where natural history meets art
Not seen (or recorded) last month are bold
We were open last Saturday to celebrate and support the Great Backyard Bird Count. Naturally, we counted birds—and a few others—as well. Our results from that open time follow, and we will have our full count results posted to eBird as well.
Observed on February 19th, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
| Blue Jay | 9 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 4 |
| Northern Cardinal (female) | 1 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 2 |
| Mourning Dove | 6 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 |
| White-Breasted Nuthatch | 1 |
| European Starling | 1 |
| American Crow | 1 |
We also observed an Eastern Cottontail and 3 Red Squirrels.
How did your counts go?
“Almost everything delights a chickadee.” —E.B. White
Perhaps not snow, though.
I was using a Canon PowerShot S3 IS, and out of curiosity I set it to the sports setting (I don’t do or watch much sports) while photographing chickadees and downy woodpeckers near and at the Museum feeders. The birds were sharp, the snow not so much. I liked it.
– Kir, webmistress/program coordinator
Post and photo by Kir Talmage, Museum webmistress/program coordinator
Last night or early this morning, some large bird left tracks in the snow (the marks are at least 2½ feet across — no measurement because I didn’t have snow pants and didn’t much feel like sliding into the creek). But which bird?
The foot-trail between the wings climbs from the tiny under-the-road creek up to the trail that goes from the entrance path to the bridge. (This will all make more sense if you have visited here). There are plenty of turkeys around and I suppose they could have made the trail and used their wings for balance while climbing. We see them frequently. both walking and flying.
On the other hand, there are more wing-tip marks down at the bottom, under a minuscule hemlock, without footprints or a wading-through-snow trail. The habitat is also good for barred owl: many hemlocks along the brook, and a patchwork of open cut fields, old beaver meadow, drier upland deciduous forest. Both barred owl and turkey have been seen and heard here.
I’m guessing owl, but let me know if you have more clue (easy!) or would like to see other photos.
Visitors often ask us what we feed the birds. We currently have several feeding locations: the ground (including up on some rocks), crabapple trees, and elevated seed and suet feeders. We also hang oriole and hummingbird feeders in summer.
On the ground, we sprinkle kernel corn and mixed seeds, to attract turkeys, sparrows, juncos, blackbirds, and others. Not only do we sprinkle this by the viewing area, but in the summer Bob scatters corn by the pond for resident and visiting waterfowl (although the turkeys appreciate it too).
The crabapple tree produces small, cheery-sized apples, which attracts grouse and many of the smaller birds who also visit our feeders. This tree is visible in the photo below, in the background behind the feeders. There are other crabapples and feral apples on the property (that’s another post, someday).
The hummingbird feeders are hung just outside the viewing window and another outside the front door, but those are removed for the winter. We usually see hummingbirds during the first week of May, and they typically leave the first week in September. We do keep the feeders up through most of September, to support those migrating from points north.
Our upper feeders hold (generally) black oil sunflower seed, sunflower chips, mixed seeds, thistle, and suet. These attract a wide variety of birds, from doves to jays, grosbeaks to finches, woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many more. We hang a jelly feeder for orioles in the summer also. Check out our birds at the feeder posts for records of what we’ve seen when (a click on those post titles will take you to the posts and any pictures as well).
Our webcam shows a few of our upper feeders; this image is from a sunny morning in November 2010.
Our elevated feeders–the ones in the photo–are mounted on a 4″-diameter steel pole, 8 feet above the ground. The pole is set in concrete, and has a baffle beneath. We grease the pole every now and then. Most feeders are hung above the cross-bar part of the pole, although occasionally we will hang a feeder below.
Why all the elevated infrastructure? In a word, bears.
It is recommended that people in bear country not feed birds when bears are awake, especially early in the year when they are just awakening and are hungry after hibernation. For us in Vermont, this is roughly April 1 through November 1. However, as a Bird Museum, we also want to attract birds so visitors can enjoy them as we do, not to mention learning about and from them. Thus: tall, greased poles than black bears can’t knock over. (They have tried…)
Can you help with this bird? It has features of a Rusty Blackbird and of a Common Grackle according to our research in Sibley’s and the National Geographic field guides, and our experienced birders Bob Spear and Gale Lawrence.
The photos were taken on a rainy day (October 29) through our viewing window, so they are a bit low-light and there are occasional water drops.
You can click on the images in the slideshow below to see five different pictures (including a bigger version of the one to the left).
The weather on October 24th was rain, rain, and then some more rain. And chilly! But 9 intrepid birders traveled the Champlain Valley Basin, checking the skies, fields, and puddles for birds (migrating and otherwise). It was lots of fun and there was a lot of laughter. Thank you, Shirley, for providing us this list! Birds are listed in the order seen.
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If you are on FaceBook, and you have photos, feel free to post them on the event Wall (Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148202475222276 ). We’re also happy to link any online photos to this post if you send us the link.
Here’s a quick little sneak peek of some of the entries in our Community Art Show and Youth Art Contest. Come by to see more … much more! There are some wonderful pieces on display.
[As posted to VTBIRD mailing list by Erin Talmage]
We started with a soggy morning walk and ended at the Museum’s viewing
window drinking bird-friendly coffee and eating local baked goods.
Our species list for the entire morning:
Great crested Flycatcher
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Phoebe
Oriole
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
American Robin
Wood Duck
Black and White Warbler
Grackle
Blue Jay
Yellow bellied Sapsucker
Evening Grosbeak
Brown-headed Cowbird
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wild Turkey
Dark-eyed Junco
Indigo Bunting
Join us on June 13th, June 20th, and/or June 27th for another bird walk.
(We always end our walks with coffee and goodies!)
For more details and a complete schedule of events see
www.birdsofvermont.org
This was a seriously happenin’ month! Birds, mammals, amphibians. And yes, they were all seen through the windows of the museum. As always, these are roughly in the order we saw them.
For amphibians, we noted a wood frog on April 1 and a spotted salamander April 11. Wood frog eggs were noted in our little pond (the one near the viewing window) on April 3 and April 6).
We observed chipmunk, red squirrel, gray squirrel, a woodchuck (a.k.a. groundhog, on April 3) and, in a lucky moment, a bobcat on April 16.
The birds were recorded in our eBird record as well.