What a lovely month! We started this winter’s Feeder Watch, and had a few notable visitors. Here’s the month’s list, more or less in the order spotted.
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Hairy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruffed Grouse
Downy Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Evening Grosbeak
American Goldfinch
Red-breasted nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Northern Cardinal
Rusty Blackbird
American Tree Sparrow
And of course, both the Gray and Red squirrels “assisted” with the corn and seed on the ground…
Possibly a Rusty Blackbird (but not in fall plumage?) or Common Grackle (but that tail is too short?)
Can you help with this bird? It has features of a Rusty Blackbird and of a Common Grackle according to our research in Sibley’s and the National Geographic field guides, and our experienced birders Bob Spear and Gale Lawrence.
The photos were taken on a rainy day (October 29) through our viewing window, so they are a bit low-light and there are occasional water drops.
You can click on the images in the slideshow below to see five different pictures (including a bigger version of the one to the left).
If you’ve been to see us, you know that we record these birds on a whiteboard by the viewing window. The handwriting on the board is varied, as staff, volunteers, and even visitors will jot down the common name of birds they see. This month, against the final changes in foliage, we noted:
Brown Creeper, wood carving by Robert N. Spear, Jr.
On Sunday, October 10, the Museum hosted the Loonatics and their Big Sit! circle. Thanks to Jim O. for coordinating the event and to all the volunteers who joined in. It was a beautiful day, and several people contributed excellent food to keep us warm.
Against the shifting foliage, we’ve seen many birds (some the last of the year, as they migrate southwards). Nearby, we also observed a mammal of some note!
Birds:
Blue Jay
Grackle
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (last male on 9/7/2010; last female on 9/14/2010)
Purple Finch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Goldfinch
Mourning Dove
Tufted Titmouse
Dark-eyed Junco
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (still here 9/11/2010)
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped chickadee
White-throated Sparrow (9/17/2010, 9/29/2010)
Easter Phoebe
Pileated Woodpecker — swooping over and museum
Song Sparrow
Bluebird (9/28, 11:30 a.m.)
Mammal:
Bobcat sighted by a cyclist on 9/20/2010 at 1:33 p.m., just north of museum parking lot on Sherman Hollow Road
And something you can’t actually see from the window, but must get up and walk to:
Autumn Flowers at the Birds of Vermont Museum. Photo taken in September 2005 in the field between the road and the pond.
I received a call today from a woman wondering what to do about hummingbirds. Two juvenile birds still come to her feeder, but she hasn’t seen the parents in some time. Should she take in the feeder? Is the food she provides keeping those young birds from migrating? Will they migrate without the parents? Are the parents still around, just not coming to her feeder?
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Female (carved by Bob Spear)
I asked Bob Spear, since he’s got considerably more experience as a naturalist than I do–decades more.
“Leave it up,” he says. In fact, our hummingbird feeders are still up at the Museum and we saw a female ruby-throated hummingbird on Tuesday the 14th of September. He tells us the males head south earlier than females and young ones, and he suspects that the female parent of the two juveniles is still nearby. Furthermore, migrating individuals from further north may stop at feeders on their way south (and in this week’s chilly rain, every bit helps). “It’s a myth,” he says, “that our feeders will keep them from migrating when it’s time for them to go.”
So enjoy your last glimpses of these little birds, glinting against the autumn leaves.
I’ve just come back from the Annual VES Butterfly Walk. Thank you so much to Bryan Pfeiffer, Trish Hanson and many others for sharing their knowledge! We had about 35 guests or so on the walk, ranging from young kids to grandparents, new explorers to professional (and retired) entomologists. I’m a new explorer, practically a rank beginner with bugs. I love it.
You’ll no doubt get much more by coming on a walk, going outside, and paging through field guides. I went out with my just my notebook and camera, though. So, from my notes:
Grandfather and grandchild exploring for butterflies on today's VES Butterfly Walk
About observing tools: Water nets and butterfly nets are not the same. A butterfly net (for field insects, etc.) is longer, cone-shaped, and of a very fine soft mesh. The longer shape (compared a vaguely trapezoidal water net) allows one to “flip” the net closed, so the insect won’t escape while you are examining it. That’s less of an issue with a water net; water beetles and dragonfly nymphs aren’t so likely to fly off.
About Butterflies: Lepidoptera — the order that contains butterflies — means “scale(d) wing”, for the thousands of tiny, often iridescent scales that cover the wings. We found a clouded sulphur female (Colias philodice). One way (of several) to tell this was a female was because she had spots in the dark margin of her upper wing.
Canada Darner (Aeshna canadensis) on child's hand. This one is an "old lady" -- about a month or so!
About Dragonflies and Damselflies: When identifying them, look at where the color is on which segments of the abdomen — look very closely! Also look at the profile of the claspers at the end of the abdomen. The different shapes (hook, c-clamp, straight, knobby, etc.) helped in identification.
About Daddy-long-legs: I had never noticed how the mouth parts fold so neatly, making such a even oval profile of their bodies. Lovely.
Here’s a cool online resource I just found too, for comparing multiple pictures of butterflies (and others): http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?guide=Butterflies What are your favorite online resources for Insects and Arachnids?
Young Entomologist on the VES Annual Butterfly Walk
Guest post from Dr. Stewart Kirkaldy, Museum Volunteer
Every once in a while one has an experience that is profoundly moving. This happened to me recently on International Migratory Bird Day at the Birds of Vermont Museum where I was working at the viewing window. A young couple came in with three children, the eldest of whom was a serious birder. She was 10 years old or less but had a “life list” of fifty-eight on arrival. Very soon she saw her first Hummingbird to which she responded with incredible vocal enthusiasm, jumping up and down and rushing across the room to give her father the news. (She added two new species to her list that afternoon.) Her interest and enthusiasm was evident all day. She was an inspiration and rejuvenated hope in my heart for the future of humanity.
The realization dawned on me that she is at one end of the spectrum of human activity and, sadly, too many are at the other end as exemplified by Big Oil Company Executives whose actions and indifference led to the recent catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But what she left me with was the hope well expressed in a hymn that ends “… when man’s crude acts deface no more / the handiwork of God.”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male), carved by Robert Spear, Jr.
[As posted to VTBIRD mailing list by Erin Talmage]
We started with a soggy morning walk and ended at the Museum’s viewing
window drinking bird-friendly coffee and eating local baked goods.
Our species list for the entire morning:
Great crested Flycatcher
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Phoebe
Oriole
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
American Robin
Wood Duck
Black and White Warbler
Grackle
Blue Jay
Yellow bellied Sapsucker
Evening Grosbeak
Brown-headed Cowbird
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wild Turkey
Dark-eyed Junco
Indigo Bunting
Join us on June 13th, June 20th, and/or June 27th for another bird walk.
(We always end our walks with coffee and goodies!)
Shirley Johnson and Alison Wagner have been leading the Early Morning Birds Walks this spring. (Haven’t been on one yet? Come on Sundays at 7:00 a.m.; we will be doing these through June). They post the birds the group observes on a white board here at the museum, and report some of the highlights to us over coffee.
Last week, Alison lead a group despite the snowy weather. Yes, they were successful, observing some dozen or so species.
Blackburnian Warbler (carved by Bob Spear). One of the species identified on today's Early Morning Bird Walk.
Today, Shirley reported hearing two barred owls having a “party”, cackling and laughing back and forth to each other. She also said they’d heard a Louisiana Waterthrush, and compared the sounds of that species as recorded by the iFlyer and the Birding by Ear CDs.
