John Scott Excavating laid some beautiful boulders on the Museum side of the road, around and above the road culvert.
Last week has seen a lot of changes outdoors at the Birds of Vermont Museum, between our front door and our parking lot, and along that section of Sherman Hollow Road.
On Monday, September 14, the road culvert replacement started. This one is deeper, and has a different profile, thereby protecting the stream hydrology and local wildlife more than a shallower, smaller, round culvert would. This one allows for increased water flow, which prevents erosion and sedimentation of the stream bed. The slight “squashed” shape keeps a better aquatic corridor for critters both in and near the stream.
Since then, the excavation crew has been working both upstream and downstream. They have been installing rock and cement protection to stabilize the banks and installing a yard drain to collect stormwater runoff.
Donate to help! We happily accept donations online through JustGive, NetworkForGood, and PayPal. You can also call (802) 434-2167 with your credit card info, or send a check in any amount at any time to
Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road
Huntington, Vermont 05462
The Birds of Vermont Museum and the Huntington Historical and Community Trust are collaborating on developing Pollinator Habitat Demonstration Gardens. This project is an effective partnership between Huntington’s two non-profit organizations whose missions include enhancement of rural landscapes for wildlife as well as community outreach and education.
Over the period of 2 – 3 years, the gardens will be created on the Birds of Vermont Museum property. The Huntington Historical and Community Trust received a $1500 grant from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, providing start-up funds for garden establishment and the initial educational materials.
The project will rely on volunteers for much of the work including turf removal, soil preparation and planting… so, we need your help! If you can lend a hand, please contact either of the Pollinator Gardens co-directors: Erin Talmage (Birds of Vermont Museum) at 802 434-2167 and Anne Dannenberg (Huntington Historical and Community Trust) 802 434-3901.
Stop in and see the project progress. [Anne has been working incredibly hard! –KJT, ed.] The Museum is open daily through the month of October, and by appointment through the winter. Our trails are open from sunrise to sunset year-round.
The Museum will be closed to visitors on Monday and Tuesday, September 14-15, while the Town replaces a culvert on Sherman Hollow Road.
This is the next step in our Bridges to Birds project! We will begin the stream bank restoration and entrance path/bridge when the culvert is in place.
Donate to help! We happily accept donations online through JustGive, NetworkForGood, and PayPal. You can also call (802) 434-2167 with your credit card info, or send a check in any amount at any time to
Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road
Huntington, Vermont 05462
We had a critter cam, sensitive to motion, installed this month. It’s been such a treat to see some of the larger birds at times when we are not at the Museum! It’s also possible that more species were seen—especially by visitors—but not recorded on the noteboard.
Come see for yourself! We’re open every day from 10am until 4pm, through October 31. From museum exhibits to relaxing in our accessible treehouse to a short stroll to the bond: catch some glimpses of maturing fledglings, juveniles and adults as they prepare to migrate or find fall and winter roosting sites. There’s always some wild thing to learn from or about. Come by or get in touch: (802) 434-2167 or museum@birdsofvermont.org.
The “Through the Window” series is an informal record of observations made by staff, volunteers, and visitors. Anyone at the Museum may add to this list. Observations are usually through our viewing window: a large window with a film covering that helps hide watchers from the birds. We have chairs and binoculars to try, a white board, and many identification guides. Outdoors, several feeders are attached on a single, bear-resistant pole. A small pond, flowers and water plants, shrubs and trees add cover and (seasonally) other food choices . You can sometimes see what we see via our webcam.
Imagine working a 1000-piece puzzle displaying a loon on a Vermont pond. First, you collect similar pieces of an image, like parts of the loon. You work these pieces to get a bigger whole, but for a while, it still remains unconnected to the frame. I call these “fascinators.” Eventually it all fits together.
Next, imagine the journeys of the rescued loon we’ve named “Little Guy” as that puzzle. Many pieces, however, are missing. We need an imagination filled with wonder to complete this puzzle, but here’s how a fascinator grows: It starts with Eric Hanson’s knowledge of the habits and habitats of loons. He predicted Little Guy’s journey began from Beecher Pond 12 to 24 hours prior to my discovery of the chick along a roadside on August 18th. Eric believes the loon traveled about a half mile through dense woods. How a chick, so awkward on land, could make such a challenging trek is a fantastic mystery!
The fascinator grows with the next journey to Maine and the next caregiver, Kappy Sprenger. Here is what she wrote about the care she could offer (8/22):
I’m transferring the VT chick to Avian Haven in Freedom, ME. It needs more care than I can give it at this point.
