Upper Fish Bladder Island – Lake Champlain Islands

 

Upper Fish Bladder Island is a very small island just east of South Hero, Vermont; it is sometimes connected to Fish Bladder Island  when there are low-water conditions. The wooded, undeveloped island is owned and maintained by the Green Mountain Audubon Society as a bird sanctuary.

 

Upper Fish Bladder serves as an important bird nesting site and staging area for the Herring Gull, Great Blue Heron, and potentially the Common Tern.

 

History:

 

Upper Fish Bladder Island was donated to the Lake Champlain Land Trust by the late Mary Haas-Burak in 2000. The Lake Champlain Land Trust accepted Upper Fish Bladder thanks to the generosity of the landowner.

The Lake Champlain Land Trust later donated three islands, including Upper Fish Bladder Island, to the Green Mountain Audubon Society. This island is now managed by the Green Mountain Audubon Society, with the conservation easement still held by the Land Trust.