Building the Future
Here we have a couple of adorable little ones learning by doing and constructing baby Piping Plover chicks during an outreach event for the Bridgeport WildLife Guards with Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History this past Saturday. We were one of the exhibits during a celebration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) for children of all ages at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The kids are building a hatchling out of a marshmallow, pretzels, chocolate and raisins. While they are building this bird we are...
Read MoreCommon Buckeye
You can still find butterflies like the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) even here in November. This individual was sunning itself on a cool morning, still looking like those wings are in great shape in late autumn. Our science and conservation staff surveys and records butterflies across a multitude of sites in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, helping to increase the knowledge of range and abundance for certain species, discover early or late individuals pushing the boundaries of flight seasons, and adding layers information on the biodiversity at important locations. We also work to...
Read MoreVariegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)
Here is our second record late butterfly of the day for Connecticut, this Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) for which the October 26 date at Stratford Point breaks the previous state record of October 20, 2007. This beauty certainly has the autumn and Halloween look down! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreCommon Checkered Skipper
This is the Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis), a lovely little butterfly that was a life species for Audubon Connecticut’s Director of Bird Conservation Patrick Comins and me this morning at Stratford Point. The early and late dates on the Connecticut Butterfly Association website indicate it is also the latest one has ever been seen in Connecticut with October 26 breaking an October 10 record from 2012. Stratford Point has been known to harbor late individuals thanks to it being a coastal site surrounded by the warm waters of Long Island Sound. We had another late record...
Read MoreHawk Walk
Last Saturday the Aspetuck Land Trust held its second fall “hawk walk” of the season at the Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area in Easton/Weston, Connecticut. I tagged along to help find some birds and talk about the wonderful land, wearing my hat for both RTPI and as a member of the Aspetuck Land Trust Land Management Committee. I also happen to love the property and, along with RTPI President Twan Leenders, helped initiate and create a conservation and management plan for the site several years ago. In the below photos you can see federally licensed bander Larry Fischer, a...
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