birds of vermont museum

My wife bird watches. I avoid avoid it. Birds fly off, hide and generally do not cooperate. This museum delighted both of us!Set your GPS for the address as the museum sits on an unpaved road. There is plenty of parking. The folks at the entrance are gracious and knowledgeable. A short video orients visitors to the artist who carved each of the birds nesting in Vermont. That would be impressive, but he also carved has a pair of birds to show sexual dimorphism, added carvings of their prey, carvings of their eggs, and actual nests with dioramas that are not only realistic, but often humorous! Because each carving is life sized, visitors get a great sense of the relative dimensions of birds. The museum includes back yard feeders and trails.As a non-birder, I felt entertained and educated by this visit. My wife liked it at least as much as I!

A hidden wonderful place to take the family especially on a rainy day. A great way to study birds and their nests. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable.There are also trails leading from the museum where you can walk and often see many different species of birds. Inside the museum there is a huge window overlooking a large bird feeding area. It is a great place to see birds from inside and if someone is not able to walk around the trails, it would give them a special opportunity to see many different species of birds up close.

This is a small museum that provides a quality visitation for both kids and adults, and it is a fun place. There are many beautiful wood carvings of birds, each showcased in well lighted, true to life mini habitats. There is also a new display on birds of the greater Champlain Valley that live and nest in Vermont, New York, and Quebec, all around Lake Champlain. There are many lifelike wood carvings of birds that seem to be alive, and ready to fly off at the next moment. This is a tiny jewel of a museum. You can meet the artist who does the wood carvings. The primary artist, Bob Spear, is usually present on site, and may be actually be carving in his studio, while you watch him at work. It is a delight to see and hear the sounds of the birds without them flying away. Walk to the brook or to the pond to see and hear the local birds. We sat inside by the big floor to ceiling windows to watch multiple birds feed at the many feeders. We saw 20 blue jays, 5 little hairy woodpeckers, and then a troop of 5 big fat turkeys suddenly appeared out of the woodsy brush. The staff members are friendly and welcoming. Parking is easy, and the rest rooms are clean and bright.

We visited this lovely museum with our children, many years ago, and decided to re-aquaint ourselves this weekend. There are many more bird carvings, since we last came here, and they are all beautiful. A member of staff will help orient you, so that you can get the best out of your visit. Another new addition is the "treehouse" - next time, we will bring a picnic to have in there! There is so much to look at, the bird carvings are really amazing - much more "alive" than stuffed dead birds. You may want to take a break down one of the outside trails and then return for another viewing, with fresh eyes...There is a cute little gift shop for anyone who wants to have a reminder of their visit, or for someone else. I particularly like the muslin dish towels, printed with bird themed designs.Be sure and take pictures of each other in the owl at the entrance! I believe that there was wheelchair access, but call ahead to be certain, or go to their website. There are 100 acres of adjacent nature trails - some connect with Audubon Vermont. There are also occasional woodcarving demonstrations. The museum is open from May 1st to October 31st.

Birds of Vermont is a very original and wonderfully rare resource, the life time work and legacy of a great craftsman who loves his art and the birds that he has created. If you want to learn more about our many many New England birds it is the place to go. But above that it is the place to go just to witness its priceless wood carvings of one man's life's work.

This is a unique venue- one incredibly skilled man's bird carvings. The work here is strikingly lifelike, set naturally and spans decades. A stunning achievement, especially interesting for birders or any nature lover.

What a terrific little museum. Actually, not so little! We were amazed at the amount of gorgeous wood carvings of birds and their habitats, including a section of tropical, endangered & extinct species and the new section of birds of the Champlain valley (in breeding season & fall). The wood carvings are incredible - so life like. And, with their displays in their habitats and your ability to hear their calls with a little bar code reading pen, you can learn a lot about dozens of species.This is a gem of museum and well worth an hour or more of your time. I wish we had had more time and could have walked some of the trails. We were lucky to have met the artist, Bob Spear, while we were there. The small, knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff made us feel like we were friends stopping by for a visit. The tiny fee is worth every dime and you should throw in a donation to keep this wonderful place going. It is not far off of I-89. A great place!

This is the second time my wife and I have visited this museum with my cousin and his wife. On this visit we had to the opportunity to meet the artist who created all the wood carvings! It is a delight to se and hear the sounds of the birds without them flying away. Take the walk across the street to the pond to hear and see live birds. Once again the staff was excellent with our questions and sharing our bird watching experiences. When we got there a school group was sitting by the window watching the birds feed at the feeders! It was wonderful to hear their comments and hear their enthusiasm. We can't wait to go back for our next visit. This was a great time to visit because of the colors on the trees.

amazing work creating bird carvings in life-like settings -- even the foliage was amazing. They had a useful device to hear the bird calls for most of the cases. The film is short but very useful.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the museum. The hundreds of carved birds are amazing to look at, and we learned a lot, too. We were given little devices that allowed us to listen to bird calls while looking at wooden replicas of the birds in the galleries. Make sure you visit the artist's wood carving studio and take time to watch live birds on the feeders through the observation windows. Our kids (7 and 10) enjoyed the visit as much as we did. It's a very special place.