where natural history meets art
On Sunday, October 11, the Museum participated in yet another Big Sit! We recorded a record 31 species! Thanks to Jim for coordinating the event, and all the volunteers who joined in.
the “official” TIME SHEET for the 2009 “BIG SIT” (Notables inBOLD): Continue reading “Big Sit! 2009”
Bob and about 40 friends and members of the Museum celebrated his upcoming 90th birthday with a boat cruise on Lake Champlain. It was wonderful, and many said to me afterwards that this would be a fun thing to do annually.
Our carload arrived really early and we were involved with a rescue operation. Someone saw an eagle land in the water and flap around unable to fly away. The skipper and 4 of us went out looking for this bird, and we searched and searched. We had a net and 4 blankets for the rescue. All we found was a large juvenile gull sitting on a huge dead fish floating on the surface, and he flew off when we came near and then returned as we left. So much for eagles in distress! We had a good laugh.
—from a letter by Ingrid Riga, Curator, to a sponsor of several of the carving exhibits
This Sunday, July 5, 2009, the Vermont Entomological Society will hold its FREE annual Bug Walk at the Birds of Vermont Museum, 10:30 – 12. Join Vermont naturalists and entomologists in a first-hand experience of seeing Vermont’s butterflies and other insects up close.
Participants will have free admission to the Museum that day, so come join us on the only day this week guaranteed (er, highly likely) to be sunny! The fields across the road will be swept with butterfly nets to find all kinds of miniscule critters and butterflies, and maybe some surprises. Feel free to bring binoculars and an insect net if you have one.
Bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it. There are picnic tables by the Museum and one more at the pond–where you can see tadpoles, frogs and salamanders (maybe a turtle), not to mention all sorts of water insects.
Should be loads of fun! If it is raining on the day of the walk, call the Museum (802)-434-2167 to see if we’ve rescheduled.
The Birds of Vermont is working on a puzzle piece for Puzzle Palooza!
See www.vermontartscouncil.org for more information.
The puzzle piece is under construction and is being painted by Museum Curator, Ingrid Riga!
On May 31, 2009, a beautiful Sunday morning, we walked on both sides of the road. Our group saw and heard (*heard only) Blue Jay, Eastern Phoebe, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak, *Brown Creeper, Scarlet Tanager,*Great-crested Flycatcher,
Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker,*Belted Kingfisher, Louisiana Waterthrush, *Baltimore Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, *Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, *Black-and-white Warbler, *Veery, Red-eyed Vireo, *Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-capped Chickadee, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Goshawk, Blue-headed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Common Grackle, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Our next scheduled bird walks are on June 7, June 21, and June 28 at 7:00 am. We will meet in the Museum parking lot, 900 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, VT 05462. See http://www.birdsofvermont.org/map.php for directions. Please join is after the walk for bird-friendly coffee.
The Birds of Vermont Museum is again partnering with Green Mountain Audubon Center to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on May 16, 2009. The celebration is suitable for all ages and will include bird walks, live bird shows, and programs and activities for children.
The activities will begin at 10:00 at the Birds of Vermont Museum (900 Sherman Hollow Road) with a Morning Bird Walk. Other events include a Children’s Bird Program (10:30), Live Bird Show (11:30 and 12:30), and a Carving Demonstration (1:00). On-going events include indoor and outdoor scavenger hunts and arts and crafts for kids. Events at the Green Mountain Nature Center include a Bird Banding Demonstration (10:00), Decorate and Eat a Bird Cookie (12:00-4:00), Children’s Games (1:30), and Children’s Bird Program (2:30). All day activities include scavenger hunts, arts and crafts for kids, and live music by the Swing Peepers.
This event has been generously sponsored by Northfield Savings Bank.
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) has been celebrated around the world since 1993. It is an annual event to celebrate and support migratory bird conservation. The theme for IMBD 2009 is Celebrating Birds in Culture, by exploring the role birds lay in the lives of native people throughout the Americas.
