Summer Is the Perfect Time To Renew Your Membership or Join Connecticut Audubon Society

Help protect Connecticut’s birds and their habitats.
Your membership helps make a positive impact
on our local environment.
Click Here to renew your Membership
or to become a new Member.
Your donation is tax-deductible.

Demonstrate your commitment to protecting
Connecticut’s birds -- you do make a difference! 
American Goldfinch photo by Jayne Gulbrand.

Email Your Representatives and Help Our Songbirds!
Support Increased Federal Funding for Bird Conservation:
Urge Reauthorization of Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act

A new bill introduced in the US Senate and a companion bill in the House would reauthorize the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act at significantly higher funding levels. Email your Senators and Representative to make sure both bills pass for the benefit of our songbirds!

Why are these bills so important? Every year some five billion birds representing 500 different species migrate from winter habitats in Latin America to breed in North America. They face many threats, especially the continuing loss of habitat across the hemisphere. Many species are experiencing significant population decreases: the Cerulean Warbler and Olive-sided Flycatcher, among others, have declined by as much as 70% since the 1960s.

"The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act is the only source of federal funding dedicated specifically to bird conservation throughout the Americas. This extremely effective matching grants program coordinates and funds the conservation of neotropical migratory birds and habitats in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. It has a proven track record of reversing habitat loss and degradation and of advancing innovative management and habitat restoration strategies. Passage of these bipartisan bills could dramatically increase funding, from the current $6 million to $20 million. All grants made by this Act must be matched by other funds, so every $1 of taxpayer money leverages $3 from private sources -- potentially $60 million in additional funding for bird conservation!" (American Bird Conservancy)

>Email your Senators asking them to support S. 690, reauthorizing the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (click here to find/email your Senators)
and

>Email your Representatives asking them to support H.R. 2213, reauthorizing the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (click here to find/email your Reps.).

Photo: Common Yellowthroat copyright 2007 E.H. Soderberg.

CAS Business & Non-Profit Group Members Get Special Group Discounts --
up to 45% -- on All Online Orders From Staples!
CT Audubon Business Members and Non-Profit Group Members -- including any business, school, library or civic group -- will now receive a special group discount of up to 45% off on all online credit card orders through the “Staples Business Advantage” Plan! To take advantage of this special group discount, click here to download the enrollment form. Or click here to e-mail Membership Manager Madeline Dennis and request a form. For those who prefer to shop in the store, once you enroll you'll also receive additional “in store” coupons for still more savings throughout the year. This is a benefit for CAS Business Members and Non-Profit Group Members only! So if you’re not a CAS Business or Non-Profit Group Member, call 203-259-6305 ext. 105 and join today!

Seen any Seagulls with large, colorful wing tags lately?
We regularly receive phone calls from people who report seeing gulls sporting brightly colored tags and a letter-number code on their wings. These gulls are part of a program by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to track the habits and flight patterns of seagulls near the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs in eastern Massachusetts. DCR is asking the public’s help in reporting any sightings of tagged gulls. The information will help track gull movement as DCR tries to find the best way to prevent the gulls from overnighting at the reservoirs and potentially contaminating important public water supplies. DCR employees have tagged more than 200 Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-back Gulls to date. Each species has its own tag color, and each tag has an individual number, easily legible without binoculars. Sightings have been received from central Massachusetts to Maine and Manitoba and Newfoundland, and many of these tagged gulls show up in Connecticut. Anyone who sees a wing-tagged bird is asked to try to obtain the letter-number combination on the tag (e.g., A57) and report it to: Dan Clark, 508-792-7423, ext. 215 or dan.clark@state.ma.us. Please include the time and place you sighted the bird as well as its tag color and letter-number ID. Common places to find these wintering gull species are at landfills, parking lots and ball fields. For more information visit www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/watershed/study/index.htm. Photos courtesy Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation and Research.

