As part of our ongoing series of public programs  we have invited Shawn Good to give a talk about the fishing situation in Salisbury.  For more information about the talk click here.

Speaker: Shawn Good, Vermont Fish and Wildlife District Fisheries Biologist

Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Time: 7:00PM

Place: Salisbury Community School on Kelly Crossroad

Presented by the Salisbury Conservation Commission

An Historical Perspective on Land Use and Wildlife in Salisbury

Jens Hilke, Conservation Biologist, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife
Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Salisbury Community School, Kelley Cross Road
Refreshments will be served.

Birding Walk with Jim and Kris Andrews in the Salisbury Municipal Forest

Date: Saturday, June 18, 2011
Time: 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Location: Salisbury Municipal Forest immediately across from the Salisbury Landfill on Upper Plains Road

Bears in the Backyard

Forrest Hammond, project leader for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife black bear program
Date: Monday, June 20, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Salisbury Community School, Kelley Cross Road

The Timber Rattlesnakes (and other interesting snakes) of Salisbury, Vermont

Jim Andrews, herpetologist
Date: Thursday, July 7, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Location and sponsor: Salisbury Free Public Library in the village

Salisbury's vertebrate wildlife species, tallied and not yet tallied Click to enlarge

Jim Andrews has gone through the results of Salisbury’s 2010 Wildlife Tally and compiled lists of all the species that were observed and those that we might have missed.  The year-long tally of 203 species included 31 mammals, 136 birds, 6 reptiles, 16 amphibians, and 15 fishes.  Lists of all the species can be seen in the posts that immediately precede this one (they appear lower on the list at right).

Jim also compiled a list of all the species that could be seen in Salisbury but that we did not encounter in 2010.  This list has 108 species, or more than half the number of species that were observed.  Some of these species are common, like beaver and meadow vole, but just got overlooked by the listers.  The great-horned owl and common goldeneye are two birds which are expected in Salisbury, but escaped the tally.  Some of the missing reptiles are the smooth greensnake, red-bellied snake, and ring-necked snake.  The Jefferson salamander has been seen in the past crossing Upper Plains Road, but it was not reported last year.  Jim thinks the channel catfish has been caught in Lake Dunmore recently even though it did not make it onto the 2010 list.

The Wildlife Tally will continue to operate.  Any sighting of a vertebrate animal in Salisbury can be submitted here.  We will be keeping an eye out for species we have missed so far, but it’s also great to see continued reports of animals already on the tally.  By the year 2020, maybe we will have tallied 250 species.