December 20, 2020 — From fall til early spring Sharp-shinned Hawks are often found patrolling bird feeding stations and field edges. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a small hawk, around 11 inches in size. Adults have blue-grey above and reddish-brown barring below.
Blog – 2018
Daily Bird: Sharp-shinned Hawk
Thursday, December 17th, 2020Daily Bird: Red-breasted Merganser
Wednesday, December 16th, 2020December 16, 2020 — The Red-breasted Merganser’s distinguishing characteristics are a long neck, a scarlet bill, and a double crest at the back of the heads of both males and females. Typically staying within 20 miles of the coast, the Red-breasted Merganser has a notable preference for salt water, compared to the other two species of merganser.
Daily Birds: Redhead, Canvasback
Tuesday, December 15th, 2020December 15, 2020 — Two red-headed ducks occur in Connecticut in winter, one somewhat regularly, the other not so much. Both are diving or bay ducks – or pochards – of the genus Aythya.
Daily Bird: Black Scoter
Friday, December 11th, 2020December 11, 2020 — There are numerous places to see Black Scoters along the shore but they are rare visitors to Connecticut’s fresh water. The adult males are all black with a yellow knob at the base of the upper bill. Juveniles and females are grey-brown with a dark cap and lighter cheeks.
State of the Birds 2020 Highlight: To Protect Birds, Prepare to Advocate for Land Protection
Friday, December 11th, 2020December 11, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown meant that elected officials paid less attention than usual to land conservation issues in 2020. So in 2021, conservation advocates will have to double down. Amy Paterson, executive director of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, covered the issue in her Connecticut State of the Birds 2020 article, called “The Impacts of COVID-19 on Conservation Funding.”
The Birds of Happiness
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020December 9, 2020 — You know that feeling you get when birds come to your feeder or when you pass through a mixed flock of songbirds in the woods? That’s happiness and, it turns out, those birds are bringing it to you.
Daily Bird: Mew Gull 2
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020December 9, 2020 — Mew Gulls are similar to Ring-billed Gulls. The western European and northwestern North American subspecies are both smaller than Ring-billeds. These Mews have thin greenish yellow bills with either a thin ring or no ring at all, depending on season. Their mantles are slightly darker, and they have darker eyes than the Ring-billed’s.
Daily Bird: Mew Gull 1
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020December 9, 2020 — Notice of a Mew Gull in New London went out this morning on our Rare Bird Alert. We are lucky enough to have posted about Mew Gull twice before, and even luckier that the authors were Patrick Comins, who is Connecticut Audubon’s executive director, and Greg Hanisek, editor of the Connecticut Ornithological Association’s quarterly journal, The Connecticut Warbler.
4 Stars: You can be confident that your donations are being used wisely and well
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020December 9, 2020 — 2020 marks the third year in a row that Charity Navigator has designated Connecticut Audubon a four-star organization. Out of approximately 1,000 non-profits in Connecticut, only 48 received four stars in 2020. “This is our highest possible rating and indicates that your organization adheres to sector best practices and executes its mission in a financially efficient way.”
State of the Birds 2020 Highlight: Piping Plovers and the Audubon Alliance.
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020December 8, 2020 — Connecticut’s Piping Plovers fared poorly during the 2020 breeding season. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds was forced to cut back on its protection work. Only when restrictions were eased during summer and the work-pace picked up did Piping Plovers do better. It’s an important enough issue that we wrote about it in this year’s State of the Birds report and are highlighting it here.
Daily Bird: “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020December 8, 2020 — For those birders who relish long walks in biting cold winds, coastal sparrow searches in winter can turn up one of the rarer subspecies of the common Savannah Sparrow, the “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow.
Habitat improvements in store at the Coastal Center thanks to a new Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant
Monday, December 7th, 2020December 7, 2020 — Federal and state environmental officials today announced 24 grants totaling $2.8 million to local governments, nongovernmental organizations and community groups in New England to improve Long Island Sound. Included in this year’s grants is more than $44,000 for the Connecticut Audubon Society to restore coastal beach, dune and forest habitat at the Milford Point Coastal Center.
Natural Landscape Design for New England: An Intensive Virtual Course
Monday, December 7th, 2020December 7, 2020 — Join us on Thursday and Friday, December 10 and 11, for this two-day, six-hour virtual course and learn techniques to create landscapes that are “ecologically functioning” as well as beautiful. This course, presented by New Directions in the American Landscape and co-sponsored by The Connecticut Audubon Society, will illustrate how to apply these altered practices in a variety of settings including meadows, shrublands, woodlands, and fine gardens.
First up on Young, Gifted, and Wild About Birds — #BlackBirdersWeek: The hashtag that started a movement
Monday, December 7th, 2020December 7, 2020 — The Young, Gifted, and Wild About Birds series on Zoom starts next week with “#BlackBirdersWeek: The hashtag that started a movement,” featuring co-founder Deja Perkins.
The Alcids of Connecticut: Tuesday Webinar
Sunday, December 6th, 2020December 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.
Connecticut Audubon’s Birds of the Year for 2020
Monday, December 21st, 2020December 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.
Christmas Bird Count 2020-21
Saturday, December 5th, 2020December 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.
State of the Birds 2020: The first in-depth look at how the pandemic is affecting conservation
Thursday, December 3rd, 2020December 3, 2020 — Bird conservation and research didn’t stop when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March. But they were affected in ways big and small, usually for the worse but in some cases creating opportunities for conservationists to adapt and make the best of a bad situation. That’s the main finding of Connecticut Audubon’s 2020 State of the Birds report, released today.
Daily Bird: Long-tailed Duck
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020December 2, 2020 — It’s a great time of year to bundle up and head to the shore to look for sea ducks. Look in shallow, sandy bottomed, salt water areas of Long Island Sound, at the mouths of rivers and occasionally inland on larger rivers and lakes.
Zoom Bird Names: A Quiz
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020December 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.
