May 31 (bird walk), June 1 (bird walk).

George Clark
Norwich, VT