June 19, 2020 — There have been a good number of reports of Alder Flycatcher this year in Connecticut. Most reports come from west of the Connecticut River, including a report of a singing bird at our Deer Pond Farm preserve in Sherman. Further east there have been reports from the Goodwin Conservation Center in Hampton and Boston Hollow/Yale Forest in Ashford.
Blog – 2018
Daily Bird: Alder Flycatcher
Friday, June 19th, 2020Permanent Conservation Fund Passes in Congress
Thursday, July 23rd, 2020July 23, 2020 — Conservationists throughout the country are celebrating yesterday’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of the Great American Outdoors Act, which creates a permanent annual fund of $900 million for land protection and outdoor recreation. The House vote followed passage in the Senate last month. The bill is expected to be signed into law.
Conservation Will Benefit Greatly from the Great American Outdoors Act & the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Wednesday, June 17th, 2020June 17, 2020 — The passage today by the U.S. Senate of the Great American Outdoors Act is a tremendous victory for conservation and for outdoor recreation in general.
Daily Bird: American Oystercatcher
Wednesday, June 17th, 2020June 17, 2020 — In addition to being one of the largest and stockiest shorebirds in Connecticut, American Oystercatcher is easy to distinguish by its unique coloring. Its brown back and wings, black head, and white breast and belly aid in concealing it on the mudflats and other coastal habitats. But what really distinguishes this bird from others and from its surroundings is the bright orange color of the bill and eye ring, and the yellow iris of the eyes.
Daily Bird: Chimney Swift
Tuesday, June 16th, 2020June 16, 2020 — Look and listen for Chimney Swifts in any town in Connecticut but especially in Willimantic, Farmington, and Woodbury, sections of which have been designated as Important Bird Areas because they host hundreds of roosting birds.
Daily Bird: Cuckoos
Monday, June 15th, 2020June 15, 2020 Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus Revised from a version published in June 2019. by Helena Ives Both the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Black-billed Cuckoo breed in Connecticut and fill our woods and the edges of freshwater wetlands with their emphatic calls — ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowlp-kowlp-kowlp-kowlp for the Yellow-billed and cu-cu-cu-cu, cu-cu-cu-cu, cu-cu-cu-cu […]
Monday Bird Report
Monday, June 15th, 2020June 15, 2020 — Mid-June is prime nesting season and if you’re into birds, the Connecticut Bird Atlas could use your help.
Coalition forms to save the American Horseshoe Crab
Thursday, June 11th, 2020June 11, 2020 — The Connecticut Audubon Society, which in February called for a ban on horseshoe crab fishing in Connecticut, recently joined the new nationwide Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition. Here’s the group’s inaugural news release including remarks from Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Patrick Comins.
Daily Bird: Wood Thrush
Wednesday, June 10th, 2020June 10, 2020 — Now is the perfect time to hear the beautiful, flute-like call of the Wood Thrush throughout – as its name would indicate – the woods of rural Connecticut. Listen in the early morning and evening along quiet roads or paths.
Daily Bird: Indigo Bunting
Tuesday, June 9th, 2020June 9, 2020 — Is the strikingly-plumaged Indigo Bunting up to the popularity challenge posed by the brilliant orange of the Baltimore Oriole or the brilliance of the Scarlet Tanager, both long-time favorites? You can find them throughout the state, along the edges of fields, power line rights-of-way, early successional habitats, and weedy fields.
Daily Bird: Western Sandpiper
Monday, June 8th, 2020June 8, 2020 — A Western Sandpiper has been feeding and resting on the mudflats at the Milford Point Coastal Center in recent days. Western Sandpiper is considered a vagrant in Connecticut, with about half a dozen sightings each year.
The Monday Bird Report
Monday, June 8th, 2020June 8, 2020 — Photographers, June is a crucial time of year for nesting birds. Getting too close to a nest or to just-hatched chicks puts vulnerable birds at greater risk.
Diary of a Teenage Birder from New Canaan, circa 1910. Part 5.
Saturday, June 6th, 2020June 5, 2020 — “I unfolded my chair, seated myself and commenced to peruse Sabbath Reading, which I had brought along for the purpose. Hardly had I started to read when a Flicker flew over my head and alighted on a dead tree nearby.”
Daily Bird: Clapper Rail
Friday, June 5th, 2020June 5, 2020 — Despite its large size, Clapper Rail is not an easy bird to locate. These marsh birds are known for their elusive nature and are more often heard than seen. The grasses that make up salt marshes hide them well and provide crucial habitat for feeding and nesting.
We at the Connecticut Audubon Society add our voices to the rising calls for change in our country.
Friday, June 5th, 2020June 5, 2020 — We at the Connecticut Audubon Society add our voices to the rising calls for change in our country. Nature knows no racial boundaries. It is our vision that everyone in our diverse population appreciate the value of the natural world and have access to it. Any possibility that the birding community could feel isolated from racism was shattered last week when Christian Cooper, a birder who happened to be black, was subjected to overt racism while searching for a Mourning Warbler in Central Park.
I Spy: Coastal Connecticut
Monday, June 8th, 2020June 8– Welcome to Mystery Monday! Let’s play a game of I Spy: Coastal Connecticut! Every Monday we will post part of a picture of an organism found along the coast of Connecticut. Make your best guess–you can post your answer on The Coastal Center’s Facebook page: click here or on The Connecticut Audubon Society Facebook page: click here. […]
Andy & Sandy Visit the “Osprey Garden” in Old Saybrook
Thursday, June 4th, 2020June 4, 2020 — EcoTravel Director Andy Griswold and volunteer Sandy Sanstrom regularly visit what Andy likes to call the Osprey Garden to check on the eggs (which will be hatching momentarily) and clear away debris. Watch this video for a great perspective on how your support is making a difference for Ospreys.
“Farming” a Rich Source of Food for Migrating Birds
Thursday, June 4th, 2020June 4, 2020 — Where do your donations go? Some go right into the ground. Your support is being invested in new places to keep migrating birds well-supplied with high-energy seeds to fuel them on their long flights.
Daily Bird: Purple Martin
Thursday, June 4th, 2020June 4, 2020 — After a tentative start this season, nesting activity in the Purple Martin gourds at the Coastal Center in Milford is underway.
Frank Mantlik, who leads the team of volunteers that monitors the colony, reported on May 26, that out of the total 71 gourds at the colony, 20 have nests.
Daily Bird: Black Skimmer
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020June 3, 2020 — Black Skimmers are amazing-looking birds that seem to quickly unzip the surface of the water as they feed. They are uncommon enough to be worth watching for. You have to pick the right spot. In Connecticut that’s often the Milford Point Coastal Center or Sandy Point in West Haven.