Governors Rell & Patrick Announce Partnership to Protect Habitat on CT/Mass Border

On Nov. 18, 2008, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced their partnership initiative to preserve a 450-acre property important to grassland birds. Comprising 254 acres in Southwick, MA and 196 acres in Suffield, CT, it will be managed jointly by the two states as habitat for a variety of migratory birds and other species. “Grasslands are one of the top priority habitats recognized by both the Connecticut Audubon Society’s '2006 Connecticut State of the Birds' Report and the DEP’s 'Connecticut Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy,'” said Milan Bull, CAS senior director for science and conservation. “This acquisition provides the most significant protection of important grassland habitat in our time and it promises to protect not only threatened and endangered bird species, but a host of other plants and animals dependent upon this unique environment.” Click here to read the press release.

Connecticut Audubon Society Receives Contract Award from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Connecticut Audubon Society will perform field surveys and data analysis and provide management recommendations for a Wildlife and Flora Field Survey on five flood control projects in the Naugatuck River Area. The $30,000 contract is with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District. Dr. Anton Leenders, Conservation Biologist, will head the effort for Connecticut Audubon Society, which will provide baseline biological information necessary for the preparation of master plans for USACE's CT projects. Click here to learn more. Photo: Thomaston Dam holding back a pool (normally a dry bed reservoir). The flooded area is the Naugatuck River. Courtesy U.S. ACE

Connecticut Bald Eagle Survey Update
By Julie Victoria, Wildlife Biologist, CT DEP Wildlife Division

Since 1979, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has participated in a nationwide Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey held on the second Saturday in January. During the survey period of January 11-12, 2008, 81 bald eagles -- 49 adults and 32 immature eagles -- were recorded statewide. In January 2007, 62 birds were counted. The Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey is not a complete census of the entire wintering population in Connecticut, but an index of the species' use of the state, which can be compared year to year. Click here to read the article.  
Bald Eagle photo © 2007 Mathias Kohring.

Help Needed at our Center at Fairfield with Bird Data
Long-time bird banding programs at CAS Nature Centers and other bird inventory efforts have resulted in large amounts of valuable information on the presence of bird species across the state. Some of this information is many decades old and provides invaluable “snapshots in time” that allow us to compare historic bird diversity and density with current numbers and determine whether species are declining or not.
CAS's Science and Conservation Department is in the process of compiling and analyzing this data. But we need volunteers who can tranfer the available information from notebooks, old banding sheets and other paper formats into a computer. Click here for more information. Photo: A Saw-whet Owl is held by a trained bird bander.

We have many Volunteer Opportunities available: click here.

Connecticut Audubon Society Receives Highest 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator! 

Connecticut Audubon Society has received the coveted 4-Star Rating from the national charity evaluator, Charity Navigator, the highest rating for a non-profit organization. In his letter, Michael Smith, Interim President of Charity Navigator wrote, “We are proud to announce Connecticut Audubon Society has earned our 4-star rating for its ability to efficiently manage and grow its finances.  Approximately a quarter of the charities we evaluate have received our highest rating, indicating Connecticut Audubon Society outperforms the majority of non-profits in America with respect to fiscal responsibility.  The ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Connecticut Audubon Society from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.” Click here to read the press release.

CLEAN ENERGY. It's Real. It's Here. It's Working -- in Connecticut!

Connecticut Audubon Society's Members, Supporters and Friends can demonstrate their commitment to a healthy environment by signing up to support clean energy. This campaign is part of a pilot program, developed by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), through which 5 environmental non-profit organizations are asking constituents to enroll in the "CTCleanEnergyOptions™" program. For every 250 people who sign up from any of the 5 participating organizations, CCEF will donate a 1-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system to the CAS Coastal Center at Milford Point, helping to create a system that will generate electricity and provide an educational exhibit for visitors with real-time monitoring available. Sign up for clean energy now! It's good for the birds, it's good for us, it's good for the environment. Click here for more info.                                                    

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