where natural history meets art
How do animals and plants adapt to February in Vermont?
Dress for outdoors: we will be looking over and under the snow. Great for ages 4-9.
Suggested donation: $5 / child
Limit 8
Register by calling 802 434-2167 or use the button above.
Stop by and try your hand at soap carving.
Tools and soap provided.
All ages.
Included with Museum admission; donations welcome.
The Birds of Vermont Museum is hosting the second annual Race Around Birds trail run! There are two options for runners (and walkers), and you can even do both:
Race Day run: Saturday, November 6th, at 10a.m. This is a typical trail run, although there is both a one-lap and two-lap option. We can welcome up to 50 runners.
On-Your-Own (Virtual) Race: choose a day between October 23 and November 5th, run one or two laps, and record your time on the paper forms (available at the Museum’s front door).
Race results are in, and posted in our blog.
While registering is free, we encourage donations to cover the cost of post-race snacks and water. You may register for Race Day (group race), Virtual (self-timed) race, or both.
This is a trail race with some steep uphill climbs. Some segments are more like single-track mountain trails. This is a HARD course.
One lap or two? There are two options, short and long, using the same course (trails): a one-lap 3.6-mile race, and a two-lap 7.2-mile race. (Distances are approximate.)
The course is well-marked and you will return to the Museum in the middle of each lap. There are no supplies and no first aid stations on the course. Bathrooms and water are available only if the Museum is open (Wednesdays through Sundays, 10am – 4pm, in October only).
The course is essentially a loop on each side of the road. Think of it as a figure 8 (although the loop on the north side of the creek is more convoluted than a simple loop).
If you are doing the short race, you will run the course once (lap one uses green numbers on the map). For the longer race, you cover the course twice, but on the second pass you run the opposite direction (lap two is labelled in purple on the map).
You may run or walk the course.
On the November 6th Race Day, runners will start at 10 a.m.
For the On-Your-Own (Virtual) Race, runners and walkers may come to the Museum at any time from daylight to dusk from October 23 to November 5. No dogs and no nights. You may run (or walk) the course multiple times on different days, in order to improve your times, and you may enter both the short (one-lap) and long (two-lap) race. You may run in groups of up to three or four.
For this option, you will keep track of your own start and finish times. Time-keeping forms will be in a marked box to the left of the Museum’s front door. Fill out a form for each day you race. Then, when you’re ready to run, take a map (if you needed), get to the start line (the west end of the parking lot by the parking sign), mark your starting time, and GO! Afterward, fill in your finish time (you’ll finish on the other side of the road) and drop it in the box.
If you are running on Race Day, please carpool. We have limited parking.
If you share photos or comments online, we encourage you to use these hashtags:
#RaceAroundBirds #RaceAroundBirds2021 #birdsofvermontmuseum #runningisforthebirds #trailrace #virtualrace #huntingtonvt #trailrunning #trailrunner
Send questions to trailrunning@birdsofvermont.org!
Printable race packets (trail map, course notes, entry form, waiver) are available as PDFs:
Drop-in sessions! Stop by and try your hand at soap carving.
Tools and materials provided.
Suitable for any age. This event will be outdoors (probably in the treehouse).
First come first served; usually about 5 people at a time can carve.
Included with Museum admission; donations welcome.
Get down on the forest floor and imagine the world from the height of a gnome, a mouse, or a junco. Explore sounds, scents, and colors up close and tiny. Make a wee home for something! Are your neighbors beetles, spiders, shrews?
We’ll have hand lenses, sketchpaper, pencils if you don’t. We’ll explore our small spaces and share our discoveries.
Great for anyone feeling creative, flexible, curious.
About 1 hour
Max: 8 people
Masks: recommended within 6′ of each other.
Meet at the Museum’s front door, by the wingspan banner.
Suggested donation: $5
A story is a tale; a story is a floor in a structure. So, what stories exist to be found and told by a Vermont forest?
