October is for owls and arts, sales and stories, crafts and carvings
Please come to our Snowy Owl program and our awesome Fall Festival. That too exciting? Take a Big Sit break, and watch birds for an hour or 12. Relax while admiring art by 3rd and 5th graders on exhibit all month long. There’s also a Bluebird Brooch Felting Class and a Gift Shop Sale.
In addition, our regular activities continue! Browse our Used Books sale (weekends) and daily exhibit of Peter Padua’s birds and Art and Science of the Breeding Bird Atlas. We welcome children of all ages, so bring your preschoolers to our Storytime (second Tuesday) and kids aged 6-10 to our Fledglings programs (Sundays). Our Bird Monitoring walk is on the last Saturday of every month.
And briefly, an update about the Flood Recovery: Still applying for yet more grants! The trees in the creek—or rather, gulch—are removed, which will make detailed bridge-work planning easier. We are very grateful to those of you who have already donated time and/or money toward our recovery; thank you. If you haven’t, you certainly still can; there’s still much more fundraising and work to do. (Plus, we ran out of Elizabeth’s fiber owls…so she made more! New colors, too.)
So, join us to help or play or carve or bird! This schedule may (of course) change; watch our website or call to be sure. See you soon!
The Breeding Ecology of Snowy Owls
Friday, October 4, 2013 • 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the Richmond Free Library
What is this huge white bird we see in some winters? Where does it live? What does it eat? Why is it only here sometimes?
Join Denver Holt of the Owl Institute for our next Lucille Greenough Enrichment program, and discover Snowy Owls.
Sponsored by the Birds of Vermont Museum
Free, but donations to our Flood Recovery are greatly welcomed.
Fall Festival / Arts & Crafts Open House
Saturday, Oct 12, 2013 • 10am – 4pm
Celebrate fall with us!
Carving, crafting, and art demos; cider, apples and maybe even chocolate; silent auction and face painting. All sorts of activities for young, old, and young at heart!
And that’s not even all! We’re also seeking musicians, auction donations, and activity or entry table volunteers.
Free for members; $5 everyone else • Fantastic fun for all!
** A Few Highlights **
Green Mountain Wood Carvers: Carve-in and Annual Meeting
Silent Auction
Demos and Workshops of various art techniques
Raffle
Meet an artist (or two)
Kid Crafts
Soap and Pumpkin Carving
The Big Sit!
Sunday, October 13 • Dawn – Dusk
Sit. Watch. Write. Be happy. How many birds can we perceive from a 17-foot diameter circle? Can we beat last year’s record?
Join Team Loonatics and find out.
Free! Pledges and donations welcome. Snacks and coffee provided. Please bring your own binoculars.
Elementary, My Dear Bird: Art by Young People
Daily, October • 10:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Over 300 artworks will be on exhibit in October, the result of our partnership with local art teachers. Works by elementary school students will soar across our walls and fly over your heads in the hallways. Discover what happens when pastels, glue, foil, and color meet.
Storytime in the Nestlings Nook
Tuesday, October 8 • 10:30 – 11:15 a.m.
Join us for stories and activities about birds. Got a favorite book about birds? Tell us!
Free with admission; donations welcome • Great for pre-schoolers.
Sundays for Fledglings
Sundays, October 6, 20, 27 • 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Outdoor science, art, and play for kids ages 6-10. Are you a Junior Birder? Want to become one? Develop mad birding skillz in observation, research, and goofing around!
Free with admission • Pre-registering is helpful.
5th Annual Used Book Sale
Weekends at least through October 13 • 10:00 a.m.–4:00p.m.
New books for your life (reading) list! Savvy shoppers stock up on fiction, mysteries, history, biographies, religion, politics, nature, children’s books, and, of course, birds! Fridays-Sundays.
Bluebird Brooch Felting Class
Saturday, October 26 • 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Create a needle-felted bluebird brooch with professional felter and puppeteer Nicol Wander of Wanderful Creations.
Register by October 15, please; we need at least 10 to hold the class • $35 members, $40 non-members.
Bird Monitoring Walk
Saturday, October 26 • 8:00–9:30 a.m.
Join experienced birders for monthly bird monitoring. Please bring binoculars.
Free, donations welcome • Adults & older children
Birds of Vermont Museum Gift Shop Sale Days
Saturday-Sunday, October 26-27 • 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Enjoy even more excellent prices in the Birds of Vermont Museum’s Gift Shop this weekend. All items (except those on commission) are on sale. Discover new treasures and re-find a favorite present.
Volunteer
One-time events, short projects, or on a regular basis
Could you spend an extra hour or two at the Fall Festival: greet visitors, guide an activity table, or play music? We also welcome help at the front desk (greeting visitors) any day (weekends are great) and there’s still a lot of trail work to do. If you like being behind the scenes, we have both maintenance and events-related tasks too. If you’d like to help from home, perhaps you’ll write a good review of us on one of the travel, community event, or non-profit websites. And thank you!
Exhibit: Breeding Bird Atlas: Science and Art
Special Exhibit in collaboration with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies • Daily through October
One book. Eight highlighted birds. Fourteen artists and photographers. Over three hundred citizen scientists.
Which birds have expanded into Vermont’s changed landscape? What habitats have changed? What species need our focus for better protection?
Find out more while delighting in surprising, diverse, and wonderful art.
Free with admission, donations welcome
** Featured Artists and Photographers:
Janice Bauch (photography)
Ariel Burgess (acrylics)
Jean Cannon (watercolors)
Heather Forcier (photography)
Hilary Glass (graphite)
Shannon Morrison (ceramics)
Susi Ryan (felt)
Hallie Schwab (paper)
Kimberly Sultze and Jon Hyde (photography)
Carol Talmage (mixed media)
Nancy Tomczak (watercolors)
Brienne Toomey (ink)
Colin Walsh (mixed media)
Exhibit: Birds by Peter Padua
Special Carving exhibit • Daily through October
Discover the refined carvings of Peter Padua, a 90-year-old Middlebury resident and woodcarver. From the sleek pair of Brown Pelicans to the exuberant colors of the Baltimore Oriole and the improbability of a Nene Goose, his carvings bring an extra dimension to our understandings of birds and wood. Thirty-two states have their bird represented!
Free with admission, donations welcome