November 15, 2013 – Black Scoters seem to be more prevalent this year than in recent years. They are rarely seen in fresh water but this week you can look for these unusual scoters inland, in areas such as the Connecticut River off Vibert Road in South Windsor and Bantam Lake in Litchfield along North Shore Road. You can also look for them on the coast, off Penfield Reef in Fairfield, off Reef Road, where there is public access (go at low tide). Black Scoters are uncommon but regular migrants. They breed in subarctic regions and winter in coastal areas along both coasts. Diving ducks (rather than dabblers like Mallards), they dive to find crustaceans and mollusks to eat. Click the link below to read the entire post.
Blog – Connecticut Audubon Society
Black Scoter
Friday, November 15th, 2013Long Migration
Tuesday, September 10th, 2013The day after Milan Bull, our senior director of science and conservation, wrote about how Connecticut Audubon Society is participating in a Partners In Flight effort to protect the wintering grounds and stop-over areas of migratory birds, an interesting nugget came across the Connecticut Birds listserve about a banded Semipalmated Sandpiper seen a month ago […]
Preserve Plum Island But Don’t Forget to Manage and Restore Its Habitat
Monday, September 2nd, 2013The Town of Southold, on the North Fork of Long Island, passed a zoning ordinance last week that all but guarantees that Plum Island will not be subdivided, carved up and bulldozed for development. But whether the 840-acre island, which lies at the eastern end of Long Island Sound off the tip of Orient Point, […]
CDC Study Shows that Pesticide Use Does Not Reduce Lyme Disease
Friday, August 30th, 2013A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that spraying pesticides to kill ticks on your property does not reduce the rate of Lyme disease – meaning that people who apply pesticides to their yards are not just risking ecological damage but are wasting their money too. The study was conducted […]
Postponed til Friday … Sharing our Shores: Managing Municipal Coastal Resources for Birds and People
Wednesday, August 7th, 2013Because of the rain, this workshop has been postponed til Friday, August 16, same place, same time:WHAT: Shorebird Workshop for Municipal OfficialsWHEN: Friday, August 16, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.; WHERE: Margaret Eagan Center, 35 Matthew Street, Milford, CT, & Guided walk at Milford Point The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, in cooperation with Connecticut […]
Another Great Speaker on Tap for Our Annual Meeting. Join Us!
Wednesday, August 7th, 2013You might have noticed this week that Time magazine put Andrew Revkin on its list of Top 25 bloggers of 2013, for the Dot Earth blog he writes for the New York Times. If you were lucky enough to be at our Annual Meeting last September you heard a terrific talk by Andy, who was […]
A Climate Change Rally With a Few Frustrated Climate Deniers in the Gallery
Friday, July 19th, 2013We were happy to be among the 100-plus people at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford this afternoon for a press conference/rally held by Senators Blumenthal and Murphy in support of President Obama’s climate change initiative (despite the irony of driving 150 miles in a gas-powered vehicle to get there and back). The event was […]
Connecticut’s Purple Martins on the BBC
Thursday, July 11th, 2013Purple Martins are hatching and fledging at colonies across Connecticut this month. Recently a reporter from the BBC visited us to interview Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon Society’s senior director of science and conservation, about the long-term population decline of Purple Martins and how they have become almost completely dependent on humans for nest sites.
It’s a terrific interview, made more interesting by the very different broadcasting style of the BBC. The segment with Milan Bull is near the start.
Click here to listen.
Purple Martins are among a group of birds known as aerial insectivores – birds that eat only bugs they catch on the wing. They were the subject of our Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 report, “The Seventh Habitat and the Decline of Our Aerial Insectivores,” which examined the issue in depth.
Here’s a link to our news release about the report, where you can find a link to the report itself. It’s worth reiterating the report’s recommendations and actions:
Recommendations and Actions
Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 calls on government agencies such as the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, academic institutions and conservation organizations to collaborate on a comprehensive assessment of the status of aerial insectivores.
Pesticide Reduction Bill Becomes Law
Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013Governor Malloy has signed a bill, supported by Connecticut Audubon Society, that severely restricts the use of two mosquito pesticides in the area bordering Long Island Sound. We supported the bill because we believe that biological controls such as BT are preferable to toxic pesticides like methoprene and resmethrin, the two substances that were the […]
Gov. Malloy Vetoes a Bill that Could Have Led to the Use of ATV’s in State Parks: Good News from Hartford
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013There’s good news today out of Hartford, where Gov. Malloy has vetoed a bill that could have ultimately allowed the use of all-terrain vehicles on state parks and other state lands. His veto letter is below. We opposed the bill because of the damage widespread use of ATV’s can cause to wildlife habitat (there’s more […]
