Lectures in Old Lyme and Essex

The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center is pleased to lead off the 2016 lecture series with discussions of the importance of preserving the biodiversity of our watershed forests and wetlands, and their relationship to one another, and to us.

Thursday, May 12, 4:30 p.m.
Old Lyme Town Hall
The Connecticut River Watershed: The Role of our Forests

While we think of the Connecticut River watershed as a vast network of connecting waterways flowing to the estuary and Long Island Sound, its health is dependent on the care, preservation, and conservation of the lands adjacent to these waters, including its forests.

Habitat fragmentation, natural disturbances such as fire and floods, loss of natural predators, and development all threaten the biodiversity of the watershed’s forests. The conservation of these forests is essential to supporting the natural life cycle of the species and the welfare of the waterways. The need for coordinated conservation and woodland management in areas such as the Eight Mile River watershed on the lower Connecticut River is an imperative of any environmental preservation plan.

Dr. Robert Askins, Katharine Blunt professor of biology at Connecticut College, is nationally recognized for his research of the ecology of migratory birds and the impact of forest fragmentation on their populations. The author of Saving the World’s Forests (Yale University Press, 2014) and other books and scientific papers, Dr. Askins brings his considerable knowledge in ecology, animal behavior, conservation biology and ornithology to this lecture.

Thursday, May 19, 4:30 p.m.
Essex Meadows
John J. Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson and the next generation in Scientific Illustration
The Connecticut Audubon Society and its Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center are pleased to join forces with the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts to present this lecture, which offers a glimpse into the world of a scientific illustrator who meticulously captures the details and the field marks that help identify a species.

Audubon and Peterson used their artistic talent and powers of observation to excite and awaken interest in the natural world through their sketches, drawings, and paintings. Today, the legacy of Audubon and Peterson continues through multiple editions of field guides updated for new generations.

Connecticut resident and nature artist, illustrator, and painter Michael DiGiorgio will provide an in-depth view of our favorite estuary birds as seen through a lens and executed by the paintbrush of a professional, ornithological illustrator. Learn some of the secrets of today’s illustrators and the techniques available to them as they capture details of our avian friends along the Connecticut River.

DiGiorgio’s paintings and drawings have appeared in a variety of nature books and journals, including Audubon’s Field Guide to Birds/Eastern and Western Region. Michael DiGiorgio not only knew Roger Tory Peterson but was hired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to revise the plates in the 12th edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.

Thursday, June 2, 4:30 p.m.
Essex Meadows
Canaries in the Estuary?
Yes! The Salt Marsh Sparrow is one migratory songbird that finds a habitat in tidal marshes of the Connecticut River Estuary. This lecture will describe the status of salt marsh birds and focus on the specific threats, including coastal development and rising sea levels, faced by this species and other birds in our estuary. Ongoing research on conservation of these birds and the effects and success of habitat restoration will be discussed.

Dr. Chris Elphick, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, focuses his work on the conservation ecology of birds, especially in wetlands and agricultural settings along the Atlantic seaboard.

The lectures are free but seating is limited. Please RSVP (acceptances only) to Madeline Leslie, mleslie@ctaudubon.org or call 203 259-0416 x404.