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. Masks required when inside the Museum.
Call or email to ask about joining the observation team.
The first Saturday in September each year is International Vulture Awareness Day.
Vultures are an ecologically vital group of birds that face a range of threats in many areas that they occur. Populations of many species are under pressure and some species are facing extinction. Learn what you can do to protect vultures…and why that’s a really good idea!
Stop by the Museum (we’re open 10am – 4pm) to discover how many vulture species live in Vermont (and where). Can you find all of our vulture carvings? Are we missing any? Check out one of our larger carvings and imagine where would we have had to put it if Bob Spear had carved it with its wings outspread.
Not in Vermont? Drop by the Vulture Day website at https://www.VultureDay.org to stretch your curiosity with resources , games, education activities, and more. Celebrate IVAD locally!
Join our monthly monitoring walk to record birds on the Museum property. Learn something new, share what you know, or both!
All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Most fun for adults, older children.
Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent and a water bottle. Face masks required inside the museum and recommended when within 6′ of each other.
Max: 10 people • waitlist available if walk fills
Free, suggested donation $5 – $10
Registration required.
Ever wondered about the mysterious mushrooms that share the forest with us? Are you fungi-curious? Do you see interesting mushrooms in your travels and wish you knew more about these fascinating organisms?
On this walk we will explore the woods and learn about the mushrooms we find along the way including what they are, how to identify them, and the essential roles that these fungi play in forest ecology. We will also discuss the importance of community science and learn tips and tricks for taking mushroom photos.
Wear comfortable walking shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, and bring your questions and curiosity! A smartphone equipped with the iNaturalist app is a plus, but not required.
Meg Madden leads an exploration on the Museum’s trails: to seek, to find, and to understand the fungi that live in and on our corner of the wood-wide web.
Note: this is NOT a foraging program.
Limit: 15 • please register in advance
Cost: $15
About Meg Madden
Fungi educator, author, and professional photographer, Meg Madden can often be found in the forests of her childhood practicing what she calls “mushroom yoga” — laying on the ground, standing on her head, or balancing precariously on a log — to capture the perfect snail’s-eye view of her favorite photo subject: Fungi! Her colorful, highly detailed mushroom portraits offer an intimate look into the often-overlooked world of these extraordinary organisms.
Inspired by the belief that people are more likely to take care of something they love, she finds great joy in facilitating fun and meaningful connections between humans and nature. Meg shares her knowledge and contagious passion for the fantastic world of fungi through visually engaging presentations, mushroom walks, and via her Instagram gallery @megmaddendesign. An advocate for fungal diversity and community science, Meg teaches iNaturalist classes, organizes educational workshops and Bioblitzes, and is compiling an Atlas Of Fungi for the state of Vermont.
A nice month! We were busy with camp groups, some new Nestlings programs, our wonderful annual butterfly walk, a carving class, and the final touches on our July Chip Notes newsletter.
And with all that, we still time to do a little sedentary birding! Though we are a bit sparse on birds at the feeders right now (see below)…
Red-eyed Vireo from the Teaching Warblers collection. Carved by Bob Spear in 1988. Photographed by Erin Talmage.
It’s been a pleasant early summer month at the Birds of Vermont Museum. We’re continuing our Early Birder Morning Walks on Sundays, and had a new walk offered: “Tree IDs for Birders”. We even had a booksigning and a carving class!
Even though we’ve cut back on our feeding, we have still been able to enjoy spotting birds through our windows (and doors) at the Museum.
Birders—current, experienced, newbie and would-be—welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow.
Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent and a water bottle. We do wear masks when inside the museum.
Please click or tap the button to register in advance.
Max: 10 people • waitlist available
Free, suggested donation $5 – $10
If the walk fills, but there’s enough interest, we may be able to schedule more walks. Please email museum@birdsofvermont.org, or call (802) 434-2167 to discuss this.
Photo: Unidentified hawk overhead against a brilliantly blue sky. Photo copyright Erin Talmage and used by permission.
Still limiting feeding, although this month we saw so many birds that one might hardly have thought we were doing this! (Also, see below for why.)
We also noticed that at certain times of the day, the light hit the front door just right (or perhaps, just wrongly) to apparently encourage bird collisions. We have fixed this! (More on this below, too.)
A nice month! We were busy with camp groups, some new Nestlings programs, our wonderful annual butterfly walk, a carving class, and the final touches on our July Chip Notes newsletter.
