Connecticut Audubon Society members will vote at the November 4 Annual Meeting for the following nominees Nominee for the Connecticut Audubon Society Board of Directors Von Potter, M.D., Hamden. Von is a familiar figure at the birding hotspots near New Haven. He has a keen interest in bird photography and conservation, particularly conservation education for […]
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Nominees for the 2023 Annual Meeting
Monday, October 23rd, 2023Homegrown Habitat, October 2023: Highbush Blueberry
Monday, October 23rd, 2023October 23, 2023—Blueberries are bird-friendly native plants with autumn flair. Their delicious summer fruit is packed with vitamins and antioxidants; all sorts of health benefits are attributed to them. Their subtle spring flowers, small white and pink bells, are lovely to look at and entice pollinators. But blueberries become showstoppers in fall, with foliage that turns brilliant red, orange, and purple. In winter their beautifully textured bark ensures the blueberry’s status as a garden plant with four-season interest.
References for “Wildlands & Woodlands: How Well Are Connectecticut and New England Supporting Natural Solutions to Environmental Crises”
Friday, October 6th, 2023Connecticut State of the Birds 2023 Article by David Foster and Brian Hall Bell, S. and A. Miller. 2022. Path to 30×30 in Connecticut. Exploring Case Studies of Promising Conservation Policies and Strategies in the United States.Strategies in Land Conservation. Yale School of the Environment. Duveneck, M., Thompson, J. R. 2019. Social and biophysical determinants of […]
Connecticut Audubon Society statement on the United Illuminating Railroad Transmission Line Upgrade Project
Thursday, October 5th, 2023October 5, 2023—United Illuminating is proposing to rebuild transmission lines along the 25 miles of the Metro North Railroad corridor between Fairfield and West Haven. Transmission lines pose a hazard to birds of all kinds. Between 8 and 57 million birds are killed by transmission lines in the U.S. each year.
Lights Out alerts for Saturday, Sunday and Monday
Saturday, September 30th, 2023September 30, 2023 — An estimated 930,000 birds will be migrating over and through Connecticut tonight, 1.1 million tomorrow night, and and 570,000 Monday night. That means we’re in for three pretty good days of birding. But it also means that a lot of birds are at risk of crashing into things. Please help protect migrating birds by turning your lights out each of the next three nights.
Homegrown Habitat mail: planting advice
Thursday, September 28th, 2023September 28, 2023 — Two Homegrown Habitat readers who live on opposite sides of the Connecticir River—Old Lyme and Old Saybrook—wrote this week seeking practical advice on what and where to plant. We thought you might find Sarah Middeleer’s advice to be useful.
It’s a good night to help protect migrating birds by turning exterior lights out.
Wednesday, September 27th, 2023September 27, 2023 — Tonight is a “medium” alert night for bird migration. But “medium” is not nothing; 424,000 birds will be passing over and through Connecticut, as this map produced by Colorado State University’s Aeroeco lab shows. So it’s a good night to help protect those migrating birds by turning out exterior lights
Rare bird alert: Once again, a Roseate Spoonbill visits Connecticut and the Milford Point Coastal Center
Friday, August 25th, 2023August 25, 2023 — For the fourth time in six years, a Roseate Spoonbill is visiting Connecticut.
The Dave Engelman Volunteer Benchmark Award
Monday, September 25th, 2023The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Volunteer Benchmark Award was established in 1993, and is given annually by our Board of Directors to one or more people whose volunteer activity has significantly enhanced our mission. Each year, at our Annual Meeting, recipients are presented with a plaque commemorating their dedication to conservation. In 2007, the award was […]
September 2023: Asters
Monday, September 25th, 2023Asters and goldenrods: These two standouts of the late-summer and autumn landscape give new meaning to the oft-repeated garden design phrase “four-season interest,” but from the point of view of our treasured pollinators and songbirds.
Roseate Spoonbill 2023: a selection of photos
Monday, August 28th, 2023August 28, 2023 — The Roseate Spoonbill that arrived at Connecticut Audubon’s Milford Point Coastal Center on Thursday, August 24, has not caused quite the elation among birders as the spoonbill that spent three weeks in the area in 2018. Still, this year’s visitor is not without its fans. About 30 people climbed the Coastal Center’s observation tower late in the afternoon on Sunday, August 27, to see it in the Charles Wheeler Salt Marsh.
August 2023: Goldenrods (with asters to follow in September)
Monday, August 21st, 2023August 21, 2023 — The dynamic duo of yellow goldenrods and purple asters is one of the glories of the late-summer landscape. These members of the aster family often grow near one another, for good reason – bees, who benefit greatly from both genera, are attracted to the combination of purple and gold. Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, says of goldenrod and asters, “Their striking contrast when they grow together makes them the most attractive target in the whole meadow, a beacon for bees. Growing together, both receive more pollinator visits than if they were growing alone.”
Catch up with these conservation stories in the Connecticut news media
Thursday, August 10th, 2023August 10, 2023 — It has been a good summer for bird conservation, and that has caught the attention of editors and reporters throughout Connecticut.
Homegrown Habitat Mail: Great, basic advice on planting for the benefit of birds and pollinators
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023August 2, 2023 — Responding to a question about what to plant on a specific property, Homegrown Habitat author Sarah Middeleer instead responded with advice that almost any homeowner can use.
Northern Bobwhite joins the list of breeding birds at the Bafflin Preserve in Pomfret. But for this grassland species, there’s more to the story
Monday, July 31st, 2023July 31, 2023 — One of the great things about the bird world is that you just never know. You never know, for example, when a species that hasn’t nested in the state in 20 or 30 years will suddenly settle down and raise a family on your sanctuary, which is what a pair of Northern Bobwhite did this year at Connecticut Audubon’s Bafflin Preserve in Pomfret.
Tips to help protect shorebirds if you visit Milford Point
Monday, July 24th, 2023Late summer and early fall are great times to go birding at the Milford Point Coastal Center. But because Milford Point is first and foremost a nature preserve, we ask that you enjoy the birds without disturbing them, especially on the sand spit.
Combine tough little birds and diligent conservation with a bit of luck, and the result is a record year for threatened Piping Plovers at Milford Point
Monday, July 24th, 2023July 24, 2023 — This looks like a record year for Piping Plovers at Milford Point. Sixteen pairs of this federally-threatened species nested along the sandbar in 2023. As of today, 25 young birds have fledged and six others are preparing to.
At a stronghold for Purple Martins, volunteers and staff band 89 baby birds
Monday, July 17th, 2023July 17, 2023 — Young Purple Martins make a squawking noise that sounds like what the movies imagine a pterodactyl might sound like — harsh, insistent, un-birdlike — only not as loud That’s how some of the nestlings at the Milford Point Coastal Center were expressing themselves the other morning during the center’s annual Purple Martin banding session.
July 2023: Blazing star
Monday, July 17th, 2023July 17, 2023 — In July and August the native meadow flowers start to shine. A standout is blazing star (Liatris spicata), also known as gayfeather due to its feathery flower heads. Its showy purple flowers appear on stalks two to four feet, but occasionally to six-feet high, blooming progressively from the top down.
It looks like maybe another peak year for Connecticut’s Ospreys, but Osprey Nation needs your help to confirm that
Monday, July 10th, 2023July 10, 2023 — Halfway through the 10th season of Connecticut Audubon’s Osprey Nation monitoring program all indications are that 2023 will be close to another peak year for these fish-eating raptors. Osprey Nation volunteers have mapped information for 480 active nests in 2023.
