Through the Window: October 2020

Ruffed Grouse in fall Crabapple tree
Ruffed Grouse in crab-apple tree in fall.

Who went running in the Race Around Birds? Did you see any birds while you did? It’s a hard race they say*, and pretty tricky to bird at the same time! So we offered a walking option, and two of the walkers observed a Hermit Thrush, and three walkers spotted a Ruffed Grouse.

Take another walk this month: it’s stick season now and although activity is low, visibility through the forest is good. Or stay cozy at our viewing window…you might see some of the ones we did last month.

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Through the Window: August 2020

Woodchuck, blue jay, and gray squirrel enjoy the spillage from the bird feeders
Woodchuck, blue jay, and gray squirrel enjoy the spillage from the bird feeders.

August seems to have vanished rather quickly!  Rather like the bird seed does sometimes….

Birds observed in August

  • Black-capped chickadee
  • American Goldfinch
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Blue Jay
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Mourning Dove
  • Purple Finch
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • Dark-eyed Junco Continue reading “Through the Window: August 2020”

Through the Window: June 2020

butterfly in June 2020, Huntington, Vermont Photo courtesy K. Talmage and used by permission)
Unidentified butterfly in June 2020, Huntington, Vermont. (Photo courtesy K. Talmage and used by permission)

June is unbelievably beautiful in Vermont. To add to our happiness, we have been able to open the Museum Wednesdays-Sundays, 10-4, which is so far working well.  To add to the beauty of late spring around us, we’ve got a new art show, all about borders and boundaries, edges and exchanges.

Stop by to wander our trails, tour the show, and enjoy the respite offered by super-relaxed birding. What could be easier than sitting at our viewing window (or in our bird blind, or best yet, in the walk-in treehouse) and watching for birds, butterflies, and other fellow beings?

Birds observed in June

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Through the Window: May 2020

Eastern Phoebe pair at nest, woodcarving by Bob Spear
Eastern Phoebe pair at nest. This woodcarving by Bob Spear, finished in 1981, is upstairs in our Nesting Gallery.

This exhibit of Eastern Phoebes nesting sure puts us in mind of spring. And spring truly is here: a bit of mud, early leaves, returning migrants.

We look forward to the days when the dangers of this coronavirus are past or at least well-mitigated, and we can offer early morning bird walks again. In the meantime, please enjoy our records from our view-through-the-window, and take a turn on our trails yourself, if you can.

May birds

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Through the Window: March 2020

Gray Squirrel in snow
Squirrels seem to appreciate the spillage from the feeders above. The snow has pretty well gone by the time of posting.

Well this was not the March we expected. Admittedly, the birds here seem quite unaffected.

We did keep observing birds from our windows and cams, just with fewer human friends (in person).  Welcome back, Common Grackle and Song Sparrow!

We’ve rearranged our schedules and updated some policies to deal with COVID-19. Details soon! The birds are being fed less often, and we’d already changed what and where we’d fed them. (We do that each spring anyway, because the forests in Huntington do have bears and we’d prefer only smaller mammals take advantage of what the birds leave.)

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Through the Window: February 2020

Snow-covered wooden bird in the Museum's rain garden
The rare white pseudoheron freezes in place to stalk prey more effectively. Possibly.

Sometimes, a month with nothing unusual is really quite comforting.

But that was just old friends who are birds! For our human friends, in February we also shared programs about Kinglets, opened up for the Great Backyard Bird Count, painted signs, installed our Little Free Library, played Wingspan at the Museum, and hopefully inspired art! Of course, you’d have to look through the window the other wayto see most of those things (or come inside).

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Through the Window: January 2020

Wild turkeys = traffic delay on Sherman Hollow road (photo copyright © 2020 Erin Talmage)
Wild turkeys = traffic delay on Sherman Hollow road (photo copyright © 2020 Erin Talmage and used by permission)

It’s been a somewhat snowy month (with what feels like big temperature swings and more thawing). This has made for lovely photos (check out our instagram), and not-too-troublesome road conditions for people coming to our events (a series of bird talks and a few walks). The feeders aren’t quiet, exactly, but they are slight less diverse. Still, it’s a joy to see turkey tracks when you go out in the morning to fill the feeders!

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Through the Window: December 2019

Red-breasted Nuthatch. Carved by Bob Spear in the early 1960s.
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Carved by Bob Spear in the early 1960s.

We’ve enjoyed welcoming some new birders to our monthly bird monitoring walks. This more than makes up for the quiet of the winter species counts at our a Viewing Window. These walks are the last Saturday of every month. We record those observations over on eBird.

Before you head over there, though, enjoy this short but sweet December window observation list. What’s your favorite of the species listed here? How come ?

Continue reading “Through the Window: December 2019”