where natural history meets art
“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.
Hairy Woodpecker
Photo ©2008 E. Talmage,
Huntington, Vermont
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.)
Noted through our viewing window in February (more or less in the order we saw them; the ones we didn’t see last month are in bold):
Do other people have turkeys peeping through their office windows?
At lunch, we like to eat while gazing out of the Viewing Window at the museum. We keep an unofficial list of birds (mostly) seen at that time, jotting them down on a nearby whiteboard. Here’s who we saw in January:
You can see some of what we see with our FeederCam, too. We also participate in in Project FeederWatch, a more formal way to collect and record bird data.
Interested in yet another good reason to go birding? How about the Great Backyard Bird Count? It’s another Citizen Science project we do here, and it’s always open to more participants.
We’ll be open on February 13, Saturday, from 9-4. Come by to learn more about it, to count birds, or just visit.
Here’s a brief introduction from the Cornell Lab or Ornithology’s e-newsletter:
The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday, February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” During last year’s count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. …[T]he success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent.
Spread the word …through our volunteer ambassador program. Volunteer ambassadors do a variety of things, including hanging up GBBC fliers, giving presentations in their community, and even talking to their local media. For more ideas on how to promote the GBBC, fill out the online ambassador sign-up form and specify the kinds of activities you’d like to do.
More info from the National Audubon Society: http://www.audubon.org/gbbc/
or from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/
We’re reposting several Christmas Bird Count results from neighboring towns. Email us at museum@birdsofvermont.org if you want us to post yours, too. Final results may also become available on the VTBIRD mailing list and many final tallies are available through Audubon’s 110th Christmas Bird Count pages.
from Sally Laughlin, via e-mail
The Woodstock Count was held on the coldest day of the count period no doubt, Tuesday 12/29….wind-chill to 30 below. Both numbers of individuals and of species suffered (as did us birders!). We had only 32 species and 2227 individuals. But we had some firsts for our 35 year old count!
Cedar Waxwing, 230- located in front of the Woodstock Elementary School
Snow Bunting, 12 – seen in both Plymouth (3) and South Woodstock (9)
Green Winged Teal, 1 – a first for our count
Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1 – at a feeder on River Road, Killington
Pied-billed Grebe, 1 a first for our count, in an open pool in the Sherburne Marsh, Killington
Savannah Sparrow, 1 – in Woodstock
Black-capped Chickadee, 608;
Blue Jay, 287;
European Starling, 229;
American Goldfinch, 188;
Mourning Dove, 130;
Dark-eyed Junco, 92;
Wild Turkey, 55;
American Crow, 52;
Mallard, 47;
White-breasted Nuthatch, 47;
Rock Pigeon, 45;
House Sparrow, 38;
Downy Woodpecker, 29;
Tufted Titmouse, 28;
Hairy Woodpecker, 22;
Northern Cardinal, 21;
American Tree Sparrow, 17;
House Finch, 14;
Raven, 11;
Purple Finch, 9;
Red-tailed Hawk, 3;
Ruffed Grouse, 3;
Black Duck, 2;
Brown Creeper, 2;
Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1;
accipiter sp., glimpsed by a feeder watcher catching a Mourning Dove,
unfortunately not identified to species.
We’re reposting several Christmas Bird Count results from neighboring towns. Email us at museum@birdsofvermont.org if you want us to post yours, too. Final results may also become available on the VTBIRD mailing list and/or at Audubon’s 110th Christmas Bird Count pages.
from Thomas Berriman, via e-mail
Barnet CBC, New Year’s Day: A record high 23 participants helped count the birds of the Northeast Kingdom on New Year’s day. Absolutely gorgeous weather, 25 degrees [F] with light snow falling and no winds throughout the day, aided the counters to find 41 species with an additional 2 species during count week. 338 miles of roads in the NEK were traveled with another 13 ¾ miles on foot.
Among some of the highlights were: 1 Common Goldeneye, 3 Adult Bald Eagles, 2 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Great black-backed Gulls, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 5 American Robins, 2 Northern Shrikes and 1 White-throated Sparrow. A complete list of birds seen or heard follows.
Continue reading “Christmas Bird Count: Barnet, Northeast Kingdom, Vermont”