Annual Butterfly and Bug Walk

dragonfly on corner of a brick, observed at the Birds of Vermont Museum by Erin Talmage

Experience Vermont’s butterflies and insects up close!

Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds. Bring binoculars, magnifying glass, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk.

If it is raining on the day of the walk, please call the Museum (802 434-2167) to see if we have rescheduled.

Terrific for anyone interested in Vermont’s six-legged creatures.
Free! (Donations welcome)

Check out the Vermont Entomological Society site https://www.vermontinsects.org/ — gorgeous photos and information about the Society.

https://www.vermontinsects.org/events may have updates

May Bird Monitoring Walk

Birders in early spring, looking at trees that are not fully leafed out.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow. We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

Photo:Early Birders at the Birds of Vermont Museum

[ CANCELLED due to COVID-19 ] April Bird Monitoring Walk

Photo: Fox Sparrow photographed by Erin Talmage, © 2019 and used by permission.

[CANCELLED due to COVD-19 ]
If you choose to walk our trails or go birding, please stay safe. We will not be offering a guided monitoring walk this month.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow. We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

Photo: Fox Sparrow photographed by Erin Talmage, ©copyright  2019 and used by permission.

Posted on

Through the Window: March 2020

Gray Squirrel in snow
Squirrels seem to appreciate the spillage from the feeders above. The snow has pretty well gone by the time of posting.

Well this was not the March we expected. Admittedly, the birds here seem quite unaffected.

We did keep observing birds from our windows and cams, just with fewer human friends (in person).  Welcome back, Common Grackle and Song Sparrow!

We’ve rearranged our schedules and updated some policies to deal with COVID-19. Details soon! The birds are being fed less often, and we’d already changed what and where we’d fed them. (We do that each spring anyway, because the forests in Huntington do have bears and we’d prefer only smaller mammals take advantage of what the birds leave.)

Continue reading “Through the Window: March 2020”

[CANCELED due to COVID-19] March Bird Monitoring Walk

Bohemian Waxwing in Museum's crab apple tree, by Erin Talmage. Copyright 2016 and used by permission.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow. We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

Photo: Bohemian Waxwing in Museum’s crab apple tree, by Erin Talmage. Copyright 2016 and used by permission.

Posted on

Through the Window: February 2020

Snow-covered wooden bird in the Museum's rain garden
The rare white pseudoheron freezes in place to stalk prey more effectively. Possibly.

Sometimes, a month with nothing unusual is really quite comforting.

But that was just old friends who are birds! For our human friends, in February we also shared programs about Kinglets, opened up for the Great Backyard Bird Count, painted signs, installed our Little Free Library, played Wingspan at the Museum, and hopefully inspired art! Of course, you’d have to look through the window the other wayto see most of those things (or come inside).

Continue reading “Through the Window: February 2020”

February Bird Monitoring Walk

Northern Cardinal female. ©2011 Laura Waterhouse

Join our monthly monitoring walk to record birds on the Museum property. Learn something new, share what you know, or both! We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Photo: Female Northern Cardinal. Used by permission of the photographer.)

Museum Open for Great Backyard Bird Count

Great Backyard Bird Count 2020: poster

Visit us February 15th, 2020,  to see what birds we’re counting for the Great Backyard Bird Count!

  • Learn to ID birds — what do we look / listen for?
  • Go birding with a friend — twice the fun
  • Find out more about –and record observations for–this great citizen science project!

We’re open from 10-3 on Saturday for the GBBC
Members admission: Free!  • Regular Museum admission is $7 adults, discounts for kids and seniors

About the GBBC:

Friday – Monday,  February 14 – 17, 2020 • 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: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/

Journal and Sketch (Winter Birds series, episode 4)

nature journaling and sketching materials

Join with others who are interested in birds at a series of four weekly sessions at the Birds of Vermont Museum. The sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 1:30. A donation of $5 is suggested. No prior experience or knowledge needed.

REGISTER WITH janevossler@gmail.com

If you’re interested in attending, there may be carpooling from the Richmond Library.

After the sessions, watch birds at the museum’s feeders while enjoying a hot drink, a snack and the conversation of your fellow bird enthusiasts.

January 22: In this introduction to winter birds, the focus will be on answering the following questions: Which birds are you likely to see in Vermont in the winter? What are the secrets of feeding birds to attract a variety of species? What is Project Feeder Watch and how can you get involved?

January 29: Learn all about Snow Buntings through carvings, photos, audio, and literature. How do they build their nests? What are their courtship practices? How do they care for their young? Where are you most likely to see them? And more!

February 5: This session will focus on the life of Kinglets through carvings, photos, audio, and literature. How do they build their nests? How can a bird that small survive the winter? Where are you most likely to see them? Courtship, care of young, and more!

February 12: Learn how to use journaling and nature sketching help you identify birds. When you spot a bird only briefly, what do you look for in the first second that will help you know what to look for in the next second? Also how to participate with join the Great Backyard Bird Count and other Citizen Science Projects.