The waterproofing is poor on all dark feathers. Remember how odd the down looked? Not wet but sort of crinkled and bent? Something dried on or coated it. I wonder if the chick surfaced in a slick from boat gas. Yesterday we gave it a ‘light’ bath which didn’t help at all. The chick also doesn’t eat as much or well as I think it should this many days here. Avian Haven can do lab work, X-rays, etc. and I’m sure will keep you appraised.
Glad you brought the bird to us.
Kappy
The next pieces fit into place with Diane, from Avian Haven in Freedom, Maine (8/25):
Your loon chick is doing very well so far. As Kappy had noted, her waterproofing is not great, but she can dive, and it takes several hours for her back to get a little wet. She stays dry underneath, which is good. As of yesterday, she learned to get herself up on the pool haul-out, so we feel comfortable leaving her in the pool knowing that, when she feels she needs to be out, she can get out on her own. Rather than try a second bath, our plan is to see if she can get her back feathers into shape by preening.
She has become a voracious feeder, practically jumping out of the pool to grab fish out of someone’s hand as soon as the panel doors are opened. She’s taking 5-6 capelin at a time, and probably eating 25 or so a day. At that rate, she’ll be all grown up in no time! I’ll keep you posted on her progress.
Best regards, Diane
“Little Guy” in Avian Haven’s “rehab pool” in Maine. Photo courtesy Ali Wagner and VCE.
So Little Guy’s fantastic journey continues — from a Vermont pond, then overland through woods to a roadside encounter, then a trip back to water, then another rescue, and now a detour to Maine. I’ll keep everyone posted on Little Guy’s progress.
Two expressions I often use when birding are: Timing is everything and birding trumps everything. On August 18th, a young chick convinced me that just one of these statements is true as the baby changed the course of my day.
Route 105 in the Northeast Kingdom can be a busy road with 18-wheelers and fast cars. A few miles east of Island Pond in the middle of this drag strip, I saw the distinct shape of a loon. Oh no…but this was not an adult that mistook the glossy road for a body of water. It was a chick, still mostly covered with natal down. HOW did you manage to fly, Little Guy?
Little Guy
The chick offered little resistance when moved to the safety of a grassy area. Things were looking good though, since I had my ten dollar trakPhone charged, and I had service! But August is a busy time of year…I started making phone calls, many phone calls, unable to connect with a live voice! Many desperate messages were left, with details on where a loon and a lady needed rescuing! By now it was 8:30 and the sun was creeping higher and feeling hotter. I called my friend Eric Hynes for moral support, leaving another message.
I stood close to Little Guy to make shade while we waited together for a miracle. Occasionally the chick would row itself a few feet forward, doing a loon’s version of the butterfly stroke. What was it doing? Where was it going? In the distance I could hear an adult loon calling and the chick would respond. About a half mile south is Spectacle Pond, but between that point and the chick was an obstacle course of open fields, woods, steep embankments, railroad tracks, and crows. It may have been the mounting heat, but to me, the crows resembled a motorcycle gang.
Birding teaches us patience, persistence, and quietness…time passed. Any moment now a car is going to stop to help or my phone is going to ring! I was supposed to meet a friend, Tom, at Moose Bog by now. Thankfully around 9:15, Tom happened to see my car while driving past. We were now a united front. He went to Silvio Conte, reached the hotline at VINS, and was granted permission to move the chick. Kir Talmage at the Birds of Vermont Museum went online to get Eric Hanson’s phone number. Although I could not speak to him immediately, I knew Eric would contact me as soon as he could. Next, Eric Hynes called back to coach me in how to carefully wrap a loon in a towel so wings or legs would not get injured.
Now, for me, the concept of “rescuing” or intervening with wildlife is a moral issue. When is it right to get involved? But Route 105 and thousands of pounds of moving metal is not nature. Nor is acres of mowed fields that Little Guy would have needed to navigate before the next unnatural hurdle of railroad tracks. Clearly, nature had already been compromised. In my heart, I believed the situation called for some remediation, a sort of canceling out of a few of the human-made obstacles. From me, it felt like a feeble apology for our foolish flaws, and yes, an opportunity to be closer to nature.
Holding the loon in my arms while Tom drove to Spectacle Pond was better than birding. Feeling its strong heart beat through the towel, I worried about the stress of the whole ordeal, but within minutes we were at the water’s edge. I unwrapped the babe, lifted the towel to nudge it forward, and we celebrated when it sprang to new life in the water! We watched it swim toward an adult loon. Then Eric Hanson called.
The Loon Recovery Program is an amazing project. With just the information I gave him, Eric was able to figure out that the chick most likely came from Beecher Pond, just north and west of Spectacle Pond. When I described the chick to him, he said the chick didn’t fly onto the road, it walked. Over the years, his research has shown that adult loons will sometimes leave the nesting pond and call chicks to follow to another nearby pond. He said that for a few years now, one breeding pair has done this repeatedly. Chicks as young as four or five days old have made journeys across land.