International Migratory Bird Day was initially created by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service oversaw the program from 1995 to 2006. The program continues to spread in popularity and scope. Since 2007, it has been coordinated by Environment of Americas (EFTA). Throughout its history IMBD continues to celebrate the amazing feats of migratory birds. Festivals and other events occur from Canada to Central America. For information about other festivals see www.birdday.org. Originally, IMBD was celebrated on the second Saturday in May. Not all birds are in the peak of migration at this point, and recently EOA has been promoting the idea that “every day is bird day.” They recommend organizations pick days more suitable to migration patterns in their area. In Vermont our migratory birds return from late February through May. We time our celebration when many of Vermont’s colorful warblers have just returned. The Birds of Vermont Museum was recently recognized for hosting IMBD events for more than 10 years.
Snacks and drinks will be for sale at the Birds of Vermont Museum. Picnic tables are available at both venues. For more information, directions, or detailed schedules please see www.birdsofvermont.org or vt.audubon.org.
The Museum is having a Volunteer Work Day on May 2, 2009 to prepare the Museum for the 2009 season. We need help with raking, washing display cases, maintaining the trails, cutting up raffle tickets, setting up the outdoor scavenger hunts, and helping set up the lunch (to name a few things)! We could really use your enthusiastic help to get the Museum organized and set up for visitors. Lunch will be served at noon.
If you are unable to come that day, but are willing and able, we need volunteers throughout the year. We are looking for volunteers to help weekly or monthly in the gift shop, on the trails, with bird monitoring, with school groups, or at our special events.
Our first big special event is International Migratory Bird Day event on May 16, 2009. We need parkers, greeters, monitors, activities helpers, raffle and food sellers.
Also, if you have old CDs that you are about to get rid of, we can use them for an art activity on May 16th.
Please contact us (802)434-2167 if you have any time to donate (or just plan to come for lunch on May 2)!
The Birds of Vermont Museum and Audubon Vermont are getting ready to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on May 16, 2009. Every year we hold a raffle to jointly benefit both organizations. This year the raffle prizes are 1) A Black-capped Chickadee donated by local wood carver, Dick Allen, 2) Audubon coffee with Museum mugs, 3) A $125.00 certificate for a week of camp at Audubon Vermont, and 4) A gift basket of plush birds and bird books. Interested in purchasing raffle tickets? Stop by Audubon Vermont’s Sugar on Snow Party this coming weekend (http://vt.audubon.org/), or swing by the Museum. Call for more information, or with questions 802-434-2167.
We had a great trip on Saturday February 7th on our winter birding trip led by Jim Andrews. We met in Vergennes and drove south making a big loop. We saw red-tailed hawk, rough-legged hawk, rock pigeon, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, blue jay. American crow, common raven, horned lark, black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, astern bluebird, American robin, European starling, American tree sparrow, white-throated sparrow, dark-eyed junco, snow bunting, red-winged blackbird, purple finch, house finch, common redpoll, pine siskin, American goldfinch, house sparrow. This is the second winter birding trip that Jim had led. We have decided his next trip will be during migration when we can look for open water AND not need to be wearing 400 layers!
We’ll keep you posted.
Join us on Saturday, February 7, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., when Jim Andrews will lead our Feburary Birding Outing.
Jim is a herpetologist and long-time Champlain Valley birder, and his outings are great fun. Last year we saw Great Black-backed Gulls, Eagles, Goldeneyes, Scaups, and flocks of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings, just to name a few species. We drove around the Lake Champlain Basin and stopped many times to set up our spotting scopes for better views of our winter birds.
We’ll meet at the Vergennes Green, and then will car pool from there. We are limiting the size of the group to three or four cars, so please call to reserve your spot (and feel free to stuff your cars with friends!).
To reserve your spot or get more information, call the Museum at 802-434-2167. Leave a message if no one is available to pick up. You can also e-mail us at museum@birdsofvermont.org
This event is appropriate for adults and older children.
Fee: Members $20; non-members $25.