
Ah migration! Everyone getting busy, going places, and we humans getting a chance to be surprised by birds on the move. This month, we saw some that aren’t usually in the feeder area.

where natural history meets art

Ah migration! Everyone getting busy, going places, and we humans getting a chance to be surprised by birds on the move. This month, we saw some that aren’t usually in the feeder area.
While it’s lovely just to sit by the window, sometimes we catch sight of birds as we come to work as well. Catbirds, phoebes, and some other species are more likely to be seen at the entrance than in the bird feeding area.

The birds seem to be weathering the weather a bit better than some. It was a nice month for both usual and less-frequent species.

This is a strangely short list. We did limit feeding until late in the month due to nearby bear sightings. And I know we were more likely outside when looking at and for birds in June. (I mean, how can you resist June? Except for that weirdly horribly hot week.) Of course, it’s also possible the birds were very busy elsewhere. Because June!

We had a surprise visitor one day in May! This little fellow confused the Black-capped Chickadee by pulling fibers from a hanging plant basket that the chickadees often use (for the same purpose).
Many thanks to our intern Hans for the photo. Read on for a really incredible bird list this month!
Well, it’s true that some of these we didn’t see when looking out the window! It’s a loose unofficial record! We might have observed these birds while walking into or around the building, or heard them from the front door. Or, in the case of Wood Frogs*, heard through the windows and sometimes, possibly, through the wall.

March often feels like everything is hurtling towards change. Welcome to spring…even if if it often doesn’t feel like spring at all.

One of the neat things about February is that both Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count happen that month. People come into the museum to watch from our windows (it’s usually warmer than outside) and to learn about birds from the carvings. (The birds don’t fly away! So helpful!)
What would you like to learn next about birds?

Fun to see a Pine Siskin this month! And thirteen other species…fifteen if you look at all the observations records around the Museum (we’re such a hot spot!). Nice set of winter birds.

December was a bit wet this year. We were fine (still watching how the streams flow around and under our various bridges, of course). People seemed to be enjoying staying in Gale’s Retreat, and we certainly have enjoyed our walks in the woods to check on it before and after the guests.
One heavy wet snowfall took out more main branches from the crabapple tree. We’ll see how the Ruffed Grouse adapt to that.