where natural history meets art
By July, the birds get pretty busy with nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles. A few juveniles of one kind of another come to the feeders, and fuss at their parents to keep on feeding them.
Here are the species seen at the feeders over the last month. Sometimes we can even tell when the bird is a juvenile!
Spring is … not yet happening. March birds included the classic winter species… :
We particularly loved seeing grouse in the crabapple this month—one day, we saw five! We also were pleased to host a delightful number of people for the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Birds noticed this month at our feeders and just nearby: Continue reading “Through the Window: February 2018”
From polar vortex to thaw to bare ground to new snow and back again. Nice bit of roller coastering weather!
Thank goodness for adaptations.
Some surprises and delights by the time the Bird Monitoring Walk and Christmas Bird Count rolled around. (We did not actually have quite this much snow, but it’s getting there.)
More light traffic… or should I say continued light traffic? at the feeders this month.
Through October, we continued to have light traffic at our feeders, but plenty of birds deeper in the woods. Great insects, fruits, berries? Could be.
This month’s list includes what we observed at the Big Sit!, one of our favorite birding activities.
It’s pretty dry out there this month . Several people have called in to report no one is at their feeders. What are your thoughts about that? Have you observed a decline in recent weeks at your feeders? You can compare this September to past ones: 2016, 2015, 2014. Consider coming on October 19th to Steve Faccio’s presentation, The Status of Vermont Forest Birds. (RSVP, so we can have the right number of chairs and possibly refreshments.)
High summer! The flow at the feeders is steady, not too many surprises. Mammals are taking great advantage of our feeding; we may limit the food on the ground for a while.
Wow, what a spring! Some unusual species seen and heard this month, for us, down here at the Viewing Window. (Okay, okay, we did record a few birds heard or seen while we were coming into the Museum or running out to check the mail….)
Bold items in this list are those species not recorded last month.
The usual mammals maintained their presence: Red and Gray Squirrels, and Eastern Chipmunks. We didn’t observe the Eastern Cottontail but we did see the Woodchuck. Wood Frogs tadpoles occupied the pon on May 17, 2017, and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies are back by May 23.
Our “summer” hours have arrived! May through October, we are open daily from 10am – 4pm (with a few extra evenings, and sometime closed for part of the July 4 holiday). Click over to our events page. If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter , tumblr, and/or Instagram too, you’ll find more comments, links, and observations. See you soon!
The “Through the Window” series is an informal record of observations made by staff, volunteers, and visitors. Anyone at the Museum may add to this list. Observations are usually through our viewing window: a large window with a film covering that helps hide watchers from the birds. We have chairs and binoculars to try, a white board, and many identification guides. Outdoors, several feeders are attached on a single, bear-resistant pole. A small pond, flowers and water plants, shrubs and trees add cover and (seasonally) other food choices . You can sometimes see what we see via our webcam.