where natural history meets art
This is a strangely short list. We did limit feeding until late in the month due to nearby bear sightings. And I know we were more likely outside when looking at and for birds in June. (I mean, how can you resist June? Except for that weirdly horribly hot week.) Of course, it’s also possible the birds were very busy elsewhere. Because June!
We had a surprise visitor one day in May! This little fellow confused the Black-capped Chickadee by pulling fibers from a hanging plant basket that the chickadees often use (for the same purpose).
Many thanks to our intern Hans for the photo. Read on for a really incredible bird list this month!
Well, it’s true that some of these we didn’t see when looking out the window! It’s a loose unofficial record! We might have observed these birds while walking into or around the building, or heard them from the front door. Or, in the case of Wood Frogs*, heard through the windows and sometimes, possibly, through the wall.
March often feels like everything is hurtling towards change. Welcome to spring…even if if it often doesn’t feel like spring at all.
One of the neat things about February is that both Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count happen that month. People come into the museum to watch from our windows (it’s usually warmer than outside) and to learn about birds from the carvings. (The birds don’t fly away! So helpful!)
What would you like to learn next about birds?
Fun to see a Pine Siskin this month! And thirteen other species…fifteen if you look at all the observations records around the Museum (we’re such a hot spot!). Nice set of winter birds.
Visit us February 17th, 2024, to see what birds we’re counting for the Great Backyard Bird Count!
We’re open from 10-4 on Saturday for the GBBC
Members admission: Free!
Friday – Monday, February 16-19, 2024 • All Over the World
From the Great Backyard Bird Count website:
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.
Since then, more than 100,000 people of all ages and walks of life have joined the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.
For more info visit Great Backyard Bird Count website
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Friday – Monday, February 16-19, 2024 • All Over the World
With a friend or one your own, watching one bird or counting hundreds, join a worldwide community-science and conservation project! All you have to do is observe for 15 minutes and submit your observation(s). Here are few details from https://www.birdcount.org/participate/ :
Step 1 – Decide where you will watch birds. [Suggestion: at the Museum on Saturday!]
Step 2 – Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 16-19, 2024.
Step 3 – Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:
For more info: https://www.birdcount.org/
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December was a bit wet this year. We were fine (still watching how the streams flow around and under our various bridges, of course). People seemed to be enjoying staying in Gale’s Retreat, and we certainly have enjoyed our walks in the woods to check on it before and after the guests.
One heavy wet snowfall took out more main branches from the crabapple tree. We’ll see how the Ruffed Grouse adapt to that.
November is often pretty quiet; we get wrapped up in the Race, with working indoors with our Annual Appeal, with staff getting some breaks for holidays. The birds don’t care!
It’s an amusing treat to watch the Ruffed Grouse reach for each small decorative crabapple fruit, dried and frozen though they may be.