January 29, 2020 – Climate change is an overarching issue – the biggest threat to Connecticut’s birds and other wildlife, and their habitats. It’s a global problem with local and regional implications, and local and regional opportunities for meaningful conservation action. New England is in a leadership position on climate change nationally. The state of […]
Author Archive
Join our Climate Change Advocacy Network
Monday, January 13th, 2020Protecting birds through conservation advocacy
Tuesday, December 17th, 2019December 18, 2019 – Connecticut Audubon members act quickly and decisively when called on to speak out on a conservation issue. Their support and their willingness to be heard empowers and inspires us. Here’s a summary of some of the issues we worked on together in 2019: Land and Water Conservation Fund The U.S. Congress […]
Connecticut Audubon’s Birds of the Year for 2019
Monday, December 16th, 2019This year’s list includes nine birds. It’s a year-end reminder of how much fun birding can be.
Connecticut State of the Birds 2019, an Introduction
Monday, December 9th, 2019December 5, 2019 The following are welcoming remarks by Executive Director Patrick Comins at the 2019 State of the Birds release event, on Thursday, December 5, at the Milford Point Coastal Center. In a few paragraphs, the remarks summarize the 14-year history of State of the Birds and what Connecticut Audubon has tried to accomplish […]
Connecticut State of the Birds 2019: An Improved Long Island Sound Faces Unpredictable Change
Wednesday, December 4th, 2019December 5, 2019—Water quality in Long Island Sound is as good as it’s been since before the height of the industrial age. And yet the Sound’s most important habitats and its wildlife, including birds, are on the edge of major, hard-to-predict changes.
Vigilant volunteers on Connecticut beaches result in successful nesting season for threatened shorebirds
Tuesday, November 19th, 2019November 19, 2019– Thanks to the efforts of almost 100 volunteers on Connecticut’s beaches, two of the state’s most vulnerable shorebirds had highly successful breeding seasons in 2019, reflecting a generally safer shoreline locally for federally and state-threatened birds.
Governor’s Executive Order #3: “We strongly believe that bold action is required to address the growing threat to our wildlife and habitats from the effects of climate change”
Wednesday, November 13th, 2019Connecticut Audubon Society’s letter supporting the development of a climate adaptation strategy in the state clearly lays out the threats that climate change poses to the state’s wildlife, and the importance of land protection in the climate change fight. November 8th, 2019 Commissioner Katie Dykes Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection 79 Elm Street […]
Connecticut Audubon’s radio telemetry equipment is tracking rare birds as they migrate
Friday, November 8th, 2019November 11, 2019 – Bicknell’s Thrush was among the species detected by Motus antenna in Sherman funded by a FirstLight grant. A second antenna is now up at Shepaug Dam in Southbury.
2019 Christmas Bird Count
Friday, November 1st, 2019120th Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count Connecticut 2019-2020 schedule Saturday, December 14, 2019: New Haven, CT (CTNH) Compiler: Chris Loscalzo, 67 Wepawaug Road, Woodbridge, CT 06525 closcalz@optonline.net 203-389-6508 (New Haven Bird Club) Storrs, CT (CTST) Compiler: Steve Morytko, 288 Varga Road, Ashford, CT 06278 smorytko@yahoo.com (M) 860-680-5728 (Natchaug Ornithological Society) Woodbury-Roxbury, CT (CTWR) Compiler: Ken […]
Climate Change Poses a Huge Risk to Birds
Thursday, October 10th, 2019October 10, 2019 — It was less than a month ago that a study in the journal Science reported that North America’s bird population had plummeted by 30 percent since 1970. Now another new study indicates that because of climate change the next 50 years and longer might be even more bleak for birds. The […]
Tagging Monarchs
Monday, September 30th, 2019September 30, 2019 – Last week Carol Kratzman, the teacher-naturalist at the Coastal Center, told me she would be tagging monarch butterflies in a couple of days and invited me to come along. I thought it would make a good story so I emailed Jill Dion, the editor of Hearst’s Milford Mirror. She responded with […]
“Decline of the North American avifauna” – a shocking call to action
Friday, September 20th, 2019September 20, 2019 – Anyone who has been involved in birding or bird conservation for the last several decades has no doubt sensed this, but yesterday’s paper, published in the Journal Science, on declines in bird populations is nonetheless shocking and disturbing. The study was led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the American Bird […]
CTAudubon Rare Bird Alert: Don’t Miss Out!
Wednesday, September 4th, 2019The Endangered Species Act should be strengthened, not weakened
Thursday, August 15th, 2019Connecticut Audubon’s communications director, Tom Andersen, gave the following statement in support of strengthening the U.S. Endangered Species Act, at a news conference called by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal on Friday, August 16, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. I’m here to speak on behalf of the 17 kinds of plants and animals in Connecticut that are […]
Welcome to the CTAudubon Rare Bird Alert
Sunday, August 18th, 2019RBA for Friday, December 27, Black-throated Gray Warbler, New London Wastewater Treatment Plant. Continuing around perimeter area, along Smith St including the brush across the street from the pin, and along Trumbull St perimeter fence. Cooperative. Preferring ground level About the Rare Bird Alert We’ll text you when a rare bird is found in […]
Rare Birds for the CTAudubon Rare Bird Alert
Sunday, August 18th, 2019If one of these birds shows up in Connecticut, we’ll send you a text, if you’ve signed up for the CT Audubon Rare Bird Alert. Fulvous Whistling-Duck Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Pink-footed Goose Barnacle Goose Graylag Goose Ross’s Goose Trumpeter Swan Tundra Swan Cinnamon Teal Tufted Duck King Eider Harlequin Duck Barrow’s Goldeneye Eared Grebe Western Grebe […]
Working for birds & people: Insects did their damage to Connecticut’s forests but created a chance for big improvements in the process
Wednesday, July 24th, 2019July 25, 2019 – It’s easy to see the damage that invasive insects have done to Connecticut’s woods. But if you want to see ongoing examples of how to make the best of that unfortunate circumstance, they’re happening at two of our preserves. Infestations have ripped through Connecticut’s forests. For three years, spongy moths ate […]
“Ospreys build monofilament into their nests” – a tale of a hazard to one of Connecticut’s most visible bird species
Thursday, July 25th, 2019
Western Sandpiper 2019
Thursday, July 18th, 2019July 18, 2019 Revised from the original September 16, 2014, post. Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri by Andy Griswold, EcoTravel Director Where to find it: The Coastal Center at Milford Point has produced five Western Sandpipers this week (the week of July 15, 2019). Numerous in its range, Western Sandpiper is considered a vagrant in Connecticut, […]
Connecticut Audubon Strongly Supports the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act
Friday, July 12th, 2019July 12, 2019 The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, introduced in the House of Representatives today, would be a game-changer for wildlife in Connecticut, bringing an estimated $12.6 million a year to be used to help at-risk birds and other animals. Nationwide, it would send $1.3 billion in existing federal revenues to the states to implement […]
