September 3, 2020 — Thirty-three acres of prime oak forest has been added to Connecticut Audubon’s 233-acre Morgan R. Chaney Sanctuary in Montville, increasing the amount of habitat protected by the preserve by almost 15 percent.
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September 3, 2020 — American Golden-Plovers get their name from the golden hue of their speckled back feathers. Right now, the birds are molting into their non-breeding (alternate) plumage, so their bold, black throat and belly feathers are interspersed with more brown feathers, making for a more barred appearance.
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September 2, 2020 — Explore Milford Point to look for migrating shorebirds with Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon’s senior director of science and conservation. Situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River, Milford Point is a designated Important Bird Area that provides essential habitat for these migrating birds.
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September 1, 2020 — Starting in late August, hundreds of thousands of Broad-winged Hawks leave northern forests to head for their wintering grounds in Central and South America. Look for them on almost all ridge lines where the birds can find thermal winds to give them the necessary lift to form large kettles and soar.
Read more...August 29, 2020 — This is the time of year to look for Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Five were reported from Hammonasst Beach State Park yesterday, Friday, August 28.
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August 27, 2020 — A common bird declining rapidly but still almost everywhere, and two rarities, one of which is unusually abundant for this time of year — those are our birds. Check out where to look for them.
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August 27, 2020 — No matter how much you know or learn about bird migration, it is still a marvel that a shorebird resting on the sandbar at the Milford Point Coastal Center had once been on the flats of Suriname, on the northeast coast of South America.
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August 25, 2020 — Our turtles and toads cordially invite you to join them on our back lawn as they enjoy a socially distanced meal. You can help our naturalist feed them while learning about their differences and similarities. Bring lots of questions, they are eager to see you!
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August 24, 2020 — Learning how to bird by ear is an important tool and useful field skill for birders though it can be difficult to pick out which bird is calling and from where. This program, set for Tuesday, August 25, is for everyone but has been formatted to meet the needs of people with visual impairments.
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August 21, 2020 — If you missed Brad Winn’s shorebird presentation on Thursday, August 20, we posted it on our website. Highly recommended and well worth an hour of your time.
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August 22, 2020 — Baird’s Sandpipers are long-distance Central Flyway migrants a few of which stray east to Connecticut mainly in autumn and are generally found on mudflats and grassy estuary, pond, and marsh edges, often in drier areas than those preferred by similar species.
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August 21, 2020 — You won’t have to go far to fund one of this week’s birds (Ruby-throated Hummingbird), but for another, a trip to the shore would be worth it.
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August 19, 2020 — White-rumped Sandpiper is an uncommon species in Connecticut, but one that can be found with some reliability. It favors coastal shorelines and mudflats at the state’s top shorebird stopovers such as Milford Point, Sandy Point in West Haven and Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.
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August 17, 2020 — A federal judge ruled in favor of birds, a bird name has been changed, and it sort of makes sense that the B-52s (at least one of them) are into birds, doesn’t it?
Read more...August 15, 2020 We have 300 places left for Thursday’s Shorebirds of Connecticut Zoom presentation by Manomet’s Brad Winn. Reserve a spot here. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos Edited from a version published in April 2017 by Greg Hanisek, editor of The Connecticut Warbler, the journal of the Connecticut Ornithological Association Where To Find It: This […]
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August 14, 2020 — What is a bird of prey? Whooo hunts at night? Learn this and more as you experience the thrill of meeting live raptors during this family-friendly program on our back lawn.
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August 14, 2020 — To find this week’s bird, visit the Milford Point Coastal Center (just a heads-up: you’ll see at lot more than the two featured here), and check out phone wires and utility poles anywhere.
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August 12, 2020 — If you’ve ever been awestruck by silvery clouds of sandpipers flying in unison above New England’s shoreline, this is the presentation for you:
Thursday, August 20, at 7 p.m., Brad Winn, director of shorebird habitat management for Manomet in Massachusetts, will discuss New England’s sandpipers and plovers, and efforts to protect them — including how you can help.
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August 11, 2020 — Of the four mid-sized species, we’re preparing for our two breeders — Common and Roseate Tern — to clear out. But at this stage of the year we’re just entering prime time for Forster’s Terns.
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August 6, 2020 — Through their own wiles, the birds nesting at Milford Point survived the July high tides — when the waters rose, the Piping Plovers moved their eggs and an American Oystercatcher sat on hers until the danger passed. But when one of the surviving oystercatcher chicks got itself tangled up in something a couple of weeks ago, there was no chance it would free itself.
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August 5, 2020 — Storms often carry rare birds into the area and, even more frequently, they push birders out of doors to try their luck at finding the rarities. Yesterday two Connecticut Audubon birders lucked out.
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August 4, 2020 — Search for migrating shorebirds, terns and waterfowl, and other species, during a coastal bird walk along Milford Point with Stefan Martin, Connecticut Audubon’s land steward. Situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River, Milford Point is an enormously important IBA site (Important Bird Area) that provides essential habitat and includes sites for breeding, wintering and migrating birds.
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August 3, 2020 — Each week, Frank Mantlik, a member of the Coastal Center’s regional board, leads a team that checks each of the gourds at the Coastal Center’s Purple Martin colony. Here’s his latest report.
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August 3, 2020 — Connecticut Audubon members and the public in general are invited to participate in an online meeting that will help plan the environmental review of the proposed Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve. The meeting is online and starts at 7 p.m., Tuesday, August 4.
