What’s New
Osprey Cam!
The Ospreys have arrived at their nest platform at the Milford Point Coastal Center. Our Osprey Cam gives you an incredible live view of these amazing birds.
The male showed up on March 22, his usual arrival time, and just after we repaired the platform and camera damage caused by the fall and winter storms. Oddly, the female didn’t show up until a week later, on March 29, more than five days after her usual arrival time.
You can view the Ospreys live throughout the nesting season by clicking here. A recent upgrade now allows you to view the Osprey Cam on your tablet, phone or other device.
News Release: Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 – Long-term Population Decline is Decimating Aerial Insectivores
Tree Swallows nest in man-made boxes. Photo by Melissa Groo
Fairfield, Ct., Feb. 22, 2013 – Concerned with the dramatic decline of 17 species of birds that nest in Connecticut and eat only insects caught while flying, Connecticut Audubon Society today called for a multi-agency program of research and assessment along with immediate remedies such as cuts in pesticide use and the creation of man-made nesting sites.
The recommendations and action plan are contained in the Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 report, “The Seventh Habitat and the Decline of Our Aerial Insectivores.” Released annually since 2006 by Connecticut Audubon Society, Connecticut State of the Birds has become the leading research-based assessment of conservation conditions in the state.
Read the rest of the news release here… You will also find a link to the report, links to news coverage, and a video of the news conference.
Register Now for Summer Camp
Connecticut Audubon Society camps provide outdoor adventure and hands-on nature activities that encourage children ages 3- 15 to develop a respect for the natural world. Kids at our camps have the kind of fun that can come only from exploring the woods and ponds, visiting marshes and brooks, or meeting an owl or a turtle up close and personal.
To register online for summer camp at the Center at Fairfield or Birdcraft Sanctuary, click here.
To download the camp Brochure click here. For registration information and forms, click on the following: Registration Information, Registration Form, Medical Form, Authorization to Administer Medication Form.
Interested in becoming a Junior Counselor? Click here for the Application Form.
To register online for summer camp at the Milford Point Coastal Center, click here.
To download the camp Brochure click here. For other forms, click on the following: Medical Form, Authorization to Administer Medication Form.
There is no online registration this year for summer camp at the Center at Pomfret. However a registration form is available in the camp brochure.
To download a camp brochure for Pomfret, click here.
The other required forms for Pomfret are the Application Permission form; the Camp Physical form; and the Day Kimball Hospital Consent form.
3M Eco Grant Enables Connecticut Audubon Society To Teach Outdoor Conservation Education to 650 Meriden Public School Students
3M Purification in Meriden, presents a 3M Eco Grant check to Connecticut Audubon Society. Photo courtesy of 3M Purification.
MERIDEN, CT., January 14, 2013 – Connecticut Audubon Society has been awarded a $49,000 3M Eco Grant to bring its innovative Science In Nature outdoor education program to approximately 650 Meriden public school students.
The program will be conducted at Connecticut Audubon’s Center at Glastonbury, where the Meriden students will spend 8 hours in the field over two days, participating in hands-on outdoor learning about geology and weather and climate. The school district’s 4th graders will participate this spring; the program will carry over to the fall, when this year’s 4th graders are in 5th grade.
Science In Nature is Connecticut Audubon Society’s flagship education program and the prime vehicle for carrying out the organization’s mission of providing science-based conservation education. Using state and national standards for science, math and literacy, it was inaugurated in 2012 and has served students in public and private schools in Bridgeport, Fairfield and Trumbull.
The Meriden students will use cutting-edge scientific technology to collect data such as air and soil temperature, wind speed, and soil moisture. They will study soil types and the rock cycle, observe how erosion shapes landscapes, and how plants and animals respond to changes in weather and climate.
To read more, click here…
The John Patrick Flanagan Trail Blazers Program Brings Kids to the Woods
The John Patrick Flanagan Foundation Trail Blazers program brings students from Bridgeport to our Center at Fairfield for environmental science programs. Photo courtesy of the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation
Exploring in the woods is fun, exciting and provides endless opportunities to learn. The John Patrick Flanagan Trail Blazers program incorporates the best of adventure while meeting required state science standards. The Bridgeport Public School students participating in this unique program are largely from Title 1 schools where the majority of students qualify for free lunch. If this program did not exist, likely these students would only see nature through digital and printed media.
The Trail Blazers program brings students from the Bridgeport schools to the Society’s Center at Fairfield with the goal of provide them a safe and educational experience in nature. With 155 acres to explore at the Center at Fairfield, nature becomes more than a wooded lot; it becomes an experience. Children meet the inhabitants, like turtles, frogs, chipmunks and the occasional barred owl while participating in a hands-on science learning experience. Over 1,000 children from Bridgeport’s schools have participated in this program since its inception in 2010.
The State of Connecticut requires science teachers to meet certain Core Curriculum Standards. The John Patrick Flanagan Trail Blazers program not only brings children from the city to explore nature, but it also helps these science teachers meet state science standards.
The John Patrick Flanagan Trail Blazers Program is sponsored by the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation (JPFF). The John Patrick Flanagan Foundation helps vulnerable children and families by supporting charities that provide the direction, education and healthy environment that children and families need to have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Please visit www.jpff.org to learn more about the John Patrick Flanagan Foundation.
