12 Days of Christmas Critters

If you follow us on social media, we hope you’ve enjoyed our 12 Days of Christmas Critters posts this month. While the exhibits have been closed for the season, Museum Director Marie wanted to share some of the colorful birds and woodland creatures that make up our collection of whimsical carvings by artist Helen Lay Strong to brighten up these chilly winter days.

Patterned after the popular “12 Days of Christmas” song (a partridge in a pear tree, etc.) each day featured an increasing number of carved and painted miniatures, ranging from birds several inches long to some that are smaller than a dime!

 

You can see our 12 ducks a-quacking, 11 songbirds singing, 10 russet birds a-roosting, 9 chipmunks scampering, 8 chickadees chirping, 7 festive pheasants, 6 woodland whimsies, 5 golden finches, 4 woodpeckers pecking, 3 seaside gulls, 2 owls a-screeching, and an oriole in a twig tree by clicking the image above, which will open the series of photos in a new window.