Author Archive

December 6, 2020 — Dovekies, murres, guillemots, puffins, razorbills — these are the Alcids of Connecticut. Some are rare. When they are here, they can be hard to observe, given their preference for the sea. But they’re fascinating and worth learning about.

December 21, 2020 — Birding and bird conservation is a lot more fun when you can share your stories. When a rare bird arrives, people spread the news. When a bird needs help, it becomes a rescue tale to be recounted. When something as simple as groups of beautiful birds show up at feeders, feeder-watchers can’t wait to let you know about it. For our 2020 Birds of the Year, we have the usual array of interesting rarities. But we also have great stories to make the list come alive.

December 5, 2020 — ‘Tis the season for Christmas Bird Counts. Keep alert for French hens and turtle doves, and take extra time scrutinizing all the pear trees you might come upon. Here’s the schedule of CBC’s in Connecticut.

December 2, 2020 — Recently we started using closed captioning on our Zoom programs, for people who might have difficulty hearing the presenters. It works great. But it also produces funny transcriptions of bird names. See if you can figure out what they are.

November 30 — Feeding birds in your yard is a win-win. You provide food and water for the birds in your neighborhood and, because maintaining a bird feeder is as much about enjoying the birds as it is about feeding them, you’ll get the added satisfaction of attracting more birds and more species. We have a webinar that can help.

November 25, 2020 — We are set to release our annual Connecticut State of the Birds report on Thursday, December 3. The 2020 report is titled “Pandemic: Conservationists scramble in the field, the lab, and the legislature.” It is the first in-depth look at how the coronavirus lockdown has affected conservation in the state.

November 13 — A century after Connecticut Audubon’s founder Mabel Osgood Wright helped her friends in New Canaan establish a bird sanctuary, that friendship has been rekindled over plans to restore the habitat.

November 12, 2020 — One of the most distinctive of our dabbling ducks, small numbers of Northern Shovelers are most frequently seen in our area in late winter and early spring, but several have been around recently,

November 11, 2020 — One of the aristocrats of the sparrow family, the size and handsome markings of this sparrow immediately distinguish it from other sparrows and draws the observer’s attention.

November 10, 2020 — Hooded Mergansers are beautiful, small diving ducks that frequent open brackish creeks and marshes in the fall and winter and into spring. If there were a competition for the most beautiful wild duck in Connecticut, Hooded Merganser would be right in there.