Tag Archives: birding
A “Birds in Art” Prequel: Southeast Alaska’s Northern Inside Passage
Posted on August 24, 2022
I’m recently back from an extraordinary experience . . . seven days aboard the Lindblad/National Geographic Venture, traveling from Juneau to Sitka, exploring small harbors and open straits, stunning mammoth glaciers, uninhabited islands, rocky shorelines, lush rain forests and muskegs, and streams filled with spawning salmon.
Catch Birdwatching Fever
Posted on February 21, 2018
Emerging from what seems like a long winter, I’m always happy to get back into nature to pursue my favorite pastime – birdwatching. The Great Backyard Bird Count was last weekend, and I’m happy to report that our winter bird population is vibrant and healthy. In fact, we’ve seen a robust return of common redpolls and pine siskins, whose numbers were very low last year.
Appreciating Backyard Gems
Posted on November 04, 2015
Birders know better than most the fleeting nature of outdoor birdwatching opportunities. An after-hours Woodson Art Museum tour this week introduced local birders to year-round in-gallery birdwatching opportunities.
A Winter Birding Excursion
Posted on January 14, 2015
Although the National Audubon Society’s first Christmas Bird Count was in 1900, my first foray was a few weeks ago when I joined Mary Backus and Sarah Sabatke, members of the Wausau Bird Club. Before this, most of my birding occurred in the spring, summer, and fall. Sure, we keep tabs on the birds coming to our backyard winter feeders, but the idea of going out to search for birds in the winter never really appealed to me – too cold and not a great variety of birds to see, or so I thought.
Best Indoor Birdwatching
Posted on October 01, 2014
What secret sauce whets someone’s appetite to pursue a passion for art, birding, or both? Maybe it starts when a child assembles and customizes a birding journal cover. Perhaps it continues through careful observation while sketching basic body shapes and then characteristic details of crest, mask, or beak – all while seated in Woodson Art Museum galleries or on a tree stump in the field.
Barry’s Bobolink: In the Field with a Master Artist
Posted on September 10, 2014
The whole bird vibrates. Side-lit by sun, a bobolink spills song across new meadow grass on old farmland in Westminster, Massachusetts in May. Notes vector out from half a head of open beak and half a buffy helmet, aquiver with sound. With wing-pumping, reverse-tuxedo verve, this bird makes “going out on a limb” look good.
I am in the field with my teacher, Barry Van Dusen, in mid-spring – out early in the day, out ready in the field where things are just beginning. It’s my first bobolink. And I’m completely happy.
Birders Flock to Bird City Summit
Posted on March 26, 2014
Throughout the past year, I’ve developed more than a passing interest in birds and bird watching. My interest was piqued last spring when poor weather stalled a variety of migrating birds that happened to end up in my mother-in-law’s backyard, right here in Wausau.
Early Birds’ Reward
Posted on September 25, 2013
Although Birds in Art opening weekend festivities are behind us, Museum staff are still relishing the final email exchanges with artists and guests who, like us, are returning to daily routines. Last year, around this time, I joked I had completed my official hazing at the Museum – having made... Read More
Bright-eyed and Bushy-tailed: A Newbie’s Take on Birds in Art
Posted on September 12, 2012
I survived. The Birds in Art opening festivities served as my institutional initiation, and I can now say with confidence that I’m a part of the Woodson Art Museum family. It all began to sink in Friday – how truly special Birds in Art is and what this annual exhibition... Read More
