This week, the Vashon Heritage Museum and Vashon Audubon will unveil a special mini-exhibit celebrating the island’s winged life, “Vashon Birds: Seen and Heard Up Close.”

An opening reception for the exhibit will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 4.

Elsa Croonquist, the museum’s executive director, described the exhibit as a feast for both eyes and ears, saying it would include contributions by award-winning photographers as well as allow attendees to listen to a variety of beautiful birdsong. She called the show “an eye-opening look at the history of birds on Vashon and the changes that are happening in our bird environment.”

The exhibit will be contained in 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” will be viewable during the museum’s regular hours, from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, visit vashonheritagemuseum.org.

In March, the Audubon Society will also present two free events — a bird walk from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 12, and a two-part course, “Riparian Systems of Vashon Island,” on March 24 and 26. See page 1, “Happenings,” for details. For more information about the work of the Vashon Audubon Society, visit vashonaudubon.org.