Nature Done Wright

The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, its president Jim Bellis and artist-in-residence Cathy Sheeter hosted the first-ever "Art of Birding" event yesterday afternoon.

Three teams of birders competed to see who could identify the most bird species and correctly count the bird numbers in paintings and sculptures the Oradell museum's first-floor galleries and outdoor sculpture area in an hour.

As Cathy pointed out, this was one of those rare bird-watching events where no one needed binoculars, spotting scopes, sunblock or bug spray.

Cathy Sheeter with her scratchboard painting of Black-billed Magpies.

The goals of the event were to raise awareness of this wonderful local art museum and to get folks to look at paintings with a different set of eyes.

The one bird I misssed, much to my chagrin — the Bald Eagle atop the flagpole in the office. (Judging from its color, however, I do not think Golden Eagle should be ruled out.)

Hopefully, the 20 participants will return to the museum and take a more leisurely look at the art.

The current exhibition runs through the end of this month.

The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum’s website is http://www.blauveltartmuseum.com/.

Cathy Sheeter’s website is http://www.cathysheeter.com/.

Here are the results of the competition:

1st place – Masked Tityras (team 2) – score 126 points.

2nd place – Fred's Flighty Finches (team 3) – score of 123.

3rd – John's Painted Buntings (team 1) – score of 122.