where natural history meets art
Warm and dry pretty much the whole month. Pleasant for sitting around, and can make some nice updrafts. Did you go hawk watching?
Every now and then this year, a warbler comes to the feeder—not to eat, apparently, just to check things out from that perch. And (presumably less often) we notice!
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)
All birders — current, experienced, newbie and would-be — welcome!
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! Most fun for adults, older children.
Please bring your own binoculars and dress for the weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent and a water bottle.
Free, suggested donation $10 – $15
Max: 12 people
Register with the button below or call 802 434-2167.
Outdoors
We go out the last Saturday of every month. Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am in September – March
Photo of White-breasted Nuthatch © Zac Cota-Weaver and used by permission.
All birders — current, experienced, newbie and would-be — welcome!
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! Most fun for adults, older children.
Please bring your own binoculars and dress for the weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent and a water bottle.
Free, suggested donation $10 – $15
Max: 12 people
Register in advance with the button below
or call 802 434-2167.
Outdoors
We go out the last Saturday of every month. Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am in September – March
Photo: Sparrow spp. © 2019 E. Talmage and used by permission.
As usual, we keep track of birds seen through the window with notes on a white board (see the list below). This month, we also had a lovely furry special guest…
Many thanks to the MP and MP, two regular volunteers with the same initials, who help us participate in community science programs. They have been here almost every Tuesday to record birds for Feederwatch and eBird… and to note birds on the white board by the window (see the list below).
When you go birding, take note of your observations! Every record you contribute is part of important community science and large data monitoring for conservation! One record at a time may not feel like much, but they add up into incredibly useful data. You might enjoy reading “9 Ways People Have Used eBird Data to Make Conservation Happen.” (Ed. note: Let me know of more recent conservation successes based on bird data, and I’ll add that info to next month’s post!)
December is often a month of vacations and fewer observations. It’s also a properly winter month (usually), which means our birds lists can be a bit shorter than usual. But enjoy the year-round residents with us!
You’d think that being “closed” would mean we’d get all the behind the scenes things done. But of course there are birds to watch for, which distracts us from tasks like our Annual Appeal … preparing programs and events …
But we did get to see a hawk! And turkeys, which have been less-often spotted in the feeder area recently. And more!
Busy on the inside! And outdoors? It’s a good day for a walk. Or call to make an appointment for your visit! The Museum is open by appointment and for special events from now through April 30.
The trails are open from sunrise to sunset, every day—we recommend using the south trails (Spear, Discovery, Story) rather than Gale’s, Pop’s, or Bob’s, thanks to flooding last July. Trail maps and more information are available on our website, and are posted at the museum and at kiosks as well. (Let us know if the wind moved any!)
As we wound down to the “end” of the year—we are really just shifting into our “winter” season—we enjoyed the last of the migrants, a sedentary birding event, and the final days of the 2024 art show.