Do other people have turkeys peeping through their office windows?
Peeping Tom
Thank you, Northeast Delta Dental
- Jeff Landa presents Northest Delta Dental’s support to Erin Talmage, Executive Director, and Shirley Johnson, Board of Trustees President.
Northeast Delta Dental has been sponsoring our newsletter since 2005. Their support is very important.
Jeff Landa is a former Board of Trustees member and Board President. He currently serves on the Museum Advisory Board. His advocacy and support for the museum is greatly appreciated.
We’d like to take this chance to express our gratitude. Thank you!
2010 Annual Art Contest Open
Enter your bird art in the Birds of Vermont Museum 2010 Art Contest.
Art Contest Rules for 2010
- This competition is open to persons aged 0 – 18 years old
- The theme of the contest is Birds, Birds, Birds!
- Entries on paper must be no larger than 8 1/2 x 11″ , 3-D Art must be smaller than 6″ x 6″ x 8″.
- One entry per person – name, age and contact information must be included with entry. Entries may be picked up at the Museum after Nov. 1, 2010.
- Contestants can use any medium – (paint, pencils, crayons, markers, clay, wood, papier-mache)
- Entries must be received no later than September 30, 2010
- Please drop off, or mail, entries to Birds of Vermont Museum, 900 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, Vermont 05462
- All entries will be displayed at the museum throughout the 2010 season, so enter early!
Judging
Entries will be grouped by age of contestants.
First, second, and honorable mention prizes will be awarded in each of the following groups:
- 5 years and younger
- 6 – 8 years
- 9 – 13 years
- 14 – 18 years
- 3-D Art (multi-age)
Winning entries will be displayed on the BOVM website and/or our FaceBook page with the artists’ permission.
Winners will be announced at the Museum at the Fall Festival, October 9, 2010 (see more events on our calendar).
Thank You to our 2010 Sponsors
Guy’s Farm and Yard, Williston, Vermont
Artists’ Mediums, Williston, Vermont
Climbing the walls? Paint them instead!
Painting Party, February 27
We are looking for volunteers to help us paint the walls downstairs in the Museum. We’ll be painting from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Lunch will follow, 12:00 – 1:00, so please let us know if you will be coming.
January Feeder Birds
At lunch, we like to eat while gazing out of the Viewing Window at the museum. We keep an unofficial list of birds (mostly) seen at that time, jotting them down on a nearby whiteboard. Here’s who we saw in January:
- Downy Woodpeckers
- Hairy Woodpeckers
- Black-capped Chickadees
- Blue Jays
- White-breasted Nuthatches
- Red-Breasted Nuthatches
- Northern Cardinal
- Mourning Doves
- Wild Turkeys
- Tufted Titmice
- Red Squirrels
- Gray Squirrels
You can see some of what we see with our FeederCam, too. We also participate in in Project FeederWatch, a more formal way to collect and record bird data.
The 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count, February 12-15
Interested in yet another good reason to go birding? How about the Great Backyard Bird Count? It’s another Citizen Science project we do here, and it’s always open to more participants.
We’ll be open on February 13, Saturday, from 9-4. Come by to learn more about it, to count birds, or just visit.
Here’s a brief introduction from the Cornell Lab or Ornithology’s e-newsletter:
The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday, February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” During last year’s count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. …[T]he success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent.
Spread the word …through our volunteer ambassador program. Volunteer ambassadors do a variety of things, including hanging up GBBC fliers, giving presentations in their community, and even talking to their local media. For more ideas on how to promote the GBBC, fill out the online ambassador sign-up form and specify the kinds of activities you’d like to do.
More info from the National Audubon Society: http://www.audubon.org/gbbc/
or from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/
Work for the Museum, too
We’re seeking two people for part-time jobs, as well. Are you interested? Know someone who is?
Program Coordinator: Assist with member and public communications. Develop, facilitate, and lead program activities. Cover letter, resume due by February 15, 2010. Part-time (6 hours/week off-season, 12 hours/week from May-October). Starts immediately.
Full description: PDF
Museum Aid: Assist with guest services and daily operations of Museum. Cover letter and resume due by March 1, 2010. Part-time (26 hours/week), May-October.
Full description: PDF
Intern with the Museum
We’ve just posted two internship descriptions to our website: Museum Education and Communications.
Are you interested? Know someone who is? Take a look at our internship overview page, and download a PDF description.
Description of Museum Education Internship: PDF
Description of Communications Internship: PDF
We also welcome self-designed internships. Write to us with your idea.
About Project FeederWatch
The Christmas Bird Count isn’t the only citizen science activity that the Museum does. We do Project Feeder Watch, too. It makes for a very pleasant lunchtime: good food and a viewing window (today we saw our first Wild Turkey and Tufted Titmouse of the month). Many of you with feeders at home or work can participate. You can sign up at any time. Here’s an overview from a recent Cornell Lab of Ornithology‘s e-newsletter:
Project FeederWatch
The 2009-10 season of Project FeederWatch begins November 14, though you can sign up at any time. FeederWatchers keep track of their birds through the winter and report their tallies each week. This helps scientists track changes in winter bird populations from year to year.
To learn more and to sign up, visit the Project FeederWatch website. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a bird-identification poster, calendar, and instruction booklet. There is a $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) to help cover the costs of materials and participant support. If you live in Canada, please visit our partner, Bird Studies Canada, or call (888) 448-2473.
Christmas Bird Count: Woodstock, Vermont
We’re reposting several Christmas Bird Count results from neighboring towns. Email us at museum@birdsofvermont.org if you want us to post yours, too. Final results may also become available on the VTBIRD mailing list and many final tallies are available through Audubon’s 110th Christmas Bird Count pages.
Woodstock, Vermont
from Sally Laughlin, via e-mail
The Woodstock Count was held on the coldest day of the count period no doubt, Tuesday 12/29….wind-chill to 30 below. Both numbers of individuals and of species suffered (as did us birders!). We had only 32 species and 2227 individuals. But we had some firsts for our 35 year old count!
Species unusual for our count were:
Cedar Waxwing, 230- located in front of the Woodstock Elementary School
Snow Bunting, 12 – seen in both Plymouth (3) and South Woodstock (9)
Green Winged Teal, 1 – a first for our count
Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1 – at a feeder on River Road, Killington
Pied-billed Grebe, 1 a first for our count, in an open pool in the Sherburne Marsh, Killington
Savannah Sparrow, 1 – in Woodstock
Species usually located on the Count, by numbers sighted:
Black-capped Chickadee, 608;
Blue Jay, 287;
European Starling, 229;
American Goldfinch, 188;
Mourning Dove, 130;
Dark-eyed Junco, 92;
Wild Turkey, 55;
American Crow, 52;
Mallard, 47;
White-breasted Nuthatch, 47;
Rock Pigeon, 45;
House Sparrow, 38;
Downy Woodpecker, 29;
Tufted Titmouse, 28;
Hairy Woodpecker, 22;
Northern Cardinal, 21;
American Tree Sparrow, 17;
House Finch, 14;
Raven, 11;
Purple Finch, 9;
Red-tailed Hawk, 3;
Ruffed Grouse, 3;
Black Duck, 2;
Brown Creeper, 2;
Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1;
accipiter sp., glimpsed by a feeder watcher catching a Mourning Dove,
unfortunately not identified to species.