July 1, 2020 — Life for Connecticut’s beach-nesting birds gets a lot tougher over Fourth of July weekend. We’re going to try to minimize the harm where we can — by closing the parking lot at the Milford Point Coastal Center for the weekendThe gates will be locked from 4 p.m. Thursday, July 2, until 9 a.m. Monday, July 6.
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June 29, 2020 — Monday morning joy: the Purple Martin colony at the Milford Point Coastal Center is thriving. It’s no accident. Donations from dedicated members and supporters help fund it, and hard work by staff and volunteers gives these large swallows the best chance. Each week a team, led by Coastal Center Regional Board member Frank Mantlik, checks and maintains the nests.
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June 28, 2020 — With summer in Connecticut comes pesky biting flying insects. But birds are here to help, including the category known as flycatchers. On Tuesday, June 30, at 7 p.m., teacher-naturalist Joe Attwater will lead you through a discussion of the myriad fascinating aspect of these aerial insectivores.
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June 26, 2020 — Looking for private, outdoor, small group drop-off activities for your kids? Then “take a walk on the wild side” with us to see what’s happening in the natural world on this small group, guided walk in the Center at Fairfield’s Larsen Sanctuary.
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June 25, 2020 — If you haven’t been to Deer Pond Farm in Sherman to see how birds, wildflowers, native shrubs, butterflies, and bees are benefiting from your support, plan a trip. Before you go, watch these two videos.
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June 24, 2020 — If you’re still seeing and hearing Baltimore Orioles in your yard or neighborhood, the Connecticut Bird Atlas wants to know. Connecticut Audubon is a prime sponsor of the Atlas project, so your membership and donations are already supporting it, but this is another way you can help.
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June 23, 2020 — Join Connecticut-based seabird expert Allison Black on Thursday, June 25, 4 p.m., for a webinar on Connecticut’s sea-dwelling birds. Allison spent more than 60 days at sea in 2019 while working for NOAA as a seabird/marine mammal Observer.
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June 23, 2020 — The Daily Bird is taking a hiatus. It will return in Jlate uly, when shorebirds are populating the beaches on the southward migration, and it might be several times a week instead of daily.
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June 22, 2020 — Your donations have helped us plan, plant, and maintain pollinator gardens and meadows at our Smith Richardson Preserve in Westport, the Milford Point Coastal Center in Milford, the Center at Fairfield, Birdcraft, and Deer Pond Farm in Sherman, where the staff has done an incredible job.
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June 22, 2020 — The Connecticut Bird Atlas project, now in its third year of field work, is a remarkable collaborative effort. Here are four key takeaways: project status, new insights, what’s left to be done, how you can help.
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June 22, 2020 — Connecticut’s half-dozen swallow species will come clearly into focus in Tuesday’s online presentations, the Swallows of Connecticut. Don’t miss is.
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June 21, 2020 — “If you want to discover what a medley is like, search out a flock of goldfinches on some nice spring morning. I found such a flock, to-day, and was surprised at the amount of melody which poured into my ear.”
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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.
Read more...July 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.
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June 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.
Read more...June 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.
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June 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.
Read more...June 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 […]
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June 15, 2020 — Mid-June is prime nesting season and if you’re into birds, the Connecticut Bird Atlas could use your help.
Read more...June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.”
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June 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.
Read more...June 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.
Read more...June 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. […]
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 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.
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June 2, 2020 — Ever wonder how you could use your binoculars to get an “eagle-eye” view of some of your favorite birds?
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June 1, 2020 — By June, birds are on their breeding grounds, eggs are in the nest — some have hatched — and sumer is icumen in/Lhude sing cuccu, if you’re lucky enough to have a cuckoo nearby.
Read more...If you guessed jingle shells, mermaid’s toenails, Neptune’s toenails, toenail shells, gold shells or saddle oysters, you are correct!! Jingle shells are shiny mollusks that got their name because they produce a bell-like sound when several shells are shaken together. The shells are thin and often translucent, they will grow following […]
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June 1, 2020 — A competitor of Baltimore Orioles for the title of most noticeable songbird in Connecticut, Scarlet Tanagers are a fairly common forest nesting bird in Connecticut. Most of the larger and many of the smaller forested areas of the state will have nesting pairs.
Read more...May 29, 2020 — Piping Plovers live out in the open but can be hard to find. They attract a lot of attention but can be found only on certain beaches. They nest from Greenwich to Stonington but are rare enough — only 57 pairs in Connecticut last year — to warrant listing as a federal and state-threatened species.
