Category: Viewing Window

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Through the Window: March 2012 – Early Spring Sightings

More birds! Did we have more time to watch? More visitors? Or is this the sign of spring? It was an extremely warm March, after all.

  • An Early Spring View from Our Window (the webcam portion)
    An Early Spring View from Our Window

    Wild Turkey

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Blue Jay
  • American Goldfinch
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Downy Woodpecker (both male and female observed and noted)
  • Mourning Dove
  • American Robin
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • Red-winged Blackbird (3/8 FOY*)
  • Common Grackle (3/9 FOY)
  • Pine Siskin (3/10)
  • American Crow
  • Eastern Phoebe (heard 3/20 FOY; heard also the day before in Hanksville and then seen 3/31)
  • Northern Goshawk (flew by 3/24)
  • Song Sparrow
  • Purple Finch

Other wonderful neighbors:

  • Wood frogs (3/23 in pond!)
  • Gray Squirrels
  • Red Squirrels

* FOY = First of Year

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Through the Window: February 2012 Birds and Others

American Goldfinch Male (photo by Anna Marie Gavin, Intern, 2011)
American Goldfinch Male (photo by Anna Marie Gavin, Intern, 2011). The ones seen through the winter are still a deep olive, not yet yellowgold...

The goldfinch plumage is getting crisper, but is not yet gold… here’s the February list of birds and others seen through our windows.

  • Blue Jay
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Goldfinch
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Dark-eyed Junco (a.k.a. Snowbird)
  • American Crow
  • Wild Turkey
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Mourning Dove
  • Purple Finch
  • American Robin
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Gray Squirrel (one was on the feeder platform! So we re-greased the pole)
  • Red Squirrel
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Through the Window: January 2012 feeder birds

Still semi-closed (visitors welcome! But please call a few days in advance to make an appointment), we don’t have as many people watching our feeders. That and winter, and not surprisingly, the list is slightly short.

Mourning Dove, carved and painted by Bob Spear, completed in 1982
Mourning Dove, carved and painted by Bob Spear, completed in 1982. Photograph by Erin Talmage.
  • Blue Jay
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Northern Cardinal (female)
  • American Goldfinch
  • Mourning Dove
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch (1/31, spotted by Charlie B for the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium)

The Ruffed Grouse was an odd sighting. We noticed a grouse corpse on 1/14, after an extremely cold night and continued shallow snow. This death was probably due to cold although there may have been other factors. One of more red squirrels worked on the body for several days, and eventually it vanished but for some feathers.

On 1/27, though, we also saw a grouse strutting under one of the crab apple trees. Mate? Flock member?

We saw several red squirrels and gray squirrels, and learned about black squirrels as well when WCAX staff dropped by to film some shots for a story.

Are you ready to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb 17-20? We are! Come to a presentation about the Museum and Winter Bird Feeder in South Burlington on Feb 15th. Then stop by on Saturday the 18th for tips, company, and a warm window to watch through! Details on our events page.

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Through the Window: December 2011 feeder and nearby birds

Now we’re semi-closed (visitors welcome! But please call a few days in advance to make an appointment), we don’t have as many people watching our feeders.

Blue Jay carved by Robert N. Spear, Jr.
Blue Jay, carved by Bob Spear
(photograph by Erin Talmage)
Wonder which species might’ve come by and not been noticed…

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Blue Jay
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Mourning Dove
  • Downy woodpecker
  • American goldfinch (winter plumage)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Ruffed grouse
  • Pileated woodpecker (swooping over parking lot, calling on 12/27, the 2nd visit)
  • Purple Finch (12/28)

Naturally, we also saw the usual cluster of red squirrels and gray squirrels.

Looking forward to National Bird Day on January 5th!  And keep track of our more formally collected data: we contribute to Feeder Watch.

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Through the Window: November 2011 Feeder and Garden Birds

What we noted on the white board by the viewing window.

  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Blue Jay
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • American Goldfinch
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Mourning Dove
  • Barred Owl
  • Ruffed Grouse

Not so many this month. It was often sunny, but as we were closed except for appointments/scheduled visitors, there were also fewer humans watching out for birds. In addition, the sunny days could’ve allowed the birds to easily feed elsewhere. And with that owl watching off and on, that might’ve been very practical!

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Through the Window: October 2011 Feeder and Garden Birds

What people have recorded on our white board by the viewing window.

  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Goldfinch
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Song sparrow
  • Mourning Dove
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Canada Goose
  • White-throated sparrow
  • American Robin
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Raven (2 on 10/18/11, in the morning, above the museum)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Ruffed Grouse (eating crabapples at 4:15 p.m. in late October)

For even more birds—perceived from more or less the other side of the window and garden—check out our Big Sit! results too!

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Through the Window: March birds and others

Birds

We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.

  • Hairy Woodpecker (male)
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Tufted Titmouse (also singing like crazy 3/27)
  • American Crow (heard 3/1, 2 eating corn 3/24, 1 on 3/27 until it saw me through the window)
  • Common Redpolls (5 on 3/4/11)
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal (male)
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • White-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Grackle (3/24/11)
  • Red-winged Blackbird (heard 3/15/11, seen 3 on 3/24/11)
  • Evening Grosbeak (male and female pair 3/30/11)
Red-winged Blackbird, Carved by Bob Spear
Red-winged Blackbird, carved by Bob Spear

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • Gray Squirrels (3 on 3/31/11)
  • Eastern Cottontail (3/8)
  • Eastern Chipmunk (3/15/11)

And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.

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Through the Window: February Birds at the Feeders (more or less)

Tree Sparrow (carved by Bob Spear)
Tree Sparrow (carved by Bob Spear)

Birds

We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.

  • Tree Sparrow
  • Wild Turkeys (2 on 2/4; 13 on 2/24)
  • American Robin (7 on 2/4)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Blue Jay
  • Ruffed Grouse (across the road on 2/8, near the brook)
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Mourning Dove
  • European Starling
  • Raven (flying over)
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • American Crow
  • White-winged Crossbill (Male and Female on 2/16)
  • Common Redpolls (3 on 2/23 on the thistle seed)

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • Gray Squirrels
  • Fisher (tracks seen 2/16, fisher itself on 2/28)

And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.

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Through the Window: January feeder birds

Birds

Downy Woodpecker at Platform feeder
Female Downy Woodpecker at the platform feeder. Photo by Kir Talmage for the Birds of Vermont Museum
  • Wild Turkeys (1/2/11; two talkative turkeys)
  • Hairy Woodpecker (both male and female)
  • Blue Jays
  • Black-capped Chickadees
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Mourning Dove
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Common Redpolls
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Robin (2 at 2:30 pm 1/21 on nearby branches)
  • Pileated Woodpecker (1/25 at the front of the Museum—happened to notice while coming into work)

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • 3 fat Gray Squirrels

A bit of a spare month. Perhaps we’re not sitting at the window enough?

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