Around 4:00, as I was heading back to the Brighton State Park, I decided to check on the chick from the boat launch. In my scope I saw a pair of adults with one chick. The chick looked a little different. I imagined I was seeing more white around the neck, or could it just appear different because the baby now had wet feathers? But I was reassured all was well by the sight of this threesome in addition to seeing a VCE sticker on a truck in the parking lot. It was Eric Hanson, who had followed his great intuition to thoroughly check out the situation. After visiting Beecher Pond, and finding no loons, he knew that the chick didn’t belong on Spectacle Pond. His reliable loon volunteers and data showed the family I was seeing had been here all season. When I asked him if the chick I’d seen in the scope was the one I had rescued, he produced a second chick from his kayak. He had a huge smile on his face, a look of sheer joy and success. After circling the entire pond, he happened to see Little Guy tucked in the reeds. What a lucky bird, to have someone like Eric with such strong conviction to search so thoroughly! And now, Where are your parents? was the next mystery to puzzle through.
For the second time that day, the loon took a short ride in a truck. This time it would be released in Island Pond. Eric hoped the parents would be in the corner of this pond that is closest to Beecher Pond. I got the sense that Eric knew this was a long shot, but he needed to give it a try. He knew this part of the pond had no breeding loons (that would be too close, unsafe, and unlikely for this chick to survive). He released the chick and we watched with great expectations as it slowly made its way toward two adult loons in the distance. But they didn’t connect.
The homeowner, who knew of Eric’s valuable work, had been watching with us. She mentioned a lone loon that hung out in the area. She called it “The Rogue Outlier.” Within ten minutes, the chick made its way back near us and unfortunately close to this adult loon. Instantly, Eric could tell that the chick was in going to be in grave trouble…soon. He ran to retrieve his paddle and grab a nearby kayak while I watched the aggressive adult loon circle and peck at the chick. Little Guy’s head lay submerged in the water for only a few seconds that felt more like minutes. Silently I pleaded for Little Guy’s head to pop back up, and it did. Eric was at its side in a flash, and miraculously retrieved the baby in a matter of minutes. Little Guy appeared to be unhurt by The Rogue Outlier.
The homeowner’s son asked his mom, “Is that your boat?”
“Yes,” she said with a hint of pride in her voice.
“How come I’ve never seen it move so fast?”
Now Eric knew if the chick had any chance of survival, it would need to go to a rehabber in Maine. Eric would take it home with him for the night,
feed it, and then make the three-hour drive in the morning. It would be cared for in Maine for about a month and most likely released in a nearby pond. Good luck, Little Guy! Now…where to get some minnows…
To our great surprise, we didn’t see Chickadees. We must have been very busy, or they were, or both. However, we did luck out with the hawks this month. Bold indicates those we didn’t see last month.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Common Grackle
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
Brown-headed Cowbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Goldfinch
Gray Catbird
Evening Grosbeak
Turkey Vulture
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch juvenile? (just caught a glimpse)
Purple Finch
American Robin
Red-tailed Hawk(adult and juvenile!)
Northern Flicker
Sharp-shinned Hawk(taking a chipmunk on 26 July)
Mammal friends were voracious, possibly out-competing the elusive and longer-legged Wild Turkeys to the scattered corn. Gee, thanks, you Woodchuck, Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, and Eastern Chipmunks!
We’re open every day from 10am until 4pm, through October 31. Visit frequently for birds (indoors and out, wooden and wild), trails, treehouse, pond … and restfulness, relaxation, inspiration and new things to learn. Questions? Let us know: (802) 434-2167 or museum@birdsofvermont.org.
The “Through the Window” series is an informal record of observations made by staff, volunteers, and visitors. Anyone at the Museum may add to this list. Observations are usually through our viewing window: a large window with a film covering that helps hide watchers from the birds. We have chairs and binoculars to try, a white board, and many identification guides. Outdoors, several feeders are attached on a single, bear-resistant pole. A small pond, flowers and water plants, shrubs and trees add cover and (seasonally) other food choices . You can sometimes see what we see via our webcam.
Bridges to Birds incorporates disaster recovery, resilience, and prior long-term plans to make outdoor experiences at the Museum accessible to all visitors, including people with limited abilities and families with small children. This four-phase project also expands conservation and educational opportunities and increases the number of locations available for quiet appreciation and contemplation of the natural world.
