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.
Through the Window: September 2020
Through the Window: August 2019
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:
Through the Window: July 2019
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!
Through the Window: June 2019
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.
Through the Window: August 2018
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:
Through the Window: September 2016
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!
- Black-capped chickadee
- White-throated Sparrow
- Mourning Dove
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Blue Jay
- Downy Woodpecker
- Tufted Titmouse
- American Goldfinch
- Song Sparrow
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird (9/7 female only; 9/20)
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak (of note: a male, juvenile transforming to adult, 9/13; others seen throughout month)
- Northern Cardinal
- Dark-eyed Junco (at Cedar Hedge and under azalea, away from main feeding area, 9/26)
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.
Through the Window: August 2016
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.
- Blue Jay (and juveniles with bald heads ~8/8 – 8/18)
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Tufted Titmouse
- Mourning Dove
- American Goldfinch
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Black-capped chickadee
- Northern Cardinal (and juvenile with black beak 8/16)
- American Crow
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Purple Finch
- Evening Grosbeak
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Common Grackle
- Gray Catbird
- House Finch
- Cooper’s Hawk (8/17 by S. Dakers)
- Song Sparrow (fledgling with a short tail 8/21)
- Turkey Vulture
- Broad Winged-hawk (heard 8/23)
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.
Through the Window: July 2016
It’s the glorious height of summer. Also, sometimes hot. We have birds at the feeders, and mammals on the ground, and more!
- Mourning Dove
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Blue Jay (includes a bald one–a fledgling?–seen 7/30)
- Downy Woodpecker
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Northern Cardinal
- Common Grackle
- Wild Turkey
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- American Goldfinch
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- American Crow
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Evening Grosbeak (7/12)
- Purple Finch
- Black-capped chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Sharp-shinned Hawk (7/30)
Bold indicates those we didn’t see last month (we are as perplexed about the chickadees as you are!).
For more precise records, you can also see eBird data for recent years at the Museum.
As always, other critters visited. The Hummingbird-mimic, the Clearwing Sphinx Moth, continues to enjoy Bee Balm (in bloom by July 3). We note again Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, and Eastern Chipmunks, as well as the Eastern Cottontail, and (on the night cam) Raccoons. We heard and saw Green frogs chuckling in the little pond that is sometimes also a bird bath (when it’s not too full of duck weed)..
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.
Early Birders’ Observations for June 26, 2016
Michelle Patenaude led the June 26th Early Birders Morning Walk as well. The walks this year have been so well-attended! It’s been wonderful to welcome birders, old and new, to the Museum.
Here’s the report:
Birds of Vermont Museum, Chittenden, Vermont, US Jun 26, 2016 7:05 AM - 9:25 AM Protocol: Traveling 2.0 kilometer(s) Comments: Early Birders Walk led by Michele Patenaude 34 species Mallard 1 Mourning Dove 2 Barred Owl 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 7 observed adult at nest with young in it Downy Woodpecker 2 Eastern Phoebe 2 Great Crested Flycatcher 2 Red-eyed Vireo 2 Blue Jay 5 Black-capped Chickadee 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 5 Winter Wren 1 Hermit Thrush 2 Wood Thrush 1 American Robin 2 Gray Catbird 1 Ovenbird 11 Black-and-white Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 5 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 3 Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 2 Dark-eyed Junco 1 White-throated Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 1 Scarlet Tanager 1 Northern Cardinal 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Common Grackle 2 American Goldfinch 2 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30398032 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Join usnext year, in May and June, for the next series of early morning walks. Bring binoculars and good walking shoes. Park at 900 Sherman Hollow Road, in the Museum parking lot. Of course, we hope to see you long before then! There’s so much more to see and do here at the Museum, after all.
Early Birders’ Observations for June 19, 2016
Michelle Patenaude continues her volunteering, by leading the June 19th Early Birders Morning Walk also. Thank you, Michelle, for your consistent and so-welcome effort!
Here’s the report:
Birds of Vermont Museum, Chittenden, Vermont, US
Jun 19, 2016 7:10 AM - 10:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Early Birders Walk led by Michele Patenaude.
39 species
Turkey Vulture 1
Mourning Dove 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 2 males displaying
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 3 observed adult female putting her head
into a nesting hole, feeding 2 young
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 7
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 1
Winter Wren 4
Hermit Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 1
Ovenbird 18
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 4
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Song Sparrow 1
Scarlet Tanager 1 heard repeatedly, observed by entire group
Northern Cardinal 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
American Goldfinch 2
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30299602
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Join us for the next one or more, every Sunday through the end of June. Begin your day with friends, birds, and more. Walks are led by experienced birders familiar with Vermont birds—and we welcome additional possible leaders. Let us know if you’re interested in volunteering.
Finish the walk with bird-friendly coffee at the viewing window inside the Museum.
Bring binoculars and good walking shoes. Park at 900 Sherman Hollow Road, in the Museum parking lot.
Best for adults and older children • Free, donations welcome.
Pre-registration is helpful but not required. Call 802 434-2167 or email museum@birdsofvermont.org