outdoors | Birds of Vermont Museum

Amazing Odonates: Dragonflies and Damselflies!

Girl in white hate examinging insects in her net

[ originally scheduled for April; postponed to August ]

Did you know that many of the larger dragonflies are several years old before they crawl up for air, break out of their “skins”, expand their wings and venture out on their first flight? Amazing!

This show-and-tell evening with Naturalist Laurie DiCesare will feature photos, samples, and hand-outs of “dragons and damsels”:

exploring their early life as underwater predators
revealing strange and remarkable habits, and
identifying their beautiful and diverse habitats

— all flavored with a bit of biology and dash of folklore!

Learn how to swing a cone net; carefully retrieve and hold the Odes for photo ops; then safely release them.

$8/per person, $25 for a family
Minimum 9 people, Maximum 35

Artist Reception for “Borders-illusions that constrain us”

The earth's western hemisphere as seen from space, with the words "Borders: illusions that constrain us | Art, Photography, Poetry | Birds of Vermont Museum" overlaying the planet image

What borders do birds encounter? How do birds’ boundaries connect to human borders? To those of other species? Edges of things—physically, spatially, temporally— raise questions, not least of which is “Is it really there?”

Thirty-three artists, photographers, and poets created works to speak to these ideas, and the Museum is pleased to share them with you.

Indoors: Visitors are invited to explore the visual and written art at their own pace, to be inspired, to ask questions, and to browse through the book of artists’ statements. [ Note: due to the novel coronavirus, we may be limited to 12 at a time indoors, so please consider coming early ]

Outdoors: Meet some of our artists, enjoy cool drinks (non-alcoholic, please bring your own mug/cup), discuss art and conservation, and relax in our pollinator sanctuaries.

Included with Museum admission

Open Weds – Sun • 10 – 4

Artists, Photographers, Poets:

Alexandra Ottas

Alison Forrest

Alison DeGraff Tombolo

Betty (BJ) Wood Gray

Carol Kiewit Leinwhol

Carol MacDonald & Barbara K. Waters

Carol McDowell

Caroline Siegfried

Chris Selin

Dana Walrath

Deana Allgaier

Diana Dunn

Diana Osborn

Geoffrey Swanson

James Frase-White

Jane Ploughman

Juniper

Kateland Kelly

Katherine (Kate) Guttman

Kelly Bixby

Lily Hinrichsen

Linda & Kerry Hurd

Madara Tropa

Marcia Vogler

Maya F

Meili Stokes

Miriam Adams

Nancy Stone

Nicole Knowlton

Nikolas Kotovich

Prudence

Rebecca Rosenthal

Sharon Radtke

Artist Gathering for Borders: Illusions that Constrain Us

Art, Photography, Poetry

Special Exhibit • June — October

Birds of Vermont Museum

900 Sherman Hollow Road • Huntington, Vermont

Background image courtesy of NASA

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/581/earth-by-suomi-npp/

Annual Butterfly and Bug Walk

dragonfly on corner of a brick, observed at the Birds of Vermont Museum by Erin Talmage

Experience Vermont’s butterflies and insects up close!

Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds. Bring binoculars, magnifying glass, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk.

If it is raining on the day of the walk, please call the Museum (802 434-2167) to see if we have rescheduled.

Terrific for anyone interested in Vermont’s six-legged creatures.
Free! (Donations welcome)

Check out the Vermont Entomological Society site https://www.vermontinsects.org/ — gorgeous photos and information about the Society.

https://www.vermontinsects.org/events may have updates

June 15, 2020June 21, 2020

Volunteers needed in 2020

One of our favorite things to do is work with volunteers on special projects—regularly in the building and outside in the gardens, as well as special volunteer work parties before our “open season”. This year, unfortunately, the novel coronavirus interrupted this! But now we are open, so…

We would love to have volunteers in and around the Museum! This is completely up to you and what you find comfortable. As always, we have lots of projects and need your help!

Indoors, volunteers greet visitors, tend the gift shop, organize materials, record data, and help us clean.

Outside, there are opportunities for trail maintenance, collecting natural history data, sanding and painting, and weeding. We have a few projects that can be done off-site. We could also use the help of a carpenter. It is pretty easy to maintain social distancing and get fresh air while you do these!

If you are interested in volunteering this year, please call us at 802-434-2167. We look forward to hearing from you!

May Bird Monitoring Walk

Birders in early spring, looking at trees that are not fully leafed out.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow. We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

Photo:Early Birders at the Birds of Vermont Museum

[ CANCELLED due to COVID-19 ] April Bird Monitoring Walk

Photo: Fox Sparrow photographed by Erin Talmage, © 2019 and used by permission.

[CANCELLED due to COVD-19 ]
If you choose to walk our trails or go birding, please stay safe. We will not be offering a guided monitoring walk this month.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

April 3, 2020April 21, 2020

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.)

Continue reading “Through the Window: March 2020”

[CANCELED due to COVID-19] March Bird Monitoring Walk

Bohemian Waxwing in Museum's crab apple tree, by Erin Talmage. Copyright 2016 and used by permission.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Walks start at 7:30 am April – August; 8am September – March)

March 6, 2020April 21, 2020

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).

Continue reading “Through the Window: February 2020”

February Bird Monitoring Walk

Northern Cardinal female. ©2011 Laura Waterhouse

Join our monthly monitoring walk to record birds on the Museum property. Learn something new, share what you know, or both! We share bird-friendly coffee afterwards, indoors at our viewing window.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, dress for weather. We go out the last Saturday of every month.

Free • Please pre-register by signing up at our EventBrite link, emailing museum@birdsofvermont.org, or calling (802) 434-2167

(Photo: Female Northern Cardinal. Used by permission of the photographer.)