Through the Window: October 2018

White-throated Sparrow, carved by Bob Spear.
White-throated Sparrow, carved by Bob Spear.

October is great, because it’s the month of the Big Sit!. That’s a day when we sit around with Team Loonatics and look for birds. They do all the hard work: cooking, listing, watching, identifying. We host them and are happy. Their list of birds this year doesn’t quite match our viewing window list (below), since we can’t always see from inside what they see from outside. It’s great to see and hear them all.

Some of the more northerly species are returning! It’s sometimes interestingly odd to think of Vermont as a southern destination, but for some birds it is exactly that. Of course it is south for our Québécois neighbors as well. We look forward to seeing them just as much!

  • Blue Jay
  • Mourning Dove
  • American Goldfinch
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Purple Finch
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Crow
  • Northern Flicker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Canada Goose (overhead)
  • Hawk spp. (overhead)
  • Dark-eyed Junco (October 12)
  • Fox Sparrow (October 18 through 31)
  • White-crowned Sparrow (October 18)
  • House Finch (October 21)
  • Common Grackle

There are so many Gray Squirrels—not so much that there were more of them than usual but sometimes they just seem so present! Red squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks are around still, and we caught sight of the Eastern Cottontail rabbit again.

(Bold items in this list are those species not recorded in September 2018.)

It’s our “by-appointment season! Call us to arrange a visit to the Museum: check out the viewing window, come along a bird monitoring walk, or find us out an about. We continue to host walks, classes, and more. These are listed on our events page.

Volunteers, we have opportunities for you!

If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter , tumblr, and/or Instagram too, you’ll find more comments, links, and observations. See you soon!

The “Through the Window” series is an informal record of observations made by staff, volunteers, and visitors. Anyone at the Museum may add to this list. Observations are usually through our viewing window: a large window with a film covering that helps hide watchers from the birds. We have chairs and binoculars to try, a white board, and many identification guides. Outdoors, several feeders are attached on a single, bear-resistant pole. A small pond, flowers and water plants, shrubs and trees add cover and (seasonally) other food choices . You can sometimes see what we see via our webcam.

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