Tag: birdwatching

Posted on

the Big Sit! results 2011

On Sunday,  October 9, the Museum hosted the Loonatics and their Big Sit! circle.  Thanks to all the volunteers who Shared the watch!  Several people contributed excellent (and warm!) food to keep us going.

We identified 21 species, and recorded them with the Big Sit! website.

Loonatics – Birds of Vermont Museum

Captain: Erin Talmage
Location: Huntington, Vermont (United States)

Team Checklist

  1. Barred Owl Strix varia
  2. Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
  3. Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
  4. Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
  5. Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
  6. American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
  7. Common Raven Corvus corax
  8. Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
  9. Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
  10. White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
  11. Brown Creeper Certhia americana
  12. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
  13. Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
  14. American Robin Turdus migratorius
  15. Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
  16. White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
  17. Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
  18. Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
  19. American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
  20. Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
  21. Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Posted on

Early Bird Morning Walks

Early Bird Morning Walks, May 15 - Jun 12, 2011, 7 a.m.
Early Bird Morning Walks, May 15 - Jun 12, 2011, 7 a.m.

Join us for an early morning ramble in the Birds of Vermont Museum forest and meadows. Share your sightings, practice identifying birds by ear, or learn from other birders. Enjoy the start of the day with us, birds, and other woodland inhabitants.

Walks are led by experienced birders familiar with Vermont birds.

Finish the walk with bird-friendly “birds and Beans” coffee inside the Museum.

Bring binoculars and good walking shoes, rain gear if needed. Park at 900 Sherman Hollow Road, in the Museum parking lot.

Sundays, May 15 – June 12, 7:00am – 8:15am
Outdoors on Museum property
Appropriate for adults and older children
Free, donations welcome.

Posted on

Through the Window: March birds and others

Birds

We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.

  • Hairy Woodpecker (male)
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Tufted Titmouse (also singing like crazy 3/27)
  • American Crow (heard 3/1, 2 eating corn 3/24, 1 on 3/27 until it saw me through the window)
  • Common Redpolls (5 on 3/4/11)
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal (male)
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • White-breasted Nuthatch (3/13/11)
  • Grackle (3/24/11)
  • Red-winged Blackbird (heard 3/15/11, seen 3 on 3/24/11)
  • Evening Grosbeak (male and female pair 3/30/11)
Red-winged Blackbird, Carved by Bob Spear
Red-winged Blackbird, carved by Bob Spear

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • Gray Squirrels (3 on 3/31/11)
  • Eastern Cottontail (3/8)
  • Eastern Chipmunk (3/15/11)

And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.

Posted on

White-winged Crossbills

 

The White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls were a nice surprise on this snowy April morning.  We also saw Wild turkeys, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays at our bird feeders.

Posted on

Through the Window: February Birds at the Feeders (more or less)

Tree Sparrow (carved by Bob Spear)
Tree Sparrow (carved by Bob Spear)

Birds

We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.

  • Tree Sparrow
  • Wild Turkeys (2 on 2/4; 13 on 2/24)
  • American Robin (7 on 2/4)
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Blue Jay
  • Ruffed Grouse (across the road on 2/8, near the brook)
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Mourning Dove
  • European Starling
  • Raven (flying over)
  • Evening Grosbeak
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • American Crow
  • White-winged Crossbill (Male and Female on 2/16)
  • Common Redpolls (3 on 2/23 on the thistle seed)

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • Gray Squirrels
  • Fisher (tracks seen 2/16, fisher itself on 2/28)

And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.

Posted on

Through the Window: January feeder birds

Birds

Downy Woodpecker at Platform feeder
Female Downy Woodpecker at the platform feeder. Photo by Kir Talmage for the Birds of Vermont Museum
  • Wild Turkeys (1/2/11; two talkative turkeys)
  • Hairy Woodpecker (both male and female)
  • Blue Jays
  • Black-capped Chickadees
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Mourning Dove
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Common Redpolls
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Robin (2 at 2:30 pm 1/21 on nearby branches)
  • Pileated Woodpecker (1/25 at the front of the Museum—happened to notice while coming into work)

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel 
  • 3 fat Gray Squirrels

A bit of a spare month. Perhaps we’re not sitting at the window enough?

Posted on

Chickadee

“Almost everything delights a chickadee.” —E.B. White

Perhaps not snow, though.

Chickadee on a snowy day, in an evergreen
Chickadee on a snowy day, in an evergreen

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

Posted on

Through the Window: December feeder birds

We had a new visitor this month, and I’ll tell you who right after the monthly list of birds.  A light-weight month, perhaps for weather, but more likely for the season.

Birds

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker
Photo ©2008 E. Talmage,
Huntington, Vermont

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Wild Turkey
  • Blue Jay
  • Dark-eyed Junco (12/7; about 18 inches of snow fell in the night of 12/6 and the morning of 12/7)
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Northern Cardinal
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Mourning Dove
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • White-throated Sparrow (12/10, a warmish, wet and windy day)
  • American Goldfinch (12/17)
  • Common Redpolls (4 of them on 12/17)

Mammals

  • Red Squirrel (of course)
  • and an Eastern Cottontail

Coincidentally, today (posting day) is  the Hinesburg/Huntington Christmas Bird Count. It’s rather foggy, actually, so not too much observed yet, I’m told. But the day is still young! (In fact, I just saw a wild turkey, because it was chuckling to itself and I looked up from typing this.)

Privacy Policy