We know forests and woodlands presently cover about 75% of Vermont’s land area. From the time of glacial retreat to now, forests have regularly risen and fallen, influenced by the effects of climate conditions, natural disasters, and human activity.
How does a forest develop? What are its vertical and horizontal profiles? Which stories, or layers, define a maturing forest? Forest dwelling birds use different sections of the forest column to satisfy an array of needs. Which birds can be found in Vermont’s forests …and where? Look to the trees to find Stories in the Forest.
This family friendly walk introduces forests’ stories as stages and layers of distinctive plant growth and habitat. Explore the lives of trees, shrubs, birds, and other wildlife within a forest’s layers.
Please dress for weather. Face masks recommended when we are within 6 feet of each other.
Max: 10 people • waitlist available if the walk fills
Free, suggested donation $10
If you are a family group with more than 5 members, please contact us.
If the walk fills, but there’s enough interest, we may be able to schedule more walks. Call or email museum@birdsofvermont.org, or call (802) 434-2167.
#NatureWalk #VermontForests #StoriesEverywhere #SummerInVermont #SummerStories
Forests and woodlands cover about 75% of Vermont’s land area. From the time of glacial retreat to now, forests have regularly risen and fallen, influenced by the effects of climate conditions, natural disasters, and human activity.
How does a forest develop? What are its vertical and horizontal profiles? Which stories, or layers, define a maturing forest? Forest-dwelling birds use different sections of the forest column to satisfy an array of needs. Which birds can be found in Vermont’s forests …and where? Look to the trees to find Stories in the Forest.
Please dress for weather. Face masks required when we are within 6 feet of each other.
Please register in advance and get a confirmation using this button:
Max: 5 people
Free, suggested donation $10
If you are a family group with more than 5 members, please contact us.
If the walk fills, but there’s enough interest, we may be able to schedule more walks. Call or email museum@birdsofvermont.org, or call (802) 434-2167.
#NatureWalk #VermontForests #StoriesEverywhere
Join us as we stroll around the Museum grounds to witness the moon rising. We will talk about preparing for winter, migration, and nocturnal creatures. Walk led by Erin Talmage, Museum Director and Wildlife Biologist.
$5 per person (Free for Museum members)
Max: 5 people • WALK IS FULL (waitlist available)
Masks: bring them; required when within 6 feet of each other
MUST pre-register. Call 802-434-2167 / email museum@birdsofvermont.org
Recommended: red plastic to cover the lens of your flashlight.
DATE CHANGE DUE TO RAIN
Get down on the forest floor and imagine the world from the height of a gnome, a mouse, or a junco. Explore sounds, scents, and colors up close and tiny. Make a wee home for something! Are your neighbors beetles, spiders, shrews?
We’ll have hand lenses, sketchpaper, pencils if you don’t. We’ll explore our small spaces with 6′ separations, and will wear masks and make ways to share our discoveries safely.
Great for anyone feeling creative, flexible, curious.
About 1 hour
Max: 5 people
Masks: please bring them and wear them if within 6′ of each other.
Meet at the Museum’s front door, by the wingspan banner.
$5 (free for Museum members)
MUST pre-register. Call 802-434-2167 / email museum@birdsofvermont.org
Elementary age kids: come explore three woodland habitats in different stages of being: open shrub, young forest, and mature forest with Allison Gergely, Museum Educator.
Look up, down, over, across. We’ll observe and identify the general elements of each, and gain an understanding of the character of forest structure (vertical and horizontal). Through drawing, predicting, and “story telling”, we begin to understand the importance of forests as shelters, food sources, territorial regions, and resilient landscapes, each connected to our local wildlife.
Ages 6-10 yrs. with adult. • Great outing for a homeschool group, single family, or grandkids with their grandparent.
About 1.5 hour
Max: 6 people • ONE (1) space left
Masks: please bring them and wear them if within 6′ of each other.
$5 (free for Museum members)
MUST pre-register. Call 802-434-2167 / email museum@birdsofvermont.org