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August 1, 2020 — One of these uncommon birds recently appeared at Milford Point. In general it can be found in coastal wetlands, usually on mud flats with other shorebirds.
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July 31, 2020 — Sandy Point, Pomfret, and Stratford are the places to go for this week’s birds. And a birding trip to any of those will reward you with far more than our suggestions here.
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July 29, 2020 — This very large shorebird presents a spectacular contrast to the smaller sandpipers and plovers that it towers over on a sandbar or mudflat. There’s been at least one lately at at Sandy Point, in West Haven, one or two at the Milford Point Coastal Center; and 10 days ago an observer counted six on the Norwalk Islands.
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July 28, 2020 — When Roger Tory Peterson died — 22 years ago today, July 28, 1998, at his home in Old Lyme — I was on deadline and without an idea for a weekly “On Nature” column I wrote for the daily newspaper in northern Westchester County.
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July 27, 2020 — There are not many chances to observe a federally-listed bird species in Connecticut. If you’re lucky you might see three at Milford Point.
Read more...July 27, 2020 — For four summers, young scientists from colleges in New England have been working with us to track how grasses and other plants in the coves of the lower Connecticut River are changing. Join them at 4 p.m., Thursday, July 30 for an Eco-hour Zoom presentation of their work.
Read more...July 24, 2020 — This week’s birds: Black Vulture, Wood Duck, Winter Wren. Read on to see where to find them
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August 2, 2020 — Stefan Martin, one of Connecticut Audubon’s top-notch naturalists, was making a check of the perimeter of Deer Pond Farm in Sherman last week when he saw a rare-for-Connecticut butterfly rise from the dirt road he was walking on.
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July 22, 2020 — The Daily Bird is back after a month — with one big difference: we’ll continue to call it the Daily Bird, but the amount of material we have dictates that it will be more like the “two- or three-time-a-week Bird.” Same great authors, photographers, artists, and videographers.
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July 20, 2020 — Shorebirds have started their migration. Connecticut Audubon worked with the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds on a new sign, underwritten by the Long Island Sound Futures sign and soon to go up. It asks people to give the sandpipers and plovers plenty of room. It’s especially important at high tide when the beach and sandbars are at their narrowest.
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July 20, 2020 — Considered by many to be among the best singers in the bird world, thrushes often hold a special place in the hearts of birders. Teacher-naturalist Joe Attwater will lead you on an entertaining journey through the world of the thrushes that live in and pass through Connecticut, in a special webinar set for Tuesday, Jul 21, at 7 p.m.
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July 17, 2020 — The nesting season at the Milford Point Coastal Center was off to a rough start until early July. That’s when several things happened to turn it around, one of them quite amazing — three birds knew enough to protect their eggs from a tide that would have washed them away.
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July 15, 2020 — Essential parts of the nation’s most important bird protection law are about to be rolled back. Please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and tell them the rollbacks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act are unacceptable. Deadline for comments is July 20.
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July 17, 2020 — Each Friday experts from Connecticut Audubon’s staff and boards make one suggestion for where to see one interesting bird in one specific place — “One Bird, One Place.” Today: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Louisiana Waterthrush.
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July 13, 2020 — Connecticut’s Osprey nests are full with baby Ospreys getting ready to fly. You can help by finding a nest and letting the Osprey Nation project know what you see.
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July 13, 2020 — Is it an exaggeration to say that Matt Bell lives for birds? Maybe, but not by much. Matt is marketing manager for our EcoTravel program. You’re invited to log on as he imparts his knowledge and his enthusiasm in this week’s Eco-Hour webinar, Backyard Birding Basics, 4 p.m. Thursday, July 16.
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July 13, 2020 — More evidence from the Coastal Center Purple Martin colony that loyal donors, dedicated volunteers and hard work pay off for bird conservation. Thursday’s check of the 71 gourds found chicks in 37 of them — 144 baby birds in all. Seven eggs remain unhatched.
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July 10, 2020 — The weekend is here and you might need fresh ideas about how to quickly satisfy your bird urge.We can help. We’re introducing a new feature: “One Bird, One Place.”
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July 9, 2020 — Join Milan Bull, senior director of Science and Conservation, for an early morning bird walk. This walk and talk is an ideal opportunity to see an excellent variety of birds along the trails.
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July 8, 2020 — Learn how to create an oasis for pollinators in your yard. Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles and more, are looking for food and shelter and you can help them by making small changes in your yard.
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July 7, 2020 — Andy Griswold’s visit to the Old Saybrook Osprey nests turns up baby birds of different ages and sizes. Watch his 2-minute video for a close-up look.
Read more...July 6, 2020 — We invite you to join us on Tuesday, July 7, at 7 p.m., for an eye- and ear-catching webinar, All About Owls. Teacher-naturalist Joe Attwater will go over the adaptations that make these birds night hunters, and which owls you can see (and hear) in Connecticut.
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July 6, 2020 — A “Bird Names for Birds” campaign has started over the last couple of weeks to persuade the American Ornithologists Society to change the common names of birds named after people.
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July 5, 2020 — Looking for private, outdoor, small group drop-off activities for your kids? Then join us to see what’s happening in the natural world on this small group, guided walk at the Coastal Center at Milford Point.
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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. […]
Read more...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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