October Bird Monitoring Walk

White-breasted Nuthatch © copyright Zac Cota-Weaver and used by permission.

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) are welcome! Join our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, and dress for the weather. Tick repellent and water bottles are recommended.

Max: 12 people

Suggested donation $10 – $15
Registration required.




Outdoors

Photo of White-breasted Nuthatch © Zac Cota-Weaver and used by permission.

Race Around Birds 2023

Human running away from viewer, wearing orange shirt, black leggings. This person is running on a frosty woodland trail with a bright blue sky and fall colors in the remaining foliage.

The Birds of Vermont Museum is hosting the fourth 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 4th, at 10a.m. This is a typical trail run, and a bit longer than 5k. We can welcome up to 50 runners. (Please carpool)

On-Your-Own (Virtual) Race: choose a day between October 21st and November 3rd, and record your time on the paper forms (available at the Museum’s front door).

Race results will be posted in our blog.

To Register

While registering is free, we encourage donations to support the museum, as well as cover the cost of trail work, post-race snacks and water, and possible swag. You may register for Race Day (group race), Virtual (self-timed) race, or both.
Registration opens in August.

Read more below:

Spear Trail sign in fall

Course Description

This is a trail race with some steep uphill climbs. Some segments are more like single-track mountain trails. This is a HARD course.

The course is approximately 3.6 miles. The course winds around and crosses itself, making a slightly tangled figure 8 (using the trails on both sides of Sherman Hollow Road). There will be signs and maps.

The course is well-marked and you will return past the Museum to complete both loops. There are no supplies and no first aid stations on the course. Bathrooms and water are available when the Museum is open (Wednesdays through Sundays, 10am – 4pm, in October only).

The Race Map is available online: https://birdsofvermont.org/docs/trail-map-for-race-web.pdf . person lacing up sneakers on the spear trail

How It Works

You may run or walk the course.

On the November 4th Race Day, racers 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 21 to November 3. No dogs and no nights. You may run (or walk) the course multiple times on different days, in order to improve your times. You may run in groups, but the trail is generally single-file.

For the virtual 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 need it), 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 and drop it in the box.

Please note: virtual runner results are not official, but like all results, will be reports in our results post on our blog.

If you are running on Race Day, please carpool. We have limited parking.A blurry runner passes the Spear Trail sign.

But wait, there’s more!

If you share photos or comments online, we encourage you to use these hashtags:
#RaceAroundBirds #RaceAroundBirds2023 #BirdsOfVermontMuseum #RunningIsForTheBirds #TrailRace #VirtualRace #HuntingtonVt #TrailRunning #TrailRunner

Send questions to trailrunning@birdsofvermont.org!

map of trails with race course info at the Birds of Vermont Museum

Printable race packets (trail map, course notes, entry form, waiver) will be  available as PDFs soon. (See below)

Prior years’ results are at https://birdsofvermont.org/tag/results/

screen shot of all trails recording of race course showing elevation

 

the Big Sit 2023!

A Stanley brand 25' metal measuring tape; a pair of black binoculars; a bag of Birds and Beans coffee (scarlet tanager dark roast). All three item are line d up on a wooden railing, with green foliage behind them.

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.

For much more info, see https://www.thebigsit.org/ .

Check out the reports from previous years: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 (overall), 2021 (ours), 2022 (overall), 2022 (ours)

several birders standing during a Big Sit event

September Bird Monitoring Walk

Sparrow spp. © 2019 E. Talmage and used by permission

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) are welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, and dress for the weather. Tick repellent and water bottles are recommended.

Max: 12 people
Suggested donation $10 – $15




Outdoors

Photo: Sparrow spp. © 2019 E. Talmage and used by permission.

Meander for Mushrooms

Orange-topped mushroom with light orange "cloud-like" bulges on the dome-shaped cap.

…with Meg Madden, Myco-influencer

Ever wondered about the mysterious mushrooms that share the forest with us? Are you fungi-curious? Do you see interesting mushrooms in your travels and wish you knew more about these fascinating organisms?

