RTPI’s Action Plan 2016-2021
It seems appropriate to highlight RTPI’s Action Plan 2016-2021 as we near the end of a year filled with accomplishments and enthusiasm about an exciting future. As part of our ongoing strategic planning efforts, RTPI has released a 5-year action plan describing the mission-driven programming that we are developing in all three of our focal areas: Art, Education and Conservation. This Action Plan outlines how the synergy between these focal areas strengthens the important work that Roger Tory Peterson started, and that RTPI now continues. Like Dr. Peterson, our work transcends political...
Read More2016 AAfCW Totals
I thought it would be a terrific time to update everyone on our Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher numbers for 2016 as we near the end of our year. RTPI is proud to be a partner with Audubon Connecticut for the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds‘ (AAfCW) sixth season in 2017, an active conservation, education and outreach project that provides stewardship and survey efforts by volunteers and staff working to help the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) in an innovative joint initiative on...
Read MoreNorthern Shoveler
This drake Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) was one of several swimming and feeding in an unfrozen treatment plant outflow on a recent evening. I took a distant shot through grass so as not to flush them. Even eclipse plumage cannot hide that identification thanks to that enormous bill! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreChristmas Bird Counts
Merry Christmas! And Merry Christmas Bird Count season! Whenever December rolls around we all look forward to a day in the field with friends near the holidays or New Year, heading outdoors to record every bird we can in designated areas and count circles in the longest-running citizen science program in the nation. You can learn more about the history of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count here on their website. I have been participating in my hometown count, the Stratford-Milford Connecticut circle, for years. It typically takes place right near Christmas, and in 2016 we found ourselves...
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