Connecting to People:
Bridge and Walkway
$104,000 (still need $56,500)
This phase means
* New wildlife observation areas * Fully ADA-compliant access from parking to Museum * Protected riparian areas and stream bank stabilization * Publicly visible donor acknowledgments * Improved bird habitat * Resistance to future flooding and precipitation events
We are working with the State of Vermont, the Town of Huntington, and civil, structural, and hydrological engineers to design and build a bridge and walkway after installation of a larger culvert under the road. Interpretive signs, plantings, and welcome information will follow.
Connecting to Nature:
Interpretative Trails
$17,000 (still need $9,000)
This phase provides
* Outdoor exploration * Citizen scientist access * Routes for monitoring and birding walks * Integration with and protection of woodland, meadow, and near-pond habitats * Peaceful retreats * Well-maintained trails
Volunteers, staff, and interns repair trails, footbridges, and handrails. We continue to work routing water away from trails, and providing sturdy footing where needed. New maps, signage, and guide materials will be created.
Connecting to New Perspectives:
The Treehouse
$30,000 (still need $2,500)
This phase showcases
* An accessible (ADA-compliant) treehouse, reached by a gravel ramp * Opportunites to observe birds in the forest canopy * An outdoor classroom /exhibit space * New nature-focused programs and activities
The treehouse is already open! We completed the construction thanks to a generous partnership with Center for Technology Essex, Evergreen Roofing, and dozens of volunteers. A grant from the Vermont Community Foundation helped with treehouse-specific programming. The last donations will fund educational signage and seating.
Connecting to Conservation:
Bird-friendly Gardens
$6,000 (still need $2,000)
This phase includes * Demonstration gardens * Native plants * Quiet contemplation spaces * Habitat and foraging diversity for native birds * Inspiring and encouraging Vermont gardeners and would-be gardeners
The Gardens phase integrates previous work by staff, interns, and gardeners on local, bird-friendly plantings, garden layout, and native species. Garden beds, paths, booklets, informative signs, and short education tours all extend the experience.
Donate to help! We happily accept donations online through JustGive, NetworkForGood, and PayPal. You can also call (802) 434-2167 with your credit card info, or send a check in any amount at any time to
Birds of Vermont Museum
900 Sherman Hollow Road
Huntington, Vermont 05462
The Birds of Vermont Museum’s treehouse debuted one year ago, much to the delight of the Museum community. Constructed by the students and instructors at the Center for Technology, Essex, the new structure, tucked into the trees above Sherman Hollow Brook, has already proven its immense value as an observation deck and a learning lab. Children attending our Nestling’s Nook story hour and Fledglings Junior Birder programs have enjoyed the treehouse’s outdoor adventure atmosphere as they explore the connections birds have with the environment. Girl Scout troops from the Green and White Mountains Council incorporated the treehouse into their nature walks while participating in three special programs at the Museum this past year. School groups following our guiding questions packet ponder sensory input such as sight, sound, smell, and touch to develop an understanding of the elements of natural systems in their midst. Interpretive drawings of living and non-living components in the bird-filled habitat surrounding the treehouse help young people make connections within food webs and nutrient use and recycling.
Many visitors to the treehouse linger over a picnic lunch as they take in the 360-degree view of life within the tree canopy. Bob and Gale enjoyed regular lunch dates there throughout last summer while connecting with the magic of the Birds of Vermont. Situated over the brook, the treehouse enables new and experienced birders to hear and glimpse birds which favor habitats featuring flowing water, such as the Louisiana Waterthrush. During the spring breeding season, Early Birders’ walks regularly finish at the treehouse for debriefing and bird chats.
It’s been a joy to see how accessible and enlightening the treehouse is for our visitors; we look forward to new experiences in the coming days and months. We hope you will join us there too!
A mellow month, with most of the species busy nesting and feeding nestlings, so not quite as many as last month. A few juveniles by the end of June though!
Mammal friends were sometimes even more obvious: Eastern Cottontail rabbit (2 on 6/2), Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, Eastern Chipmunks, Woodchucks. Other winged notables included Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly and Clearwing Sphinx Moth (on the azalea).
We’re open daily! Doors open at 10am until 4pm, every day through October 31. Come often for birds (indoors and out, wooden and wild), trails, treehouse, pond … and restfulness, relaxation, inspiration and new things to learn. Questions? Let us know: (802) 434-2167 or museum@birdsofvermont.org.
The “Through the Window” series is an informal record of observations made by staff, volunteers, and visitors. Anyone at the Museum may add to this list. Observations are usually through our viewing window: a large window with a film covering that helps hide watchers from the birds. We have chairs and binoculars to try, a white board, and many identification guides. Outdoors, several feeders are attached on a single, bear-resistant pole. A small pond, flowers and water plants, shrubs and trees add cover and (seasonally) other food choices . You can sometimes see what we see via our webcam.
