community – Page 3 – Birds of Vermont Museum

Deadline for submissions to Wings • Waters • Ways

Pale image of a carved and painted wooden female Labrador duck swimming and seen from below underlies brown cursive text that reads Wings-Waters-Ways: a call to artists.

The Birds of Vermont Museum invites art submissions that dive and soar with the ways of wings and waters for our 2026 community art show.

Explore the interwoven history of humans, birds, and waterways with your art. Consider upcoming “250th” celebrations, the much-longer history of humans on the landscape in the Green Mountains and Champlain Valley, and the much, much, much longer stories of how birds have evolved with, use, and been influenced by water and waterways. Ponder habitats, adaptations, and interactions.

The entire Call to Artists with all details is at https://birdsofvermont.org/call-to-artists-wings-waters-ways/

TODAY is the last day to submit artworks in any media, by new or returning artists, of any age, to the Wings • Waters • Ways art show by 11:59 PM. Continue reading “Deadline for submissions to Wings • Waters • Ways“

Museum Open for Great Backyard Bird Count

black-capped chickadee eyes black oil birdseed in the platform feeder in fall-winter

Visit us February 14th, 2026, to see what birds we’re counting for the Great Backyard Bird Count!

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

We’re open from 10-4 on Saturday for the GBBC
Members admission: Free!

About the GBBC:

Friday – Monday, February 13-16, 2026 • 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 visit Great Backyard Bird Count website

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Friday – Monday, February 13-16, 2026 • All Over the World

Whether you are with a friend or on your own, watching one bird or counting hundreds, join a worldwide community-science and conservation project! All you have to do is observe for 15 minutes and submit your observation(s). Here are few details from https://www.birdcount.org/participate/ :

Step 1 – Decide where you will watch birds. [Suggestion: at the Museum on Saturday!]

Step 2 – Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 13-16, 2026.

Step 3 – Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:

If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID app.
If you have participated in the count before, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.

For more info visit https://www.birdcount.org/

January Bird Monitoring Walk

Black-capped Chickadee and Dark-eyed Junco in winter. The Chickadee is perched on a half-fallen dried goldenrod stem on the left; the Junco is underneath he stem on the right. There are some forsythia stems in the background and snow covers the ground. Digiscoped iPhone photo by K. Talmage and used by permission.

Join our monthly monitoring walk to record birds at the Museum’s trails, forest, and meadow. Learn something new, share what you know, or both.

All birders —current, experienced, newbie and would-be— welcome! Most fun for adults and older youth.

Please bring your own binoculars and dress for the weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent (seasonally) and a water bottle.

Max: 12 people
Free, suggested donation $10-$15

Register at https://sevendaystickets.com/organizations/birds-of-vermont-museum or call 802 434-2167 or register with the button below:

Outdoors

If the walk fills, but there’s enough interest, we may be able to schedule more walks. Please call or email us to make arrangements.

Photo of Black-capped Chickadee and Junco in winter. Photographed at the Museum by Museum staff.

January 1, 2026January 13, 2026

January 2026 events

January is a great month for planning; applying for grants; thanking donors and volunteers; thinking about the year that was and the year to come. We are open by appointment while we do all of that.

=== JANUARY EVENTS ===

Continue reading “January 2026 events”

By-Appointment Season 2025-2026 (January)

small songbird (Junco or Chickadee) tracks in snow

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 January: we’re feeding birds and sending out thank you letters (yay!). Some of us are birding in the last of the 2025-2026 Christmas Bird Count.

Winter Birding in Vermont

Black-capped chickadee eating a sunflower seed. Chickadee perches on a pile of hulled sunflower seeds in winter; a few snowflakes show on the bird's black feathers.

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)

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.

October 27, 2025November 2, 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!

Tag: community