New Exhibit Showcases Vashon’s Birds Past, Present, and Future

The Vashon Heritage Museum and Vashon Audubon are proud to unveil a special mini-exhibit titled Vashon Birds: Seen and Heard Up Close. The Museum will celebrate the mini-exhibit by opening for First Friday, on March 4, 6:00-9:00 pm.

“We are excited to partner with Audubon to present an exhibit of this caliber with contributions by award-winning photographers and featuring songs of our local Vashon and northwest birds,” said Vashon Heritage Museum Executive Director Elsa Croonquist. “Through this partnership we present an eye-opening look at the history of birds on Vashon and the changes that are happening in our bird environment.” 

The exhibit will have an enclosure in the Museum in which visitors can see photographs and hear songs of Vashon birds past, present, and future. The outside walls of the enclosure will display historic Vashon photographs and paintings of Island birds by Island photographer Norman Edson and Island naturalist painter Edmund J. Sawyer.

“You’ll be amazed by the variety of birds in our forests, meadows, shoreline, and sea,” said Vashon Audubon’s Sarah Driggs.  “Some are resident birds that share our island year-round; some are migratory species that come and go. Thanks to Island photographers and audio clips from the Cornell Lab’s Macaulay Library, you’ll get up-close views of some birds you might never experience otherwise.”

Edson moved to Vashon in 1922 and was well known for his photography of Mount Rainier. Sawyer served as a Park Naturalist at Yellowstone National Park in 1924, moving to Vashon in 1956. He wrote the “Pacific Northwest Nature Notes” Sunday column for The Seattle Times throughout the 1940s and ‘50s.

"Collaborations are something we love doing at the Vashon Heritage Museum and this one with Vashon Audubon compliments our Natural Wonder special exhibit perfectly,” says Heritage Museum Board Vice-President and co-curator Sue Hardy. “Walk inside the enclosure to hear and see Vashon's many varieties of birds, a real plus this time of year with spring coming when we're all itching to get outside for ourselves to feel the wonder of our island."

Natural Wonder: An Island Shaped by Water, created in partnership with the Vashon Nature Center, comprehensively examines Vashon-Maury Island’s natural history and showcases how all life is intrinsically connected to the waters in and around Vashon.

Vashon Birds: Seen and Heard Up Close is viewable during the Museum’s regular hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 1:00-4:00 pm.