Calendar

Looking for a fun way to nurture your child’s appreciation for the natural world?  Check out our self-guided Into the Woods exploration backpack which contains all the essential tools and activity cards for discovery. Through a series of stops along a Hildene trail, children will engage in hands-on forest activities. Suggested for ages 5 to 10, the adventure is intended to take between 1- 2 hours. This is a FREE activity. 

The pack is designed for 1 to 3 children, but more could participate if they are willing to share tools. While packs may be checked out from The Museum Store, it is recommended that you reserve one in advance by contacting Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. 
 

Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 - 11:00 AM, pre-registration is required.

Farm Chores will be offered on Fridays at the goat dairy on the property’s upper level and Saturdays at the animal barn on the lower level known as the dene, June 21-July 27.  Children ages 3 to 12 will have fun assisting farm staff in the morning chores routine which includes feeding and grooming the animals, pitching their pens and cleaning their feeders. 

Registration required at least 48 hours in advance. Family of 4: $20 (members)/$25 (non-members); $5 each additional person aged 3 and up. Groups limited to no more than 5 children, all of whom must be accompanied by an adult. To register, contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email.

Saturday,  11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (rain date: July 21)

We’re going on a safari! Join Leslie Spencer for a Pollinator Safari at Hildene. Inspired by her urban pollinator conservation work with the Tufts Pollinator Initiative in Boston, Leslie will guide participants through Hildene's gardens, introducing you to the secret lives of pollinators. Get up close to these gentle insects, learn to ID them and how to support native plants and insects at home. Leslie earned her BS in Biology and a Minor in Food Systems & Nutrition from Tufts University in 2021 and is a current PhD student in the Food Systems Graduate Program at the University of Vermont.  

Registration is required, as space is limited.  $20 for members/$25 for nonmembers. Please register by July 18, by contacting Stephanie at (802) 267-7960 or or click to email. 

Friday, 9:00 - 10:30 AM

Join us for our July Member Walk – Gardens and Goats! Meet in front of the Welcome Center at 9:00 AM for a walk starting at the cutting gardens, then stopping at the Formal Gardens to take in the summer flowers in bloom. We will head over the Awards Trail to the goat dairy at Hildene Farm to visit the goats and possibly see cheese making in process. There will be tram service running if you want a ride back to the Welcome Center. Please wear comfortable walking shoes, plan for some mud, bring water and wear sunscreen. No need to RSVP. 

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or email Christine

Saturday, 7:00 – 9:30 AM, at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home. Free

Carolina Wren
One exciting, new breeding bird in Vermont is the Carolina Wren. These small songsters are rufous-backed with a buff-colored belly; short, cocked tail; and distinctive, white eye line. Like many wrens, the Carolina Wren is easily heard, but difficult to see. His loud “tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle” song belies such a small bird. Although usually thought of as sensitive to the cold, these new visitors to Vermont are becoming year-round residents and breeders. They have joined other Southern species that now are common year-round here: the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse. Other wren species in Vermont are the common House Wren, the Marsh Wren and the Winter Wren— champion of the wren songsters. Click to hear the Winter Wren.

Meet at the Welcome Center. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. 
 

Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00 PM

Gather with friends in the garden in the dene at the height of the summer season to learn how to cut and arrange glorious flowers, while sipping refreshing herbal teas made from garden plants. Take a bouquet home to enjoy. 

Registration required by August 12: $20 members/$25 non-members. Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. 

Friday 9:00 - 10:30 AM

Join us for our August Member Walk – Down to the Dene! Meet in front of the Welcome Center at 9:00 AM for a walk down the Maple Trail and to the dene (steep at times).  We will walk past the 1832 Hollow School house and over to animal barn at Hildene Farm to visit with all the animals. Please wear comfortable walking shoes, plan for some mud, bring water and wear sunscreen. No need to RSVP. 

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or click to email.

