The late fall November routine is all about ending the “summer” open season and preparing for the winter “behind the scenes” season. We often try to take lunch at the viewing window or share a moment with visitors there.
Winter Birding in Vermont
Join Museum Director Erin Talmage to learn about Winter Birding in Vermont.
Vermont in winter is cold, muddy, slushy, icy, snowy. But there are still birds! Which ones? How come? What do they eat? How do they shelter from the weather? And how can you get involved?
We will explore permanent residents, birds that migrate to and through, and irrupters! You’ll learn how to be involved in conservation just by watching birds—and more.
OLLI (the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) is sponsoring this seminar. Visit their website for for more information: https://learn.uvm.edu/osher-lifelong-learning/olli-on-campus-courses/
Class begins at 1:30 at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church
72 Church St, Shelburne, VT 05482.
Read more about winter birds in this blog post: https://birdsofvermont.org/2013/01/16/winter-birds/
By-Appointment Season 2025-2026 (December)
From November through April, we’re open by appointment and for special events. Individuals, families, and groups are all welcome at all times of year. Our trails are open year-round, sunrise to sunset.
Please call (802) 434-2167 or email museum@birdsofvermont.org several days in advance to schedule your visit. Admission is free for members!
Behind the scenes in December: we’re sending out the Annual Appeal, setting up programs and traveling exhibits, and even working on next year’s events. We continue to invite all 2025 artists to pick up their works; look for the next call to artists soon. (We even have ideas for 2027 and beyond as well!) Send us and email if you’d like to receive the next one.
Sign up to attend any special events: these are listed in online at https://birdsofvermont.org/special-upcoming/. We are trying a book-your-visit calendar if you would like to try online booking with that.
Through the Window: October 2025
October is always surprising, what with migration trailing off, interesting swings in weather, and the Big Sit.
October Bird Lists
Changing Conservation Policies in 2025
Guest post by Thomas Buckley, Fall 2025 Intern
Since 1970, bird populations have declined by the billions, according to the 2025 State of the Birds Report. Populations of eastern forest birds—including many species commonly seen at the museum—have declined by 27 percent. The report identified 112 “tipping point species” including the Northern Pintail, Chimney Swift and Bobolink (whose can all be found as life-size woodcarvings at the museum), which have lost more than half of their populations in the past 50 years.
Given the threats facing birds, it is more important than ever to consider the recent changes by the federal government to conservation policy and practice. Continue reading “Changing Conservation Policies in 2025”
November 2025 events
November is mostly behind-the-scenes month. We have a lot to be thankful for, this month, and will post about all sorts of amazing people, places, and phenomena on instagram, facebook, and/or bluesky. We are open by appointment while we take the time to move art around, build the annual appeal, work on our newsletters, and update and invent new traveling exhibits. We have a few events, of course!
=== NOVEMBER EVENTS ===
Continue reading “November 2025 events”
By-Appointment Season 2025-2026 (November)
From November through April, we’re open by appointment and for special events. Individuals, families, and groups are all welcome at all times of year. Our trails are open year-round, sunrise to sunset.
Behind the scenes in November: we’re collecting feedback from our year; working on special projects like fundraising for the replacement bridge; updating labels; the next newsletter, and changing over to the annual Gift of Art show from this year’s Birds and Myth. We invite all artists to pick up their works; we’ll have a new theme soon!
Please call (802) 434-2167 or email museum@birdsofvermont.org several days in advance to schedule your visit. Admission is free for members!
Or sign up to attend upcoming events: these are listed on our calendar at https://birdsofvermont.org/special-upcoming/
Through the Window: September 2025
Warm and dry pretty much the whole month. Pleasant for sitting around, and can make some nice updrafts. Did you go hawk watching?
Every now and then this year, a warbler comes to the feeder—not to eat, apparently, just to check things out from that perch. And (presumably less often) we notice!
September Bird List
the Big Sit! 2025
The most relaxed birding around. And around and around …
How many birds (and birdwatchers) can we identify from a 17-foot diameter circle between sunrise and sunset? Can we beat last year’s record? We’ve seen birds big and small, in night and day: from Kinglets to Great Blue Herons, Barred Owls to Turkey Vultures.
This is a great long-running community science project. Pledges and donations welcome:
We are observing from Dawn to Dusk. The Museum is open from 10am – 4pm.
Call or email to ask about joining the observation team.
For much more info, see https://www.thebigsit.org/ .
Check out the reports from previous years: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 (overall), 2021 (ours), 2022 (overall), 2022 (ours), 2023 (overall), 2023 (ours)
Through the Window: August 2025
Oh my gosh, it’s been SO dry. Thankfully, we have a little trickle of water coming into a well-shaded tiny pond. The Bee balm and the willow and the goldenrod are a bit too tall and dense to see the birds taking their small drinks at the water, though! (The Hummingbirds sure like the bee balm!)