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Bird and Birding apps for kids and adults
A nice young couple visited yesterday with their two year old son who is really into birds (and bears). The dad, asked about bird Apps. Here’s a combined reply from our Museum Educator and Executive Director!
Lots of bird ID apps for adults. They vary on ID tips, recordings, ability to keep lists, etc. I like the Audubon Guides, but know others who like iBirdPro, Sibley Guide, and Peterson guides. For example, a short list of bird Apps recommended to us by two of our favorite, fervent birders:
- For ease of use, they recommend the iBird Pro with about 924 species, priced ~ $24
- Peterson Birds of North America offers 800 species (back in the early summer, the App was on sale for $0.99, usually $14.95)
- Finally, Peterson Feeder Birds with 160 species was described as an App available for free.
To find bird related apps for my son (age 3), I just typed into the search fields variations of “bird”, “quiz”, “toddler”, etc. I like (and so does my son ) the Toddler Teaser apps. They have apps to help kids recognize letters, numbers, and animals (including birds).
The choices are extensive!
Added later: BirdDiva also recommends the Audubon Guides (from Green Mountain Digital)
What happens when you take some binoculars apart?
Our Exploring Binoculars program today was a blast! Investigators ranged from about 7 to about 65 years old. It was a technical sort of program, more about how they work than about how to use them. We did a little demo/inquiry first, with light and lenses and prisms, asking “What might happen if …” questions and then doing that to see what really does happen. Fun seeing upside-down light bulb images on tissue paper become reversed on sweatshirts! (See that “how they work” link for what we did.)
Then we laid out some defective binoculars donated for the express purpose of disassembly (cleaning and reassembly optional). Continue reading “What happens when you take some binoculars apart?”
Check out birds between tastes of syrup
Sugaring Time?
In honor of Vermont’s annual Maple Open House Weekend and Audubon Vermont’s Maple Sugar on Snow Parties, the Birds of Vermont Museum will be open on March 25, 25 and the 31st (Saturday, Sunday, and Saturday).
Take a break between sampling one of Vermont’s best sweet treats and come learn about the birds that nest on maple trees and use the sugarbush to raise their young.
We will be open from 10 – 4 each day. Continue reading “Check out birds between tastes of syrup”
Positively Vermont interview with the Museum
We were invited to be interviewed for a local television series, Positively Vermont. We are allowed to embed the video here, but you may also wish to see this on a larger screen. Airtimes for March 2012 are below:
http://www.cctv.org/stream-player-build?nid=115851
AIRTIMES
(if you missed it, feel free to order the show (ID: 115851 – Birds of Vermont Museum) or ask your local channel to do so)
1 Thursday March 1, 2012 at 6:00 PM
2 Monday March 5, 2012 at 9:30 PM
3 Tuesday March 6, 2012 at 2:30 AM
4 Tuesday March 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM
5 Thursday March 8, 2012 at 4:00 PM
6 Saturday March 10, 2012 at 4:30 PM
7 Thursday March 15, 2012 at 4:00 PM
8 Sunday March 18, 2012 at 3:30 PM
9 Thursday March 22, 2012 at 4:00 PM
American Kestrel is the Bird of the year
American Kestrel is the Bird of the year for 2011.
See more at http://www.aba.org/boy/ (from the American Birding Association).
Birding the Basin: what we saw on our West Haven field trip
It was great to go on the West Haven Field Trip! Birders saw and/or heard 56 species. One participant sent us an email, saying, “A highlight was seeing the Brewster’s Warbler, and Kris saw and heard a Golden-winged Warbler. … It was also fun to see Bobalink [sic], and to watch as a parent fed three young Cliff Swallows sitting on the road. Of course, we got a little herping in too – lots of Green Frogs!”
Weather: Cloudy and breezy with rain starting right after 2:00 p.m. Temperatures in the 70’s F.
Location: West Haven, Vermont and surrounding area
Birds observed (seen and/or heard) for a total of 56: Continue reading “Birding the Basin: what we saw on our West Haven field trip”
Recent Carving Work (Bob in Florida)
While in his winter residence, Bob Spear met Steve Deam, a photographer. Steve’s been kind enough to send us a few photos to keep track of Bob’s recent work. Enjoy!
©2011 Steve Deam, used by permission.
©2011 Steve Deam, used by permission.
These two photos were taken in January (I’m a little slow getting them publicized –the webmistress). There are more recent ones in Steve’s online photo gallery about Bob: http://www.deamshots.com/Nature/Wood-Carver/15679358_PcFJb#1175207671_ZQRPb
Would you like to see more of Steve’s work? Check it out at http://www.deamshots.com/, or browse through his blog at http://www.see-cedarkey.com/. You can even encourage him to add more videos of his work.
Join the County Quest!
Guest post from Ali Wagner, Birder and Museum Member
Last fall, a few of Vermont’s counties decided to take part in a friendly challenge of seeing and reporting the most species of birds during the 2011 calendar year. This has morphed into a state-wide challenge with all counties eagerly participating.
The quest, as described by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, is “part fun, part discovery, part conservation, but mostly fun.”
The goal is to get more people involved in birding as well as documenting bird species of the state. There’s a nice write-up at eBird: http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/vermont-county-birding-quest-takes-flight
If you would like to contribute your sightings, go to www.ebird.org/content/vt or www.vtecostudies.org/quest to sign up! If you have any questions, you can contact Ali at alikatofvt@gmavt.net or 802 434-7672.
Letter to Young Artists
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.
• Lori’s Website • Photographs •