The Connecticut Coalition for Pesticide Reform is organizing a conference for advocates, residents, and government officials interested in reducing the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the state.
Date and time: March 11, 2024. Noon to 5 p.m.
Place: McCook Auditorium
Trinity College, Hartford
The 2024 session at the Capitol in Hartford is an important opportunity for Connecticut Audubon members and supporters to get involved by being part of a team of conservation advocates. The session starts Wednesday, February 7.
Between now and the end of the session in May, we’re hoping to work with you to contact your elected representatives and others on behalf of Connecticut’s birds and other wildlife. The issues that we think are most important, and where together you and we can have the most impact, are: pesticides, rodenticides, light pollution, and climate.
Connecticut Audubon summer camps are an excellent balance of fun and discovery. Your kids will explore and thrive in the natural environment. They’ll have up-close encounters with animals, and learn conservation skills to care for local natural resources at home, school, and Connecticut Audubon’s centers and sanctuaries.
January 13, 2024 — We are happy to announce that the Connecticut Audubon Society Board of Directors has selected Joyce Leiz to lead the organization as executive director. Joyce has served as interim executive director since June 2023 and has become known throughout the state from her participation in programs, meetings, webinars, and other Connecticut Audubon activities.
December 7, 2023—The 2023 Connecticut State of the Birds report, released today, looks at five key areas of conservation concern from previous reports—examples of how new knowledge, new realities, increased human effort, and better technologies are either resulting in changes or resulting in the awareness of the need for improvemen
November 20, 2023—Ospreys are thriving in Connecticut, and interest in these beautiful, fish-eating raptors is thriving as well. This was the 10th year of Connecticut Audubon’s Osprey Nation monitoring program. The volunteer Osprey nest stewards found and mapped 688 active nests. By the end of the season, 881 baby Ospreys had fledged — the most ever recorded by the project.
November 14, 2023—By any account, it was a good day of mid-October birding at the Coastal Center for Chris Unsworth: 50 species and almost 600 individual birds. But it was one bird that he didn’t see—or rather, didn’t see alive—that made the day special.
November 1, 2023 — Please join us on Saturday, November 4, for the Connecticut Audubon Society’s annual meeting. It’s a special event this year to mark our 125th anniversary. The meeting will be held at the Fairfield Museum and History Center, in the heart of the neighborhood where Connecticut Audubon was founded and the first meetings were held.
March 28, 2023 — For the past several years there has been an important and renewed focus on issues of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility in our society and institutions. Accordingly, the Connecticut Audubon Society and other Audubon societies across the country have been involved in discussions about the mixed legacy of John James Audubon. At the heart of these discussions is the issue of what his legacy means at a time when our diversity is recognized as a great strength, and inclusivity is viewed as essential to our progress.
June 21 update — Governor Ned Lamont signed the Lights Out bill into law yesterday.
June 9, 2023 — Three important environmental bills supported by the Connecticut Audubon Society and its members passed the Connecticut General Assembly in Hartford in recent days and have been sent to Governor Ned Lamont to sign into law.
2023 Migration Madness participants: 360 2023 Birdathon participants: 68 Species seen: 176 $$$ raised for bird conservation: $13,000 Scroll to see the prize winners and complete leaderboard for the 6th Annual Migration Madness Birdathon. June 5, 2023 — Congratulations to Joanne Bourque of Pomfret and Frank Mantlik of Stratford, the big winners in this year’s […]
May 30, 2023 — the state of Connecticut is celebrating our organization’s 125th anniversary with an official proclamation by Governor Ned Lamont declaring June 4, 2023, as Connecticut Audubon Society Day. Then on June 7, the celebration of the founding continues as Connecticut Audubon presents two programs in conjunction with the Fairfield Museum and History Center. It was on June 4, 1898, that the Audubon Society of the State of Connecticut held its first annual meeting of members. Two hundred and fifty people crowded into Fairfield Town Hall on that Saturday.
May 19, 2023 — A coalition of federal and city officials along with statewide and local conservation groups renewed their commitment today to improving Hartford as a place for birds to thrive and for people to enjoy them. Coalition members joined with city residents at Keney Park in Hartford to officially rededicate the Hartford Urban Bird Treaty. A program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Urban Bird Treaty is a national network that works to improve bird habitat in urban areas.
May 12, 2023 — Join us at Keney Park in Hartford on Friday, May 19, for the official 2023 rededication of Hartford’s Urban Bird Treaty — a multi-organization plan to improve bird habitat in the city and offer more opportunities for city residents to learn about and enjoy birds.
May 10, 2023 — An undisputed highlight of Connecticut Audubon’s Migration Madness Birdathon, scheduled for May 20 and 21, is the annual photo contest. Each year, birders send us a selection of the best photos they took while participating in the Birdathon. We forward them to a judge — we don’t include names or time stamps, just the photos, so the judging is anonymous — who picks the winners. This year we are lucky to have Heather Wolf as the photo contest judge.
The number of school kids participating in Connecticut Audubon’s Science in Nature outdoor education program will increase dramatically in the coming years, thanks to a $750,000 federal grant received from the office of U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro of New Haven. Approximately 20,000 Connecticut students in grades kindergarten through 5th participate in Science in Nature now. That number will increase by at least 50 percent, to 30,000 students. And the total number of hours of science-based outdoor instruction will increase to 60,000 hours, from 40,000. Representative DeLauro announced the grant at a press conference on Friday, April 21, at Connecticut Audubon’s Milford Point Coastal Center.
It’s gut-wrenching to find a dead bird crumpled on the ground next to a building. Unfortunately, it is also all too common. Birds migrate at night and this spring there is a great opportunity for you to do something that directly benefits birds: turn out the lights.
Hartford was designated an Urban Bird Treaty city in 2011. The designation is up for renewal and the Connecticut Audubon Society, Friends of Keney Park, and Park Watershed are collaborating on an update. The result will be better habitat for birds throughout the city’s parks, and more chances for city residents to learn about and enjoy them. The Urban Bird Treaty is a national network whose goal is to improve bird habitat in urban areas, and help city residents experience and learn about birds and the natural world.
March 24, 2023 — To encourage you to visit our sanctuaries during our 125th anniversary year, we’ve come up with a fun activity: the 125-Bird Challenge. It’s not a competition. We do hope however that it’s a good incentive. Many of our sanctuaries are big and unique, and are worth a special visit.
January 21, 2023 – More than half a century ago, naturalist writer and photographer Edwin Way Teale bought a rustic retreat in the heart of northeastern Connecticut. His work at Trail Wood, a 168-acre farmstead in Hampton, inspired a new generation of environmental conservationists to honor the land and continue his legacy. Two public exhibitions that mark Teale’s legacy are opening this month.