Hurricane Sandy “Rapid Assessment” Study Finds Significant Habitat Damage from Virginia to Massachusetts, Including Connecticut
Participating Conservation Scientists from Connecticut Audubon Society Reviewed Six Critical Habitats Along the State’s Coast and Found Major Erosion that Could Hinder Vulnerable Coastal Breeding Birds
January 10, 2013 – In the days after Hurricane Sandy hit the coast, Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation staff made field visits to six important habitats in the state and assessed the damage to the nesting areas of vulnerable birds such as Piping Plovers and Least Terns.
Conducted in conjunction with the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird Conservation initiative, the work was included in a report issued today by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, titled “Hurricane Sandy Rapid Assessment.”
Read more here…
500 Students Participate in ‘Science in Nature’ at the Larsen Sanctuary
Eighth-graders from Bridgeport’s Barnum School check the wind speed at the Larsen Sanctuary. Photo copyright Connecticut Audubon Society.
November 2012 – If you find yourself on the trails of our Larsen Sanctuary in Fairfield these days, keep your eyes and ears open for unusual activity. You may see movement in the distance and, with leaves falling and covering the ground, you’re likely to hear feet scuffling loudly (or maybe not if there’s snow). You may also hear voices.
The sounds and sights are those of elementary, middle and high school students from Bridgeport, Trumbull and Fairfield, participating in the first two weeks of our new Science in Nature education program.
Almost 500 students will be at the Larsen Sanctuary several times this school year, collecting and analyzing life and environmental science data and, not incidentally, experiencing a day in the woods, something that many of them probably don’t do very often. To read more, click here …
Dunes Prevented Severe Erosion at Stratford Point
The dune at Stratford Point before the storm. Photo by Twan Leenders/Copyright Connecticut Audubon Society.
November 2012 – When Hurricane Sandy hit, the dunes we constructed last year at Stratford Point to control erosion did their job, protecting the point from a storm surge that might have inundated an area extending well beyond our coastal restoration project.
Built of long, geo-textile tubes filled with sand and soil, and covered with more sand and soil, the dunes stretched for 900 feet along north cove and were designed to stabilize the point, the shoreline of which had receded by about 100 feet over the previous decade. Stratford Point covers about 40 acres – 28 upland and 12 intertidal.
The geo-textile tubes held fast and the point suffered virtually no erosion during Sandy – with one exception: the sand and soil that had covered the dunes themselves. To read more, click here …
Restoring Habitat at Banks Farm South
The orchard at Banks Farm South. Photo Copyright Connecticut Audubon Society.
October 2012 – Banks Farm South, 60 acres of meadows, wetlands and forest, hearkens back to Fairfield’s early farmland history.
Wedged between a golf course and a gated community on the Fairfield-Westport town line, the sanctuary was originally owned by John Banks in the seventeenth century and has been farmed almost continually since. Robert and Virginia Vanderbilt donated the land to Connecticut Audubon Society in 1998.
Our conservation biologists have been planning and carrying out a habitat restoration project on the property. Their goal is to transform an apple orchard and Red Cedar meadow, which over time became overgrown with invasive species, back into the spot that Robert Vanderbilt considered one of his favorite – an orchard-cedar complex both beautiful and rich in wildlife.
Through a partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture), and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, we leveraged funding to restore this hillside to its former glory.
Over the past three years we have cut back infringing hardwoods, removed foreign invasives such as Japanese barberry, Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose, and released some of the old apple and cedar trees that had been “buried” by canopy and Asiatic Bittersweet.
The native grasses and wildflowers, which seemed to have been extirpated, bounced back with the restored sunlight on the meadow floor.
It looks great but we are far from finished. Deer browsing continues to be a problem and invasive plants will need to be controlled. We are planning to add Highbush Blueberry and Red Cedar to complement the meadow.
All in all, we think Robert and Virginia Vanderbilt would be pleased with our conservation effort on their former woodland meadow.
Learn more about our conservation services work here!
Celebrating 30 Years of Outdoor Education at the Center at Glastonbury
Volunteers and staff at the Center at Glastonbury, where they are celebrating 30 years of providing high quality outdoor education. Photo courtesy of Dr. Peter Barrett.
October 2012 – Connecticut Audubon Society’s Center at Glastonbury is celebrating its 30th anniversary this fall by highlighting its key role in Connecticut Audubon’s statewide education program.
Founded on October 2, 1982, the Center at Glastonbury has been a gathering place for residents of Glastonbury, South Glastonbury, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Portland, Manchester, East Hartford, Hartford, Marlborough and elsewhere, who visit for nature walks, birdwatching, art exhibitions, coffee house concerts and other events.
The Center’s staff has also provided high quality environmental education to more than a generation of school children, and is now working to integrate its education programs into Connecticut Audubon’s new, statewide Science in Nature program.
“Our volunteers are the heart of our Center,” said Cynthia Bartholomew, the director of the Center at Glastonbury. “They organize and run the events, they greet visitors, care for animals, clean the center, maintain our gardens, and raise the funds needed to keep our Center active and relevant. But it’s important to the communities we serve that we offer more, which is why for our 30th anniversary and beyond, we are putting such an emphasis on outdoor education.”