Our Blog – Page 56 – Birds of Vermont Museum

June 6, 2009

May 31st bird walk

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.

May 14, 2009

Wild Turkeys peeking in the office windows

Work was interrupted when a male Wild Turkey started pecking at our office window.

May 8, 2009

Birds of Vermont Museum and Green Mountain Audubon celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on May 16, 2009

IMBD kids flying small 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.

April 24, 2009

Volunteers needed at The Birds of Vermont Museum

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)!

April 3, 2009

Dick Allen donates bird carving for International Migratory Bird Day raffle

chickadee bird-carving

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.

February 12, 2009

Winter Birds of the Lake Champlian Basin

Watching a Red-tailed Hawk 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.

February 3, 2009

Outing: Winter Birds of the Lake Champlain Basin

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.

January 9, 2009

Blue “Water”

Ingrid, our curator and apprentice carver, and Bob, our founding director, have been layering and painting foam board to create the shoreline in our Fall Wetland diorama.

The foam will be covered with sand and a clear acrylic to form the beach and water surface.

Enjoy this preview/work-in-progess photo! We are looking forward to sharing this with you in the Spring.

January 4, 2009

Turkeys continue to visit

In the winter we put insulation on all the Museum windows (to conserve heat). Ingrid cut a small hole in the insulation so we can see what is outside the window before we go out to feed birds. Almost every day there is a flock of Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) enjoying the scattered corn. On January 3rd we counted 19!

January 2, 2009

Four Birds for the Wetland Dioramas

In the past few months, Bob completed four new birds: the Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), Pied-Billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), and Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis).

He will be taking a break from carving to work on the Fall Wetland Diorama.

More details and photographs are available in our January 2009 newsletter, which is mailed directly to members. Non-members may print copies from our website.