where natural history meets art
[slideshow_deploy id=’5381′]
We’re saying farewell to the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds this month…like we do to the autumn leaves. These photos were taken by Erin Talmage of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird male’s neck and back feathers, using different angles of light.
We continued to be light on the feeding this month, as we tried to do our bit to reduce or limit the spread of the mysterious disease we’d heard of—encouraging the equivalent of “social distancing” for birds. This disease had not been reported in Vermont. By the end of the month, we had resumed a very limiting feeding schedule. Continue reading “Through the Window: August 2021”
![[Great Crested Flycatcher on office window netting. May 2019]](https://cpanel3.neonova.net/~wwwbirdsofvt/wpsite2017/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Great-crested-flycatcher-office-window-kjt-May2109-e1560095402160-188x300.jpg)
We stopped feeding birds this month, as we waited to hear more about a mysterious disease affecting eyes (at least) in birds in the mid-west/mid-Atlantic regions. However, we did see rather a good selection of birds as usual until then!
Continue reading “Through the Window: July 2021”
September’s glorious for surprising visitors to the feeders. Or near—but not at—the feeders, as the Nashville Warbler. It’s been dry, so having water source(s) near your feeders is essential.
Summer is nests and fledglings, flowers and pollinators, greens and golds and more. Young birds come to the feeders, squawk … and sometimes get ignored by their parents! Hummingbirds defend the feeders and the bee balm; some hawk moths get mistaken for hummingbirds. The forest canopy is thick and provides deep cover for the warblers and more. It’s a rich and beautiful time. Who needs a feeder, with so much to eat in the forest?
No one, really, but some come anyway:
By July, the birds get pretty busy with nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles. A few juveniles of one kind of another come to the feeders, and fuss at their parents to keep on feeding them.
Here are the species seen at the feeders over the last month. Sometimes we can even tell when the bird is a juvenile!
Summer is in full swing around here! every day we fill and watch the feeders, learning new bird identifications, or watching behavior subtleties in birds species we know .It’s amazing to start to pick up on tiny differences in the bibs of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, or behaviors of one Blue Jay and another.
It was a bit of a quiet month, but we might also have been so busy that we didn’t take enough notes while indoors? Outdoors was fantastic…
Seen from the Viewing Window (or nearby) and recorded:
The year comes turning, turning… the daylight shifts, as we roll toward the equinox and away. Birds shifting southward bring changes to our sightings. A few “winter” birds are popping up!
For more precise records, you can also see eBird data for recent years at the Museum.
Plenty of squirrels again: Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, and Eastern Chipmunks.
All observers can add their sightings to our whiteboard list! We’re here from 10am to 4pm daily, and earlier if there’s a bird walk. For those, check out our events page. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too, for more comments, links, and observations!
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.
We were blessed with some unusual observations this month—we suspect these species are usually here in August, but we’re not always in the right place to observe them. Gotta get outdoors! In the meantime, enjoy this month’s list of what we’ve seen through (or near) our Viewing Window.
No male hummingbirds on 8/31.
Bold indicates those we didn’t see last month.
For more precise records, you can also see eBird data for recent years at the Museum.
It’s always fun to distinguish the Clear-winged Sphinx Moth and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird as they both hover about the bee balm. And what a month for mammals! We’ve the usuals: Gray squirrels, Red squirrels, Eastern chipmunks.. ;.and we’ve also noticed Eastern cottontail rabbit, a bobcat, and a young porcupine! This last was spotted and photographed by some visitors on August 28 as it came across Bob’s Bridge and up the bath. (Bob’s Bridge is the lower bridge of the two near the Museum entrance; Gale’s Crossing is the new one.)
All observers can add their sightings to our whiteboard list! We’re here from 10am to 4pm daily, and earlier if there’s a bird walk. For those, check out our events page. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too, for more comments, links, and observations!
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.