I love this time of year. After the exuberance of summer and the vibrant colors of fall, I’m thankful for the days growing shorter. The nights longer. Temperatures falling. Silhouettes of bare branches against a leaden sky promising snow. All of nature winding down. Encouraging quiet. Reflection. Introspection. [more]
Students Learn that Roger Tory Peterson is “For the Birds”
He was born in Jamestown, New York more than one hundred years ago. Imagine that city one hundred years ago; no television, no computers or any of the many electronic devices that amuse us today, not even cars to take us to entertaining places like shopping malls or sports events. What would a boy like Roger do during summer vacation? “Go outside and look at nature”, answer my audience of second grade students at Love Elementary School. It’s a library class so appropriately I show them Laura Thomas’s exquisite illustrations in Peggy...
read morePine Warbler
This Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) was enjoying foraging in White Pine (Pinus strobus) trees in the early morning light today, the first of many warbler species to arrive in the coming weeks. Now is the time to break out your Peterson Field Guide warbler plates and study songs as well. This male was singing intermittently, more focused on eating than advertising. Their song resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow, or even the Dark-eyed Junco, but it is a little more deliberate and slower trill. In my opinion the best way to learn a song is to...
read moreFencing Dates & Monitoring Begins
String fencing and signage erection dates for Connecticut beaches in spring 2015 are as follows and we need all the volunteers we can get! April 8th, 11:00 Long Beach, Stratford Meet at the far west parking area. April 10th, 11:00 Sandy Point, West Haven Meet in the parking lot. April 13th, 9:30 Griswold Point, Old Lyme We recommend carpooling if possible which can be done at the park and ride commuter lot off exit 70 of Interstate 95 on Neck Road. The nearby businesses also have the only available restrooms. The group will meet up at the end...
read moreSpring Migration Time!
Spring is finally here and new birds are arriving each day. One species that has already returned from their wintering grounds is the Osprey. They rejoin us each March after a very long journey as their winter quarters can be as far away as southern sections of South America. Audubon volunteers from the Menunkatuck Audubon Society have been hard at work for many years to ensure that their homes are sound and waiting for them when they arrive. The return of the Osprey highlights one of the great conservation success stories of the late 20th...
read moreWe Didn’t Find Anything…And That’s a Good Thing!
After two months of intensive winter survey work, we found nothing. However, that’s precisely the result we wanted. As you’ve probably seen or heard, this past winter we surveyed several sites throughout the area looking exclusively for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an invasive insect that puts all Eastern Hemlock trees (Tsuga canadensis), the habitats they make up and the wildlife they support at risk. This particular pest is minute, but can bring a tree to its death within a matter of 3-5 years if left unchecked and untreated....
read moreCrazy Climate Maps
One benefit of the continual and seemingly never-ending cold and snowy winter (also known as spring now!) is that it provides us a tremendous opportunity to engage and educate people. The topic of our weather invariably comes up in every day life, especially now, and when someone complains about their heating bill or their aching back (thanks, shoveling!) you can mention to them that all of this may likely be due to our changing climate. The above graphic shows our globe and the general temperature percentile categories for meteorological...
read moreAmerican Woodcock in March Snow
I was delighted to find this American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) feeding in the exposed leaf litter and mud thanks to the warm, flowing spring and expansive wetlands in my yard today after about six more inches of snow fell yesterday and early this morning. Note the muddy end of this shorebird’s bill showing it had been busy foraging throughout the day in this video… …and the photos below: This well-known spring species dances on the ground while foraging and in the sky while courting every March, though this year the...
read moreVote for the Conte!
This special edition Winter Bird Forecast #8 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. USA Today is currently running a poll to determine the top 10 National Wildlife Refuges in the country. We have a chance to highlight the Connecticut River and the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. You can vote once a day through noon on Monday March 30th. Please take a few moments and help to highlight this special Refuge by voting here:...
read moreShorebird Monitor Training Completed
On Saturday, March 14, the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection completed successful training sessions for many of our fantastic past and new volunteer monitors. These citizen scientists and educators will hit the beaches come April, monitoring Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers with other species like the Least and Common Terns soon to come. If you...
read moreRecord Shattering Cold & Historic Snow
To be entirely honest I meant to write this blog entry a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I have been busy during that time with meetings, gearing up for spring and summer projects, surveying, and much more. Nevertheless, I could not get myself too excited to write about the unbelievably and astonishingly historic cold we have had this winter, especially in February, or the feet of snow dumped on the region, rewriting more records for some locations. After feeling the first signs of spring in the past week I feel renewed, ready for the thaw and once...
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