The weather on October 24th was rain, rain, and then some more rain. And chilly! But 9 intrepid birders traveled the Champlain Valley Basin, checking the skies, fields, and puddles for birds (migrating and otherwise). It was lots of fun and there was a lot of laughter. Thank you, Shirley, for providing us this list! Birds are listed in the order seen.
American Crow
European Starling
House Sparrow
Canada Goose
American Kestrel
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeons
Northern Harrier
Song Sparrow
Blue Jay
American Robin
Snow Goose
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
White-breasted nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-billed Gull
Black-crowned night heron
Wood Duck
American Goldfinch
Red-winged Blackbird
Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
White-throated Sparrow
Blue-winged Teal
Red-tailed Hawk
Surf Scoter
Horned Grevbe
Common Loon
Cooper’s Hawk
Great Black-backed Gull (not a Black Duck as I’d earlier mis-read the note –Kir)
Downy Woodpecker
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Northern Flicker
If you are on FaceBook, and you have photos, feel free to post them on the event Wall (Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148202475222276 ). We’re also happy to link any online photos to this post if you send us the link.
Guest post by Lori Hinrichsen, Artist, Photographer, and Judge of the 2010 Art Contest
When I walked into the Museum the other day I was thrilled to be surrounded by so much creativity, imagery, and enthusiasm of all the artwork entries. From abstract to representational, from humor, composition, color and form, to a range of creative interpretation, the Birds of Vermont Museum Art contest was a delight for the eyes.
I want to congratulate all of you who participated in the event and I genuinely wish I could have given each of you a ribbon for all your wonderful entries. I would like to encourage you to keep making art and sharing it with others. I would like to extend gratitude to your teachers, parents, neighbors, friends and family for keeping the arts alive, every day.
Wishing you a warm lingering autumn. Vermont is a very special place in all seasons.
On Sunday, October 10, the Museum hosted the Loonatics and their Big Sit! circle. Thanks to Jim O. for coordinating the event and to all the volunteers who joined in. It was a beautiful day, and several people contributed excellent food to keep us warm.
Here’s a quick little sneak peek of some of the entries in our Community Art Show and Youth Art Contest. Come by to see more … much more! There are some wonderful pieces on display.
Enjoy our Fall Festival with Woodcarvers — Live birds — Used Books/Garage Sale — Nature Journal Workshop — Insect Info — Birds!
Woodcarvers will be demonstrating their art in the workshop.
Carol Winfield returns with live birds at 11:00.
Find something wonderful at our Used Books/Garage Sale.
Heather Fitzgerald offers a Nature Journal Workshop.
Rhonda Mace from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture will answer questions about Invasive Insects.
Kids activities and games, nature walks.
The First (and possibly Annual) Community Art Show is open! Members, Volunteers, Interns and Staff display their artworks at the museum. Drop by and admire our local talent.
The show is open with the Museum: Daily 10 am – 4 pm until October 31st.
If you are a member or volunteer and would like to display a piece, please give us a ring (802 434-2167) or an email (museum@birdsofvermont.org). We still have some space.
Storytime at the Museum: Join us at 10:30 on Tuesdays in September and October for stories about birds and more.
Intended for Pre-schoolers, but all ages are welcome. Stories will be followed by a craft project, music, or nature walk, depending on the topics and weather.
Panama boasts nearly 1,000 different bird species and the largest intact tropical rainforest in Central America, but as a birding destination it still lacks the fame of its neighbor Costa Rica.
Please join us for a photographic tour of the incredible diversity of birdlife Panama has to offer—from the hummingbirds and toucans of the national forests along the Panama Canal to the tanagers and trogons of the coffee-growing region in the northwest to the macaws and manakins of the roadless south-eastern wilderness that is the Darien.
Presented by Professors Kimberly Sultze and Jon Hyde.
This lecture is oart of the Lucille Greenough Enrichment Series.
Doors open at 6:30p.m. for wine and cheese; slide lecture begins at 7:00p.m.
Join us for an old-fashioned ice cream social to celebrate Bob Spear, the Museum’s founder and Master Woodcarver, and another glorious year!
We’re hosting this event at the Museum on Sunday, August 22, 2010. We’ll serve ice cream and cake at 1:00 or so, right after Bob blows out the candles.
While here, visit all the new carvings from the past year. Eat good food. Spend some time with old and new birders, carvers, and other friends. Great fun for everyone.
Free with museum admission – and of course all current members get in for free. Just show us your card! (Not yet a member? Become one on Sunday—just in time.) If you let us know you’re coming, we’ll be sure to have enough ice cream. Looking forward to seeing you!
I’ve just come back from the Annual VES Butterfly Walk. Thank you so much to Bryan Pfeiffer, Trish Hanson and many others for sharing their knowledge! We had about 35 guests or so on the walk, ranging from young kids to grandparents, new explorers to professional (and retired) entomologists. I’m a new explorer, practically a rank beginner with bugs. I love it.
You’ll no doubt get much more by coming on a walk, going outside, and paging through field guides. I went out with my just my notebook and camera, though. So, from my notes:
Grandfather and grandchild exploring for butterflies on today's VES Butterfly Walk
About observing tools: Water nets and butterfly nets are not the same. A butterfly net (for field insects, etc.) is longer, cone-shaped, and of a very fine soft mesh. The longer shape (compared a vaguely trapezoidal water net) allows one to “flip” the net closed, so the insect won’t escape while you are examining it. That’s less of an issue with a water net; water beetles and dragonfly nymphs aren’t so likely to fly off.
About Butterflies: Lepidoptera — the order that contains butterflies — means “scale(d) wing”, for the thousands of tiny, often iridescent scales that cover the wings. We found a clouded sulphur female (Colias philodice). One way (of several) to tell this was a female was because she had spots in the dark margin of her upper wing.
Canada Darner (Aeshna canadensis) on child's hand. This one is an "old lady" -- about a month or so!
About Dragonflies and Damselflies: When identifying them, look at where the color is on which segments of the abdomen — look very closely! Also look at the profile of the claspers at the end of the abdomen. The different shapes (hook, c-clamp, straight, knobby, etc.) helped in identification.
About Daddy-long-legs: I had never noticed how the mouth parts fold so neatly, making such a even oval profile of their bodies. Lovely.
Here’s a cool online resource I just found too, for comparing multiple pictures of butterflies (and others): http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?guide=Butterflies What are your favorite online resources for Insects and Arachnids?
Young Entomologist on the VES Annual Butterfly Walk
