Ah migration! Everyone getting busy, going places, and we humans getting a chance to be surprised by birds on the move. This month, we saw some that aren’t usually in the feeder area.
Through the Window: September 2024
October 2024 events
Art, coffee, wildlife festivals, wood carving, migratory birds—even trees! This is a happening month. Events at the museum are below, or check the special upcoming list for a few extras.
The Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. The trails are open sunrise to sunset, every day. The best access to to those on the south, the pond side of the property, thanks to flooding in July. Libraries have passes you can check out, and admission is always free for members (https://birdsofvermont.org/membership/).
=== OCTOBER EVENTS ===
Through the Window: August 2024
While it’s lovely just to sit by the window, sometimes we catch sight of birds as we come to work as well. Catbirds, phoebes, and some other species are more likely to be seen at the entrance than in the bird feeding area.
August Bird List
October World Migratory Bird Day
Watch for, protect, record birds during both migration seasons!
The map above shows the movement of birds in this date last year from BirdCast.info. The United States is depicted in white outlines on black, while a heat map ranging from purple to pink to orange to yellow shows the intensity of bird migration (mostly in the eastern US). Arrows show the directions the birds are moving. (Dokter, A. M. 2023 of live migration map image. BirdCast, live migration map; 2023-10-12. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/migration-forecast-maps. Accessed 2024-09-05.)
In Vermont, birds are moving!
While the official day of celebration for World Migratory Bird Day is on the second Saturday in May each year, the [Smithsonian] recognizes that migratory birds stop in various places along their journey. This means that the celebration can be flexible, depending on the location. In addition, Environment for the Americas encourages people to also catch the migratory birds on their way south in the autumn, celebrating another time on the second Saturday in October.
More info:
- https://www.migratorybirdday.org/
- https://birdcast.info/
- https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds
- https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-migratory-bird-day/
Hashtag: #WorldMigratoryBirdDay
September 2024 events
September is for transitions: an equinox, return to school, seasons officially change. Yet, it’s also continuous, with ongoing art shows, new chances to learn, and time to just enjoy birds (and possibly coffee).
The Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. The trails are open sunrise to sunset, every day—for now only on the pond side of the property, thanks to flooding in July. Libraries have passes you can check out, and admission is always free for members (https://birdsofvermont.org/membership/).
=== SEPTEMBER EVENTS ===
the Big Sit!
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)
Power of Perspective: 2024 art exhibit continues in October
The 2024 art show, The Power of Perspective: shifting points of view opened May 1 and runs through October 31.
Visit, and find your own new idea, question, or experience. Our call to artists for this year’s art show asked,
Consider the scope of an eagle’s eye—the narrow view of a gleaning warbler—the shadowed sight of a loon underwater. We may see birds above us from the ground, or below us from a plane. We may use a camera lens to record from afar, or a magnifier and lamps to perceive what is normally unknown. How does time influence your perspective? What if we “zoom out” from one bird to a species, to an ecosystem, to a planet? What if we “zoom in” to one bird to its wing, to a feather, to a gene?
How does your art reveal a point of view? …How might a change in perspective alter people’s understanding of the lives and needs of the birds who share our world?
Discover how artists, poets, sculptors, photographers and others have answered. The full list of creators is in our blog post, Power of Perspective.
Image: Snow Geese on Lake Champlain. Photograph by Diane DeBella. Copyright © 2024 Diane DeBella, and shown with permission.
Past Exhibits
2023: Spark! fueling a love of birds
2022: Fine Feathers: at play with structure and function
2021: Expanding Voices: perspectives on birding
2020: Borders: illusions that constrain us
2019: Pollinate This!
2018: Common Grounds
2017: B1rding by the Numb3rs
2016: In Layers: the art of the egg
2015: Birds of a Fiber
2014: Perilous Passages
Through the Window: July 2024
The birds seem to be weathering the weather a bit better than some. It was a nice month for both usual and less-frequent species.
July Bird List
August 2024 events
Looking for a new way of noticing? Come visit art, try hand work, listen to music, or look for birds. August is a great month for you and a friend to stretch or swap points of view.
The Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm (but we are closed July 4th). The trails are open sunrise to sunset, every day. Libraries have passes, and admission is always free for members (https://birdsofvermont.org/membership/).
=== AUGUST EVENTS ===
Power of Perspective: 2024 art exhibit continues in September
The 2024 art show, The Power of Perspective: shifting points of view opened May 1 and runs through October 31.
Visit, and find your own new idea, question, or experience. Our call to artists for this year’s art show asked,
Consider the scope of an eagle’s eye—the narrow view of a gleaning warbler—the shadowed sight of a loon underwater. We may see birds above us from the ground, or below us from a plane. We may use a camera lens to record from afar, or a magnifier and lamps to perceive what is normally unknown. How does time influence your perspective? What if we “zoom out” from one bird to a species, to an ecosystem, to a planet? What if we “zoom in” to one bird to its wing, to a feather, to a gene?
How does your art reveal a point of view? …How might a change in perspective alter people’s understanding of the lives and needs of the birds who share our world?
Discover how artists, poets, sculptors, photographers and others have answered. The full list of creators is in our blog post, Power of Perspective.
Image: Excerpt of Backyard Angels by Hannah Mahar. Copyright © 2024 Hannah Mahar, and shown with permission.
Past Exhibits
2023: Spark! fueling a love of birds
2022: Fine Feathers: at play with structure and function
2021: Expanding Voices: perspectives on birding
2020: Borders: illusions that constrain us
2019: Pollinate This!
2018: Common Grounds
2017: B1rding by the Numb3rs
2016: In Layers: the art of the egg
2015: Birds of a Fiber
2014: Perilous Passages