On this walk we will explore the woods and learn about the mushrooms we find along the way including what they are, how to identify them, and the essential roles that these fungi play in forest ecology. We will also discuss the importance of community science and learn tips and tricks for taking mushroom photos.

Limit: 15 • please register in advance



Cost: $20 – $40 (Discount for Museum members)

Wear comfortable walking shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, and bring your questions and curiosity! A smartphone equipped with the iNaturalist app is a plus, but not required.

Meg Madden leads an exploration on the Museum’s trails: to seek, to find, and to understand the fungi that live in and on our corner of the wood-wide web.

Note: this is NOT a foraging program.
Pair of inky cap mushrooms: a whitish mushroom with a shaggy high-domed cap. Photo by Erin Talmage and used with permission. Photographed in fall in Vermont.

About Meg Madden

Fungi educator, author, and professional photographer, Meg Madden can often be found in the forests of her childhood practicing what she calls “mushroom yoga” — laying on the ground, standing on her head, or balancing precariously on a log — to capture the perfect snail’s-eye view of her favorite photo subject: Fungi! Her colorful, highly detailed mushroom portraits offer an intimate look into the often-overlooked world of these extraordinary organisms.

Inspired by the belief that people are more likely to take care of something they love, she finds great joy in facilitating fun and meaningful connections between humans and nature. Meg shares her knowledge and contagious passion for the fantastic world of fungi through visually engaging presentations, mushroom walks, and via her Instagram gallery @megmaddendesign. An advocate for fungal diversity and community science, Meg teaches iNaturalist classes, organizes educational workshops and Bioblitzes, and is compiling an Atlas Of Fungi for the state of Vermont.

www.instagram.com/megmaddendesign/
linktr.ee/MegMadden

August Bird Monitoring Walk

Yellow Warbler ©copyright Bob Johnson and used by permission

All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) are welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow.

Most fun for adults, older children. Please bring your own binoculars, and dress for the weather. Tick repellent and water bottles are recommended.

Max: 12 people

Suggested donation $10 – $15
Registration required.



Outdoors

Photo: Photo of Yellow Warbler ©copyright Bob Johnson and used by permission.

Through the Window: July 2023

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 feeding female. Cerulean Warblers carved by Bob Spear at the Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, Vermont. Photograph copyright Caleb Kenna and used by permission.
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.

July Bird List

Continue reading “Through the Window: July 2023”

CANCELLED July Bird Monitoring Walk

Unidentified hawk overhead against a brilliantly blue sky. Photo copyright Erin Talmage and used by permission.

We’re sorry we had to cancel this walk!

Even so, the trails are open sunrise to sunset, and the Museum is open for regular weekend hours (10-4, both Saturday and Sunday).


All birders (current, experienced, newbie and would-be!) welcome! Attend our monthly monitoring walk outdoors on the Museum’s trails in forest and meadow.

Most fun for adults and older youth. Please bring your own binoculars, and dress for the weather. We recommend bringing tick repellent and a water bottle.

Max: 12 people
Suggested donation $10 – $15

Photo: Unidentified hawk overhead against a brilliantly blue sky. Photo copyright Erin Talmage and used by permission.

Artist Reception for “Spark! fueling a love of birds”

Many birders—and artists—have a “spark” moment that fueled a lifelong love of birds and birding and took them in unexpected directions. What’s your spark story? Did you start combining birds, birding, art, and science in your art? Does it show in your work? It does for these artists, writers, photographers, and poets!

Visitors are invited to our low-key informal welcome reception for our 2023 show, Spark! fueling a love of birds.

Explore visual and written art at your own pace, meet creators, be inspired, ask questions, and browse through the book of artists’ statements. You are welcome to come early to the Museum and stay for the reception; come at the time of the reception; or just drop in part way through.

Included with Museum admission, but donations welcome. Please register! If we know how many people are coming , we can have enough refreshments, chairs, and so on.


Although the art is indoors, the reception will be generally outdoors, weather permitting.

Read more about the show elsewhere on our website.