Category Archives: News

MMGA Home Horticulture Evening Lecture Series at Museum of American Bird Art Starting March 17

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Sean K.

MMGA Home Horticulture Evening Lecture Series at Museum of American Bird Art Starting March 17 On Tuesday evenings March 17 through May 19, 6:30-8:00pm, the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association (MMGA) will be presenting ten educational lectures as part of its Home Horticulture Series. The program will be held at the museum, affording participants access not only to state-of-the-art meeting space but also to the nature trails.

The MMGA is a non-profit charitable educational organization serving Eastern and Central Massachusetts. Its mission is to train Certified Master Gardeners who share gardening/horticultural knowledge and experience with the public through outreach. The Home Horticultural Evening Lecture Series is a cornerstone of this mission.

The 10-week Home Horticulture Evening Lecture Series covers the same topics Certified Massachusetts Master Gardeners study as part of their training…but in a streamlined format tailored to home gardeners with busy lifestyles. Classes are held in the early evening, 1-1/2 hrs. each, and do not require outside reading, homework, testing or volunteering.

Presenters are senior Master Gardeners who have special expertise in their topics and are passionate about training others. Each lecture includes time for Q&A and a detailed handout. Topics include key fundamentals like building great soil and how plants work…as well as practical how-to’s like basic landscape design, perennial selection and care, and combating weeds, diseases and pests. Trained Master Gardeners will also be on hand to provide a free test of your soil’s pH, a key component of successful gardening. Registration is required, and the fee is $250 for the full 10-week series.

Registration, a full course syllabus, and comments from former students are available at http://massmastergardeners.org/home-horticulture-series/ .

Taking Flight: Our 4th annual youth bird art exhibition is accepting submission

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Sean K.

Taking Flight is an International Juried Youth Bird Art Exhibition at the Museum of American Bird Art. The goal of this exhibition is to create a greater awareness and appreciation for birds while fostering the development of young artists and sharing their work with the public. The Taking Flight contest is open to young artists age 4 to 18 of all skill levels. This year’s exhibition will be on display at the museum from September 2019 to May 2020. Please encourage young artists to participate and you can learn more or submit your art by clicking here.

Nature in a minute…The restorative power of Spring

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Sean K.

Although it remains mysterious to science how nature calms and restores our brain, it never ceases to amaze me how a brief respite walking through a garden to watch seedlings emerge after a long winter or sauntering through a woodland and hearing the songbirds sing for the first time in many months revitalizes the spirit.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.

― Mary Oliver, How I go to the Woods

The woods and meadows at the Museum of American Bird Art are alive with sounds, sights, and spirit of spring – renewal and rebirth.

The wood frogs and spotted salamanders have come and gone from the vernal pools, leaving tens of thousands of eggs that will soon hatch. The young tadpoles and salamander larvae that emerge are tenacious. In their struggle to survival and transform, their tiny bodies expend so much energy that the pond is constantly full of tiny ripples that are visible only when you slow down, look closely, and remain still. Oh, what joy these splendid little puddles in the woods bring after a long winter.

Wood frog male calling on April 1, 2019 in our main vernal pool on the main loop trail at the Museum of American Bird Art

Spotted Salamander in our main vernal pool on April 1, 2019

A wood frog playing peek-a-boo in an interior vernal pool at the Museum of American Bird Art

A few amphibian eggs on a leaf in our wildlife sanctuary on April 1, 2019. I still wondering if they hatched when we had a few good rainfalls…

While the vernal pool awakes, it’s bounty will nurture the nearby woods and the Barred Owl eagerly watches and waits…

Barred Owl watching over the vernal pool on the main loop trail. April 17, 2019

Whooos woods are these…Nature, Awe, and Wonder in a Minute

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Sean K.

Rarely does the moment arrive when everything seems to fit together perfectly and converges at just the right moment, but that’s probably why transcendent moments are so rare and special and our vacation campers had this type of moment this morning.

Over the past few weeks, we have been keeping tabs on a pair of Great Horned Owls and a single Barred Owl that have been very active in our wildlife sanctuary. For one week, a Barred Owl has been roosting during the day in the same tree in our pine grove, but was not there today. Alas, I thought our vacation campers wouldn’t get to see this amazing owl.

BUT the reason it wasn’t in it’s daytime roost was because it had taken up residence in a nest that was in perfect view of the trail in our pine grove. This is the first Barred Owl nest we have ever found on the sanctuary.

So with the snow sparkling in the mid morning sun, an owl resplendent in it’s nest, the first people to see it were our vacation program campers and the look on their faces just tells it all, so much more than words could.

“ Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

― Mary Oliver

Nature in a Minute: Whose woods these are…

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Sean K.

On January 1, 2019, Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening entered into the public domain and I have been pondering the lines from that poem, especially

Whose woods these are…
Robert Frost, 1923

as I take people on programs through the wildlife sanctuary – like high school photography students, develop STEAM curriculum inspired by our natural world, and continue to learn about our amazing natural world right here in Canton. Whose woods are these…

A Great-horned Owl has taken up residence in our pine grove.

As I quietly walked through our wildlife sanctuary, through a grove of tall, spindly white pines and oaks looking for the aforementioned great-horned owl, a white-tail flashed and a “herd” of deer bounded away my foot steps. My attention was draw to a quieter, subtle sound of faintly rustling leaves and breaking twigs gave away the location of a no longer resting coyote.

