Expect the Unexpected
Winter Birding Forecast #2 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. The relatively mild December is making for great birding opportunities as we close out 2014. So called “half-hardy” birds such as Gray Catbird, Pine Warbler and Common Yellowthroat are putting in appearances on Christmas Bird Count (CBC) checklists and birds like Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren and Eastern Bluebird are being found in good numbers as are Yellow-rumped Warblers at some coastal locations. One of the biggest surprises of the week was the...
Read MoreCloudy with a Chance of Snowys
This is the first of a series of Winter Birds Forecasts focused on Connecticut and the surrounding region brought to you by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and written by Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon Connecticut with Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation & Outreach Coordinator, Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Photos by Patrick Comins. A spate of early sightings of Snowy Owls in the Northeast has the birding community excited for a possible repeat of last year’s mega irruption that saw dozens of sightings of...
Read MoreAudubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds at Jamestown Audubon
Tomorrow, October 3, I will be presenting a program on the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) at the Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary at 11AM. AAfCW 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 and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) in an innovative joint initiative on Connecticut’s beaches, islands, and other coastal areas to monitor birds like the federally threatened Piping Plover and...
Read MoreRoger Tory Peterson on the beach
Throwback Thursday – I love this photo by Noble Proctor of Roger Tory Peterson on a beach with all sorts of waterbirds around. It fits in precisely with our constant work as a partner in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW), protecting, managing, and educating the public on shorebirds, terns, waders and more across Connecticut in some of Roger’s favorite places. See more on AAfCW: http://rtpi.org/conservation/audubon-alliance-for-coastal-waterbirds/
Read MoreeBirding for the spring
As we enter the spring season and the peak of avian migration I want everyone to be aware of eBird (www.ebird.org) and its importance to conservation, education, and research on a global level. If you have never given eBird a look now is the time. I have used eBird for nearly 10 years and can attest to its ease of use, strength as a reference resource and helpful tool for one’s personal records. The eBird site describes it as: A real-time, online checklist program, eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002...
Read More
