The White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls were a nice surprise on this snowy April morning. We also saw Wild turkeys, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays at our bird feeders.
where natural history meets art
Signs of spring around the Museum
Signs that spring is still far away
We’ve bolded the one we didn’t observe last month.
And if you’re curious, here’s a quick picture and post about what we feed the birds.
We were open last Saturday to celebrate and support the Great Backyard Bird Count. Naturally, we counted birds—and a few others—as well. Our results from that open time follow, and we will have our full count results posted to eBird as well.
Observed on February 19th, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Blue Jay | 9 |
Hairy Woodpecker | 2 |
Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
Dark-eyed Junco | 4 |
Northern Cardinal (female) | 1 |
Tufted Titmouse | 2 |
Mourning Dove | 6 |
Black-capped Chickadee | 4 |
White-Breasted Nuthatch | 1 |
European Starling | 1 |
American Crow | 1 |
We also observed an Eastern Cottontail and 3 Red Squirrels.
How did your counts go?
A bit of a spare month. Perhaps we’re not sitting at the window enough?
“Almost everything delights a chickadee.” —E.B. White
Perhaps not snow, though.
I was using a Canon PowerShot S3 IS, and out of curiosity I set it to the sports setting (I don’t do or watch much sports) while photographing chickadees and downy woodpeckers near and at the Museum feeders. The birds were sharp, the snow not so much. I liked it.
– Kir, webmistress/program coordinator
Post and photo by Kir Talmage, Museum webmistress/program coordinator
Last night or early this morning, some large bird left tracks in the snow (the marks are at least 2½ feet across — no measurement because I didn’t have snow pants and didn’t much feel like sliding into the creek). But which bird?
The foot-trail between the wings climbs from the tiny under-the-road creek up to the trail that goes from the entrance path to the bridge. (This will all make more sense if you have visited here). There are plenty of turkeys around and I suppose they could have made the trail and used their wings for balance while climbing. We see them frequently. both walking and flying.
On the other hand, there are more wing-tip marks down at the bottom, under a minuscule hemlock, without footprints or a wading-through-snow trail. The habitat is also good for barred owl: many hemlocks along the brook, and a patchwork of open cut fields, old beaver meadow, drier upland deciduous forest. Both barred owl and turkey have been seen and heard here.
I’m guessing owl, but let me know if you have more clue (easy!) or would like to see other photos.
We had a new visitor this month, and I’ll tell you who right after the monthly list of birds. A light-weight month, perhaps for weather, but more likely for the season.
Coincidentally, today (posting day) is the Hinesburg/Huntington Christmas Bird Count. It’s rather foggy, actually, so not too much observed yet, I’m told. But the day is still young! (In fact, I just saw a wild turkey, because it was chuckling to itself and I looked up from typing this.)
Visitors often ask us what we feed the birds. We currently have several feeding locations: the ground (including up on some rocks), crabapple trees, and elevated seed and suet feeders. We also hang oriole and hummingbird feeders in summer.
On the ground, we sprinkle kernel corn and mixed seeds, to attract turkeys, sparrows, juncos, blackbirds, and others. Not only do we sprinkle this by the viewing area, but in the summer Bob scatters corn by the pond for resident and visiting waterfowl (although the turkeys appreciate it too).
The crabapple tree produces small, cheery-sized apples, which attracts grouse and many of the smaller birds who also visit our feeders. This tree is visible in the photo below, in the background behind the feeders. There are other crabapples and feral apples on the property (that’s another post, someday).
The hummingbird feeders are hung just outside the viewing window and another outside the front door, but those are removed for the winter. We usually see hummingbirds during the first week of May, and they typically leave the first week in September. We do keep the feeders up through most of September, to support those migrating from points north.
Our upper feeders hold (generally) black oil sunflower seed, sunflower chips, mixed seeds, thistle, and suet. These attract a wide variety of birds, from doves to jays, grosbeaks to finches, woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many more. We hang a jelly feeder for orioles in the summer also. Check out our birds at the feeder posts for records of what we’ve seen when (a click on those post titles will take you to the posts and any pictures as well).
Our webcam shows a few of our upper feeders; this image is from a sunny morning in November 2010.
Our elevated feeders–the ones in the photo–are mounted on a 4″-diameter steel pole, 8 feet above the ground. The pole is set in concrete, and has a baffle beneath. We grease the pole every now and then. Most feeders are hung above the cross-bar part of the pole, although occasionally we will hang a feeder below.
Why all the elevated infrastructure? In a word, bears.
It is recommended that people in bear country not feed birds when bears are awake, especially early in the year when they are just awakening and are hungry after hibernation. For us in Vermont, this is roughly April 1 through November 1. However, as a Bird Museum, we also want to attract birds so visitors can enjoy them as we do, not to mention learning about and from them. Thus: tall, greased poles than black bears can’t knock over. (They have tried…)