2015 Waterbird Results
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Wildlife Division (CT DEEP) has now released the official nesting results for the state-threatened Least Tern and the federally-threatened Piping Plover from the 2015 monitoring season, and the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) – Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History – has completed our American Oystercatcher report. The first bit of fantastic news is that we hosted a new all-time high number of Piping Plover pairs in the state with 62 attempting to breed...
Read MoreScrunchies for Cats?
Apparently all we need to do is take old hair scrunchies and put them on cats to halve their slaughter of native wildlife? It makes sense, certainly, but the cat is still at extreme or even greater risk of injury and death by being that much more noticeable to both its prey and predators, not to mention it getting stuck on something and trapped…and it should still be in the house. Always. I also cannot imagine any cat I have ever owned putting up with this for more than a few minutes… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MorePower lines and birds
Earlier this week I read a story about a bird rescue by the fire department from my hometown. It seems a gull had gotten tangled in fishing line – an unfortunately common occurrence easily avoided if everyone fishing would clean up after themselves – and then compounded the problem by getting stuck on power lines! I thought to myself, you know what? This must happen on a relatively frequent basis to various birds, especially the large ones that would perch on them. We discuss cats, buildings, pollution, and many other sources of avian mortality, but power systems are everywhere,...
Read MoreKeep cats indoors
The “welcome” and “hunt safely” notices on this state game land in Pennsylvania are not for this feline. There are zero reasons to allow our furry friends, predators who kill several billion birds and small mammals each year, outdoors. Please keep them inside. Always.
Read MoreConnecticut’s friendly coyotes
Connecticut is a strange and unique region that often seems to me to be an open zoo along the coast and through the center of the state. These are the major population centers where natural habitat and resources have been severely reduced or strained. The tireless efforts of federal, state and local agencies, organizations and conservationists help to preserve and protect what is left. However, there is only so much that can be done with so little open space left in some areas. Packs of coyotes can be heard howling away nearly every night in this time of the year in my area of Connecticut....
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