November is often pretty quiet; we get wrapped up in the Race, with working indoors with our Annual Appeal, with staff getting some breaks for holidays. The birds don’t care!
It’s an amusing treat to watch the Ruffed Grouse reach for each small decorative crabapple fruit, dried and frozen though they may be.
It’s the last month for the Hummingbirds (for the year). Nevertheless, they delighted those who sat at the Viewing Window this month, as the “Hummers” continued to defend “their” feeders!
Not only that, but we saw some unusual-for-the-feeder-area birds as well. Read on to find out what species they were…
It’s so delightful to be outside and have birds in the trees around you. As you know, though, some days we’re busy with our wonderful visitors. So we observe from inside, through our viewing window. And create these lists!
The museum was fortunate to have been missed by the flooding this year. The brook below the museum rose, and there’s signs of erosion on trails, but we escaped the damage that our fellow Vermonters are working through. We hope you also have been free from floods, and if not, that you have the help and support you need.
We can offer a refuge if you need to come and take a break: visit, sit, watch birds, walk trails… We thank the Vermont Community Foundation for their support of non-profits, flood survivors, and more.
Male Cerulean Warbler’s offering of food being accepted by female. Birds carved by Bob Spear at the Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, Vermont. Photograph copyright Caleb Kenna and used by permission.
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.
Adult Common Grackle tends its juvenile while a Rose-breasted Grosbeak looks on.
Sadly, yes, we are missing the May list. Somehow we managed to neither transcribe nor photograph the list before wiping the board for June. It was amazing, but you don’t have to trust my word for it. Check out the eBird checklists for the May walks.
But time flows on and the birds do their things, so here’s the …
Blue-headed Vireos are returning to Vermont. This carving was done by Bob Spear in the mid 1990s.
Funny thing about our April bird list: two common species were not recorded (and one somewhat less frequently seen at from the viewing window, but definitely around). Does that mean they weren’t seen (and if so, where were they)? Or did they really busy themselves elsewhere in the woods?
Experience Vermont’s butterflies and other insects up close!
Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds.
Bring binoculars, magnifying glasses, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk. Do bring your water bottle and dress for outdoors.
Free, suggested donation : $5-$10
(Pre-registration is helpful but not required.) Max: 20 people • Masks recommended when indoors.
If it is raining on the day of the walk, please call the Museum (802 434-2167) to see if we have rescheduled; rain date is Sunday, July 9).
Terrific for anyone interested in Vermont’s six-legged creatures.
Check out the Vermont Entomological Society site https://www.vermontinsects.org/ — gorgeous photos and information about the Society.
A Mourning Dove and a Blue Jay face each other across of platform containing black oil sunflower seeds.
March is all about the this-way-and-that-way dance of winter, spring, and mud seasons. Watch for migrants returning and spring behaviors in, well, everyone. Two things we especially like:
The “Oh sweetie” song of the Black-capped Chickadee.
And those Mourning Dove males who keep getting distracted from eating—instead, they puff up and pace after the females, begging for their attention.