Also, be alert for frogs and salamanders while driving.

Hiking Vermont’s hillsides is a great way to enjoy a spring day, but the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and Audubon Vermont recommend people check to see if the area they are planning to hike or climb is open.  In addition to trail closures to reduce impacts during mud season, several cliff areas are also closed to protect nesting peregrine falcons.

“Peregrine falcons are very sensitive to human presence during their breeding season, so we ask climbers and hikers to please maintain a respectful distance from their nests,” said Nongame Bird Biologist Jillian Kilborn with Fish and Wildlife.  “The areas closed include the portions of the cliffs where the birds are nesting and the trails leading to cliff tops or overlooks.” 

Over the next couple months, biologists and community scientists will be identifying cliffs occupied by peregrines this year.  Sites listed will remain closed until August 1 or until Fish and Wildlife determines the risk to nesting falcons has passed.  The majority of the sites are visited in April, and nesting falcons can choose new sites, so additional sites may be added or removed from the closed list which will be updated and provided on Fish and Wildlife’s website.

• Bolton Notch (Bolton) – UUW cliff – cliff access and climbing closed
• Bone Mountain (Bolton) – portions closed to climbing
• Deer Leap (Bristol) – cliff-top and climbing closed
• Eagle Ledge (Vershire) – closed to hiking and climbing
• Dummerston Quarry (Dummerston) – upper quarry closed 
• Fairlee Palisades (Fairlee) – cliff-top closed
• Marshfield Mt (Marshfield) – portions closed to climbing
• Mt Horrid (Rochester) – Great Cliff overlook closed
• Nichols Ledge (Woodbury) – cliff-top and climbing closed
• Prospect Rock (Johnson) – cliff-top overlook and climbing closed
• Red Rocks Park (S. Burlington) – southern cliff access closed
• Rattlesnake Point (Salisbury) – southern overlook closed
• Snake Mountain  (Addison) – entire western trail closed

Audubon Vermont conservation biologist Margaret Fowle works with volunteers and other conservation professionals to monitor the sites throughout the nesting season.  “Peregrine falcons were removed from Vermont’s endangered species list in 2005, and the population continues to thrive thanks to the efforts of our many volunteers and partners,” said Fowle.  “In many cases the lower portions of the trails remain open, and we encourage people to enjoy watching peregrine falcons from a distance that requires using binoculars or a spotting scope.” 

What you can do to help Vermont peregrines:

• Respect cliff closures, and retreat from any cliff where you see peregrines
• Report any disturbance of nesting peregrines to your local State Game Warden
• Report any sightings to Margaret Fowle at margaret.fowle@audubon.org

Vermont Fish and Wildlife is asking drivers to slow down and be cautious when travelling at night in early spring or to take alternate routes to avoid driving roads near wetlands and ponds that salamanders and frogs cross during their breeding season.

Every year, typically in early spring, many of Vermont’s amphibians leave their overwintering sites and migrate to the wetlands and ponds where they will breed and lay eggs.  The timing of this annual event, termed Big Night(s), coincides with melting snowpack, thawing soils, relatively warm evening temperatures, and rainfall.  Due to this year’s mild winter, these conditions are expected to align and trigger spring amphibian migration, earlier than usual.

“One of the benefits of checking out amphibian road crossings,” says Fish and Wildlife herpetologist Luke Groff, “is that you can see many individuals and species in a short period and small area, and some species may not be seen the rest of the year.”  The spotted and blue-spotted salamanders, for example, belong to a group called the “mole salamanders,” because after breeding, they retreat underground or under logs or stumps, and are rarely seen until the next spring.”

Groff is encouraging Vermonters to explore the roads near their home and report amphibian road crossings to the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas (https://www.vtherpatlas.org/sighting-submission-form).  If it is safe to take pictures of the migrating amphibians, please include them in your report.  This information is used by Fish and Wildlife, the Agency of Transportation and other conservation partners to assess the need for wildlife passages and barriers that allow all wildlife, not just frogs and salamanders, to more safely cross roadways.

Vermonters who wish to contribute to the Fish and Wildlife Department’s work to conserve frog and salamander populations can donate to the Nongame Wildlife Fund on their state income tax form or on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website.