Saturday, 8:00 – 9:30 AM, at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home. Free
Gray Catbird

The Gray Catbird is a mimic that can sound exactly like a cat meowing (thus the name) or other birds in the thrush family such as the Brown Thrasher, American Robin or Mockingbirds. The slim, mostly gray catbird sports a black cap, long tail and chestnut tailfeathers underneath at the rump. Although skulking and secretive when nesting, it will find a high perch for courtship singing. It winters in Central America.

“Sitting in the catbird seat” means having a superior or advantageous position (as in the top of a bush). It seems to have originated during baseball days in the 1940s when Red Barber announced the Dodger games over the radio and used the expression to mean “sitting pretty”—as a batter might feel with three balls and no strikes on him.  

Meet at the Welcome Center. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. .
 

Friday 9:00 - 10:30 AM

Join us for our September Member Walk – Fall Walk Through the Trails! Meet in front of the Welcome Center at 9:00AM for a wonderful walk through the back trails of Hildene where we will come up the apple alle to Lincoln Hall. Please wear comfortable walking shoes, plan for some mud, bring water and wear sunscreen. No need to RSVP. 

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or click to email.

Saturday 9:00 AM

ENJOY THE FOLIAGE! Join us an hour before we open to walk our trails to enjoy the fall foliage. Beat the crowds and bring your camera to take in the gorgeous colors in the morning light. First, check-in at the Welcome Center with your membership card, then walk the trails and the Formal  Garden. Please note, the house will not be open until 10:00 AM when we open to the public. 

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or click to email

Saturday, 8:00 - 9:30 AM, at Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home. Free
Feather Molt

Feathers, like fingernails, are dead structures. When they get damaged or worn out, they have to be replaced. This replacement is called molt. All birds molt—some a full molt, some partial. Some molt once a year: ie. chickadees, thrushes, and hummingbirds. Some do a full molt after the nesting season, and then a partial molt before the breeding season for those bright, colorful feathers needed to attract a mate: ie.Scarlet Tanagers, and warblers. During the fall, ducks molt synchronously, or lose and replace all of their feathers in a short period of time. Geese and ducks are flightless and vulnerable during synchronous molting. Perhaps the most recognized process of molting is that of the American Goldfinch. 
 

Meet at the Welcome Center. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. 

Friday 9:00 - 10:30 AM

Join us for our October Member Walk – Dellwood Cemetery Stroll with Shawn Harrington! Park on Hildene Road next to Dellwood where we will meet Shawn Harrington and explore the interesting history in the cemetery.  Shawn is always amazing with his historical knowledge of Manchester, Hildene and the cemetery. Please wear comfortable walking shoes, plan for some mud, bring water and wear sunscreen/bug spray. No need to RSVP. 

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or click to email.

Saturday, 9:00 – 10:30 AM, at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home. Free
House Finch 

Finches are seed eaters. With their adaptive conical bills, they feed on plants that have gone to seed in the fall. They also frequent feeders. The House Finch and the Purple Finch are look-a-likes. How does one tell them apart?  The more common House Finch male has a rose-red head and upper chest area with brown streaking down the sides of the breast. The wing bars are white. The female is mottled brown, but, again, look for that conical beak that separates this brown bird from a sparrow. The House Finch is a permanent resident throughout the county.  
 

Meet at the Welcome Center. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email. 

Saturday 9:00 AM

House for the Holidays! Join us an hour before we open to see the home beautifully decorated for the holidays! First, check-in at the Welcome Center with your membership card, then walk up the path to the house.

For more information, contact Christine at 802-367-7964 or click to email.

Saturday, 9:00 - 10:30 am, at Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home. Free 
Purple Finch

The Purple Finch has red-wine coloring covering the head and most of the body. There is little fine brown streaking on the sides of the breast. The mottled brown female Purple Finch is the most distinct of the two finch species with a white eyebrow stipe and mustache framing the wide, dark eye line. The wide line through the eye can be seen on the male “under” the wine wash on the head. The Purple Finch is more robust and the tail is more notched than that of the House Finch. The wing bars are more rose-colored. The range for the Purple Finch is more migratory moving up and down the eastern US and breeding north into Canada.

  
Meet at the Welcome Center. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email.