May 28, 2020 — The 2020 Migration Madness Birdathon was designed for everyone, and thanks to the dozens of people who participated and made pledges it was a terrific success! By the end of the three-day event, 67 birders submitted checklists with a total of 199 species, a tick behind last year’s total of 207.
Author Archive
2020 Birdathon Leaders
Thursday, May 21st, 2020Birdathon 2020: “What a wonderful activity, particularly during a spring with so many challenges!”
Friday, May 29th, 2020May 30, 2020 — “A couple favorite moments were hearing a loud bird singing by a river on Saturday morning, then looking up and seeing a Baltimore Oriole. Then on Sunday, having my first sighting of a pair of Barn Swallows, two beautiful blue gems stopping briefly on the riverbank.”
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Prothonotary Warbler
Thursday, May 21st, 2020May 21, 2020 — Prothonotary Warblers are relatively rare in Connecticut but one or two visit almost every year in May.
Letter from the Executive Director About the Closing of the Center at Glastonbury
Friday, March 20th, 2020March 20, 2020 – The Connecticut Audubon Society has made the difficult decision to close the Center at Glastonbury permanently starting July 1, 2020.
COVID-19: What’s on & what’s off
Friday, March 13th, 2020March 12, 2020 — Our sanctuaries and trails will remain open, and we encourage you to visit for a hike. Outdoor programs will be held as scheduled. Indoor programs are cancelled or postponed. The buildings at all our centers will be closed to the public.
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Blackburnian Warbler
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020May 20, 2020 — This species has made a good showing in Connecticut. One of the most strikingly colored of our wood-warblers, the Blackburnian’s flaming orange throat was responsible for its colloquial name of “Fire Throat.” But who was it named after? Keep reading to find out.
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Blue-winged Warbler
Tuesday, May 19th, 2020May 19, 2020 — Blue-winged Warblers arrive in Connecticut in May and quickly establish breeding territories that last through July. They are perhaps most visible during summer, when males are territorial and females can be seen tending to young.
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Canada Warbler
Monday, May 18th, 2020May 18, 2020 — Spring is by far the best season for finding wood warblers in Connecticut, including Canada Warblers — eBird shows dozens if not scores of sightings within the last two weeks.
Monday Bird Report
Monday, May 18th, 2020May 18, 2020 — The Monday Bird Report is Birdathon-centric this week. Connecticut Audubon’s third annual Migration Madness Birdathon is coming up this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 22-24. The weather forecast is looking OK, and 51 people have already signed up to participate.
Diary of a teenage birder from New Canaan, circa 1910. Part 4.
Sunday, May 17th, 2020May 17, 2020 — “Seating myself on a pile of beanpoles I waited for the author of the note to appear. Soon who should pop up but a newly arrived White-throat, as handsome and jaunty as ever. He was silent, save for the note which had attracted me, but I trust to hear his merry whistling before many days.”
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Worm-eating Warbler
Friday, May 15th, 2020May 15, 2020 — During migration Worm-eating Warblers may be seen at any of the typical warbler stopovers, such as Connecticut Audubon’s Birdcraft Sanctuary in Fairfield and East Rock Park in New Haven.
The Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Cerulean Warbler
Thursday, May 14th, 2020May 14, 2020 — In May we birders celebrate the return of the warblers, “the butterflies of the bird world.” Connecticut is in the nesting range of the rare and beautiful Cerulean Warbler.
The Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Special Video Edition
Thursday, May 14th, 2020May 14, 2020 — Uncountable numbers of tiny, winged perpetual-motion machines — cerulean, yellow, chestnut, golden, orange, black, blue, green — are arriving in Connecticut’s treetops these days. Warbler migration is upon us, bringing pleasure and stiff necks to eager birders.
In the north woods of Connecticut, a rare butterfly
Thursday, May 14th, 2020May 14, 2020 — Wandering through the Croft Preserve in Goshen earlier this month, longtime Connecticut Audubon member Jim Dugan came upon an unusual find — two or three West Virginia white butterflies, feeding in a patch of spring-beauty wildflowers.
Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Swainson’s Warbler
Wednesday, May 13th, 2020May 13, 2020 — The discovery of a Townsend’s Warbler in Hartford last month — a record first for Connecticut — got birders thinking about which new species might show up next. Because it’s migration time, thoughts turn to Swainson’s Warbler. Note that the violet color that indicates a sighting is absent from Connecticut on […]
The Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Hooded Warbler
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020May 12, 2020 — Usually first noticed by a ringing “weeta, weeta, weeteeo” song, a Hooded Warbler sighting highlights almost any bird walk in the Connecticut woods.
Diary of a teenage birder from New Canaan, circa 1910. Part 3.
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020May 12, 2020 — On a spring morning in New Canaan, meadowlarks are singing and flickers “salute each passerby” as a 15-year-old boy walks to the Tallmadge Hill station to take the train to high school in Stamford. It’s 1910 and Harold Jones is making notes in his diary.
The first hummingbirds of 2020
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020May 12, 2020 — Almost 90 of you sent in your first-of-year sightings from 80 places in Connecticut (plus Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont). Follow the arrival of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds on this map.
The Daily Bird/Warbler Week: Chestnut-sided Warbler
Monday, May 11th, 2020May 11, 2020 — Chestnut-sided Warblers are migrating through and can be found in numerous habitats. They nest in old field and scrubby habitat throughout Connecticut, a declining habitat type as forests mature and fields get developed and converted to lawns.
The Monday Bird Report
Monday, May 11th, 2020May 11, 2020 — You may have noticed that the rest of the world is catching on to what you’ve known for a while: birding is hot. It seems the antidote to the stress of dealing with the pandemic is birdwatching.