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June 1, 2020 — We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2020 Birdathon Photo contest. Birders from across the state submitted approximately 100 photos, all taken in Connecticut from May 22 to 24. They included geese, ducks, herons, hawks, owls, warblers — even a box turtle. The winners were chosen by Julian Hough, an experienced bird photographer and graphic designer.
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June 18, 2020 — The cinnamon-colored Brown Thrasher may more often be heard than seen as it spends much of its time hidden in its preferred shrub habitat. A little bigger than a robin, the Brown Thrasher is on the list of Connecticut’s “Birds of Special Concern,” mainly because of loss of the messy shrubby areas it favors.
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May 28, 2020 — The first Little Blue Herons arrive in April and stay into October, sometimes later. It is strictly an inhabitant of coastal salt marshes. It nests on Duck Island in Westbrook and Charles Island in Milford.
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May 28, 2020 — Why do northern water snakes leave ponds on warm spring days (and ignore social distancing rules)?
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May 27, 2020 — One of our most ubiquitous shorebirds is the Sanderling. Only the Ruddy Turnstone and the Whimbrel may have a wider distribution.
Read more...May 26, 2020 — With its orange-flame plumage and loud, operatic song, the Baltimore Oriole attracts attention like almost no other songbird in Connecticut and is often a trophy-bird at backyard bird feeders.
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May 26, 2020 — What “parachutes” into your backyard, eventually becoming a great source of nectar for bees, providing seeds for birds and having delicious leaves for salads?
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May 26, 2020 — Piping Plover eggs are starting to hatch on Connecticut’s beaches — there are already three hatchlings from the 10 nests at the Milford Point Coastal Center, for example. And the two American Oystercatcher nests there already have one chick each.
Read more...June 1– 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. Can you guess the creature in this picture? Make your best guess–you can post your answer on The Coastal Center’s Facebook page: click here or […]
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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.
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May 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.”
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May 22, 2020 — Treat yourself to a special encounter with one or more raptors on a bird handler’s glove. You’ll learn about their natural history and discover the unique physical attributes of these magnificent birds. We’ll discuss different raptor species and their amazing behavioral and predatory adaptations, as well as their conservation status and critical role in our environment.
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May 21, 2020 — Prothonotary Warblers are relatively rare in Connecticut but one or two visit almost every year in May.
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March 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.
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May 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.
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May 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.
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May 19, 2020 — Why does Connecticut Audubon’s Dr. Science exclaim “WOW!” over her discovery in the Larsen Sanctuary? Find out by becoming a science detective and join her for an intriguing investigation of owl pellets.
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May 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.
Read more...May 25, 2020 – Welcome to Mystery Monday! Let’s play a game of I Spy: Coastal Connecticut!
Read more...If you guessed Mussel , You are Correct!!! Did you know? The mussel’s external shell is composed of two hinged halves or “valves”. The valves are joined together on the outside by a ligament, and are closed when necessary by strong internal muscles (anterior and posterior adductor muscles) Mussels […]
Read more...May 18– 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. […]
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May 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.
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May 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.”
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May 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.
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May 14, 2020 — If you come across a vernal pool in springtime, what rare event might you experience if your timing (and luck) are just right?
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May 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.
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May 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.
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May 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.
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May 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 […]
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May 13, 2020 — Salamanders quietly live most of their lives out of sight and beyond our perception, yet they play outsized roles in many Connecticut ecosystems. Conservation biologist Jim Arrigoni explains in his Eco-hour Chat, Thursday, May 14.
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May 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.
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May 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.
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May 12, 2020 — Did you know that one of the best places to view a thriving ecosystem is under a rotting log? Connecticut Audubon’s Dr. Science takes us into the woods and shows us how to carefully reveal and explore this fascinating micro habitat.
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May 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.
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May 12, 2020 — Join teacher-naturalist Morgan Allen as she shows you how to plan out your design using the shape of your rock, how to layer up paint on your rock, and more.
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May 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.
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May 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.
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May 11, 2020 — Join Joe Attwater as he reviews Connecticut’s owls and what makes these birds so amazing. Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m.
Read more...If you guessed Mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, Atlantic killifish, mummies, gudgeons, or mud minnows… you are correct! Did you know? You will find these fish in brackish and coastal waters including estuaries and salt marshes This species is hardy and has the ability to tolerate highly variable salinity, temperature fluctuations from 43 to 95 °F, low oxygen levels, and heavily polluted ecosystems. As a result, the mummichog […]
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May 8, 2020 — This handsome gray bird can be distinguished by its bold personality and characteristic call, reminiscent of a cat’s meow. They are more often heard than seen, spending much of the day hidden away in thick shrubs and trees. Although they tend to be secretive, they are very energetic and boisterous birds.
