where natural history meets art
A nice month! We were busy with camp groups, some new Nestlings programs, our wonderful annual butterfly walk, a carving class, and the final touches on our July Chip Notes newsletter.
And with all that, we still time to do a little sedentary birding! Though we are a bit sparse on birds at the feeders right now (see below)…
It’s been a pleasant early summer month at the Birds of Vermont Museum. We’re continuing our Early Birder Morning Walks on Sundays, and had a new walk offered: “Tree IDs for Birders”. We even had a booksigning and a carving class!
Even though we’ve cut back on our feeding, we have still been able to enjoy spotting birds through our windows (and doors) at the Museum.
Still limiting feeding, although this month we saw so many birds that one might hardly have thought we were doing this! (Also, see below for why.)
We also noticed that at certain times of the day, the light hit the front door just right (or perhaps, just wrongly) to apparently encourage bird collisions. We have fixed this! (More on this below, too.)
Also this month (and next): Early Birder Morning Walks! Check out the results when the walk leaders post them to eBird.
Despite changing from regular feeding to a restricted type and amount (see below for why), we still enjoying observing birds through our window. Something about just sitting, watching, maybe taking notes or doing Feederwatch… this helped us get through a wicked bad mud season and a few April snowfalls.
And as we post this, we’re well into another migration season! Check out BirdCast for nighttime forecasts of what’s moving where.
March usually see us getting excited about what’s left to do before our drop-in season (May – October) and which migrants are passing by on their way further north (looking at you Fox Sparrow. Also mud. Sherman Hollow Road at the end of March this year was …. remarkable. Yet passable, unlike some other roads around the state. So we could keep feeding the birds.
By the way, Vermont Fish & Wildlife recommends taking in your bird feeders on April 1st, to avoid habituating bears to our spaces. Our feeders are 8′ off the ground on a steel pole set in concrete; it’s both bear resistant and not too much of a temptation. Bears learn quickly what’s out of reach and not worth the effort.
So many birds. So little time.
We went out on the trails, watched from the windows, kept filling the bird feeders…
We had quite a bit of fun online and in the woods this month. Still, it’s always pleasant to sit and watch birds at the window, over staff lunch or morning coffee with some fellow birders. And April is always kinda wowza!
We had rather a good number of visitors (by appointment) as we worked away on the behind-the-scenes things we do (preparing for opening in spring, if all goes well). One of our month’s highlights wasn’t birds at all, but lady beetles! You can read more about them here: https://birdsofvermont.org/2021/03/12/lady-beetles-in-vermont-j-pupko/
But back to birds… quite the exciting mix!
On a warm day, we sometimes (though not often) see Turkey Vultures overhead at the Museum. If it rains, well, we can come in and look up anyway, practicing our identification of raptors by plumage.
And we can also look out through our viewing window…
June is unbelievably beautiful in Vermont. To add to our happiness, we have been able to open the Museum Wednesdays-Sundays, 10-4, which is so far working well. To add to the beauty of late spring around us, we’ve got a new art show, all about borders and boundaries, edges and exchanges.
Stop by to wander our trails, tour the show, and enjoy the respite offered by super-relaxed birding. What could be easier than sitting at our viewing window (or in our bird blind, or best yet, in the walk-in treehouse) and watching for birds, butterflies, and other fellow beings?