Here is a video from our trail camera of four white-tailed deer bounding across the pine grove late one afternoon this new year.

Four deer bounding through the pine grove

Here is a trail camera video from the past week of a single coyote a little past dawn moving through the pine grove.

Coyote in the pine groove

Since the New Year, our wildlife sanctuary has been bursting with activity fueled by an eruption of pine cones. Each day there is a cacophony of squirrels, both red and grey, and seed eating birds, like red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches, brown creepers, tufted titmouse, black-capped chickadees, and more. The ground is covered with pine cones, including this pile near a vernal pool on the property.

A red squirrel moved frenetically – both eating pine seeds and remaining vigilant for predators – like the coyote and great horned owl that have both taken up residence in the pine grove.

A red squirrel frenetically collects and eats pine seeds

As a raptor hunted near by and blue jay’s mobbed the bird, a grey squirrel hung tightly to the trunk of a tree and tried to blend in until the danger passed. Whose woods are these…

Robert Frost reading Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Selected Artwork for Taking Flight 2018: Our Juried Youth Bird Art Exhibition (Part 1)

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Sean K.

We are extremely excited to display a selection of art from our third annual juried youth bird art exhibition. All artwork will appear in this series of posts. This annual exhibition is open to any children and young adults age 4 to 18 years old. All selected entries will be on display at the Museum of American Bird Art from November 10, 2018 to March 30, 2019. Entries for our fourth annual exhibition will open in January 2019 and close in June 2019.

Come see the works on display at the Museum of American Bird Art by appointment or during 3 open houses

January 26, 2019 from 12 to 2 pm

February 23, 2019 from 12 to 2 pm

March 23, 2019 from 12 to 2 pm

Hummingbird, Alyssa Courchesne, Age 11

For art class, we were asked to choose a photograph of a bird and create a John James Audubon inspired oil pastel bird drawing. As my bird I chose the hummingbird. I chose the hummingbird because to me it symbolizes peace, happiness, and grace. The hummingbird represents peace to me because it brings back memories when I sat on my Memere’s lap and looked out as the glistening lake. I can remember looking out at the lake and seeing the birds just barely touching the water with the tips of their wings. The hummingbird represents grace to me because I am a dancer. When I look at these birds gracefully flying through the air I remember dancing on stage to the song “Stand by Me.” The hummingbird represents happiness to me because of all the bright colors. The bright colors shown on these birds remind me of spring. All of the reasons above are why I chose a hummingbird for this project.

Peafowl,Evan Whang, Age 4

Evan has been fascinated with birds from a very young age and loves to draw birds of all types. He loves birds that display bright colors, such as the fan of the male peacock. He hopes to see a peacock up close one day!

Secretary Bird, Noah Chan, Age 8

I drew the Secretary Bird because it is a really big bird with crazy feathers! I like how its beak is red and yellow it looks like a red heart. The bird looks super cool in flight. It has super power like eating a snake in one bite! I made this picture cartoonish to capture the bird crazy features!

Electric Ostrich, Brac Buffa, Age 10

The ostrich is a unique bird. It’s height, size, running speed, and attitude make it a strong competitor in the wild. I love the way an ostrich can look with such curiosity and character.

Yellow Warbler, Kaia Couture, Age 11

The meaning behind my artwork is about my favorite color. My favorite color is yellow and I would always draw yellow birds when I was younger. My bird is called the Yellow Warbler. I got the idea to draw this bird from an old book I found in my basement. My favorite bird is the Flamingo, but a flamingo isn’t yellow like my favorite color. I also looked at more pictures to get an idea of what I wanted to draw, then I drew it! After that I colored it and signed it. That is how and why I chose the bird I did.

Taking Flight Opening Reception

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Sean K.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Twenty creative, excited, and amazing young artists gathered at the Museum of American Bird Art to celebrate the opening of our third annual Taking Flight, an international juried youth bird art exhibition.

2018 Taking Flight young artists, November 10, 2018

We had renowned artist, Sherrie York, as our guest artist. She met all the young artists and taught a fantastic printmaking workshop.

Enjoy this short video recap of our opening reception and a look at each artwork from each artist.

Taking Flight Opening Reception

Inspiring wonder, creativity, and curiosity at the Nature Lab: An inside peek at the Wild at Art Travel Camp

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Sean K.

Our inaugural travel week at the Wild at Art Summer Camp has just wrapped up. From July 9 to July 13, our travel program included a visit to the amazing and inspiring Nature Lab at the Rhode Island Institute of Design.

Campers had a close up look at many amazing natural history artifacts and were able to use state of the art microscopes to be amazing by a tiny world that is almost always hidden. Enjoy this short video of the day.

Inspiring curiosity, creativity and more with Barry Van Dusen: A Day with the Wild at Art Travel Camp

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Sean K.

Our inaugural travel week at the Wild at Art Summer Camp has just wrapped up. From July 9 to July 13, our travel program included visits to Barry Van Dusen’s art studio for an inside look at his craft and a short trip to Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary to paint and sketch with Barry in the field. It was wonderful to see all the campers inspired by a true master artist and wonderful person. Enjoy this short video of the day.

We also visited World’s End in Hingham, travel by ferry to Peddock’s Island in Boston Harbor, visited the Roger Williams Zoo, had ice cream at Crescent Ridge, and visted the amazing Nature Lab at Rhode Island Institute of Design