Read more...May 8, 2020 — Is there a more beautiful sound in nature than the trill of an American toad? You can hear it at the start of this terrific video that our Deer Pond Farm staff recorded this week. And stick around for Jim Arrigoni’s terrific description of the aquatic invertebrates he found.
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May 7, 2020 — Time to upgrade those binoculars? Need a spotting scope? Need a gift? The birds are here, with more on their way. No time like the present! Call at 860-767-0660 to discuss or to place an order.
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May 7, 2020 — This is a handsome and distinctive species. The males lack the bright orange flash of the more common and widespread Baltimore Oriole but sport a bright chestnut and black plumage unique among North American birds. The greenish-yellow hues of the female also stand out, and the first-summer males are readily identified by the their black bib. Compared to the Baltimore, it’s a more slender and spritely bird.
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May 7, 2020 — If you’re patient and observant, what long-legged bird might you catch a glimpse of near the shore or wetlands? Join Connecticut Audubon’s Dr. Science on this nature walk and see if you can spot the camouflaged Great Blue Heron.
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May 9, 2020 — In early spring 1910, 15-year-old Harold Jones, who lived on the Waveny Estate in New Canaan, was busy keeping his daily bird list and identifying wildflowers. Here’s the second entry from his nature diary.
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May 6, 2020 — “I have some notebooks of bird observations from 1910. Would you be interested in them as a guide to habits today, considering the changes in climate? They were made by my father, now deceased. The written observations were in New Canaan, CT in 1909 and 1910.”
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May 6, 2020 — Careful observers can still see and hear this bright relative of our blackbirds in open, grassy habitats, sometimes perched on fences and bushes in a few Connecticut locations. It is a birder’s treasure wherever it is found.
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May 5, 2020 — The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, returns from the Caribbean to Connecticut during spring migration. And you may not have to work very hard to find it.
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May 5, 2020 — NBC CT meteorologist Kaitlyn McGrath Facetimed Executive Director Patrick Comins last week to talk about migration, about visiting Connecticut Audubon’s sanctuaries, and about threats to Connecticut’s birds.
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May 5, 2020 — Learn how to track your favorite animals across your backyard. This week RTPEC teacher-naturalist Morgan Allen will teach you how to identify the tracks of local animals as well as how to make your own animal track stamp.
Read more...Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m. One of our most unique and mysterious family of birds, owls are most active when the rest of us are settling down for the night. In this webinar, teacher-naturalist Joe Attwater will go over what makes these birds so amazing, and which ones call CT home. Joe will discuss: What […]
Read more...May 11– Welcome to Mystery Monday! Let’s play a game of I Spy: Coastal Connecticu1 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. […]
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May 4, 2020 — Yellow-crowned Night Herons are birds of marshes and wet meadows but are not widely distributed across the state. Our Milford Point Coastal Center is by far the most reliable location in the state.
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May 4, 2020 — It was not only a beautiful weekend, it was a busy one for birds and birders. Here are a few highlights.
Read more...If you guessed Hermit Crab you are correct! Did you know: Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. Most frequently, hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails The tip of the hermit crab’s abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the […]
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May 1, 2020 — Eastern Whip-poor-wills typically arrive in their breeding grounds in late April-early May, timed with the appearance of the insects that make up their diet.
Read more...May 4– 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. […]
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May 1, 2020 — If there’s one group of birds that captivates birders and non-birders alike, it’s the raptors. Join us for a special webinar, 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 5.
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April 27, 2020 — For your reading pleasure, Connecticut Audubon staff talks about their favorite books on nature and the environment, new and old, including a several by local authors and classics by Rachel Carson, John McPhee, David Quammen, and Michael Pollan.
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April 30, 2020 — The long-popular reference to a “miniature Mockingbird” holds up pretty well. Shape and tone are reminiscent of the big mimid, although the gnatcatcher lacks the white wing markings. But keep miniature in mind. This is a small, slender bird in the warbler size category.
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April 29, 2020 — Semipalmated Plovers are starting to appear on Connecticut beaches during spring migration. Named for their semi-webbed toes, which allow them to walk on different substrates, Semipalmated Plovers can be found foraging for insects and other invertebrates on mudflats and beaches while they migrate to their nesting territory on Arctic beaches.
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April 28, 2020 — Urban development generally pushes species out of the habitat that was replaced by buildings. There are some species like the Peregrine Falcon, however, that can adapt. Peregrine Falcons nest on and dive from tall ledges. The abundance of ledges in urban areas gives them a greater selection of nesting locations.
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April 28, 2020 — What lives in salt water and shares traits with a bicycle, a door and cooking a big pot of spaghetti? Watch Dr. Science reveal the cool features of a familiar filter feeder in the Long Island Sound ecosystem.
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