Suzanne Botta Sullivan reports on the past year’s activities
I am pleased to report that 2011 was another outstanding year for Menunkatuck Audubon Society. With your financial support and the hard work of the Chapter Board members and many volunteers we have conducted a vast array of programs, field walks, and conservation studies, worked on habitat restoration, initiated Audubon at Home schoolyard gardens, and much more. With great pride, we list here for your review the significant accomplishments achieved in 2011.
Conservation
The Hammonasset Beach State Park Purple Martin and Tree Swallow Project, begun in 2005, continues to produce outstanding results. With close monitoring, nesting attempts by European starlings and house sparrows have been interrupted and astonishingly high success rates for both the purple martin colonies and the tree swallows has followed (125 purple martin fledged and 135 tree swallows fledged).
A fifth Osprey Platform was built and is waiting for a predator guard before it is installed in the Park. Funding for the materials for the platform came from generous gift from one of our members. All of the new platforms were used by nesting ospreys; unfortunately, only two fledged, the rest having been taken by great horned owls.
The project to Clear Willards Island of Non-native Invasive Plants continues with Menunkatuck and the DEEP working together to prepare the area for planting native shrubs.
An Audubon IBA Grant and an Audubon Collaborative Grant provided funds for planting 440 native fruit- and berry-bearing plants at the Guilford Salt Meadows Sanctuary.
In partnership with the Madison Conservation Commission, Menunkatuck started a Dune Restoration Project at West Wharf in Madison. Non-native invasive plants were removed, beach sand was added, and 8100 beach grass plugs were planted.
Menunkatuck continues as a partner in Connecticut Amphibian Monitoring Project (C.A.M.P.) monitoring a 2.5 square mile area for amphibians. The monitoring is part of a statewide 15-year study sponsored through the Connecticut DEEP and Connecticut Science Center. Two years remain on this study to establish a base line of data on amphibian populations in Connecticut. Volunteers are trained to identify the 22 species of amphibians native to Connecticut and on how to use standard amphibian census techniques like frog call surveys, salamander cover searches, and night road transects for migrating amphibians.
Our partnership with the Project Limulus horseshoe crab tagging surveys had more than 40 volunteers conduct 24 surveys and tag 975 horseshoe crabs, almost triple last years’s total.
Menunkatuck partnered with Audubon Connecticut, Quinnipiac Valley Audubon Society, and other conservation organizations in Improving Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat in the Quinnipiac River Watershed. A series of films is being shown at the Yale Peabody Museum and at venues in the Wallingford area. Public forums with area legislators are also scheduled. The project is supported by a grant to Audubon Connecticut from the Quinnipiac River Fund.
Education and Outreach
The Birdathon was held in May. The day was a great success. Menunkatuck and The Audubon Shop participated together and a total of more than 100 species were counted.
Menunkatuck continued to support King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven. In June we sponsored two programs by A Place Called Hope live birds of prey program. In October we provided the transportation for 140 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to travel to Hammonasset to study the ecology of Long Island Sound.
Audubon at Home
Menunkatuck began Audubon at Home activities in the Chapter area. Two AAH schoolyard gardens were begun. Lorrie Shaw obtained a grant from the Guilford Fund for Education to convert two areas at Melissa Jones Elementary School to hummingbird and butterfly gardens. A grant from the National Resource Conservation Service is being used to establish a hummingbird and butterfly planter garden at King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven.
Film Series
Menunkatuck began a series of film screenings in partnership with Audubon Connecticut and the Blackstone Library. Eight independent documentaries on environmental issues were shown to excellent reviews.
General Public Meeting
Public programs are held monthly on the second Wednesday of each month (except July and August). Last year the meetings featured a variety of topics and speakers, including programs on birding in Iraq, live raptors from A Place Called Hope, a trip to Namibia and Botswana, and a close look at invertebrates. Our meetings are free and open to the public.
Field Programs
This year Menunkatuck provided seven exciting field programs, including a duck/eagle hop along the Connecticut River, a woodcock search at Durham Meadows, a spring trip to the RWA Big Gulph Recreation Area in North Branford, and a fall trip to the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield.
The newsletter is printed six times per year. In addition to informing our members and friends about Menunkatuck’s activities and events we include Cindi Kobak’s “Bio-bits” natural history essays. The Newsletter also includes tips on going green and information about upcoming events in our chapter area. Citizen Science highlighted six opportunities for helping scientists with their research.
Web Site
Menunkatuck maintains a web site that features a blog, a photo gallery, and a variety of educational information and links. We are also on Facebook with frequent posts with photos, event notices, and links to bird and environmental articles on the Internet. Menunkatuck’s web site featured birds for Audubon’s Birding on the Net contest.
Volunteers
Menunkatuck volunteers contributed more than 650 man-hours to conservation, advocacy, education, and outreach activities.
Conclusion
Menunkatuck continues to be a leader in environmental education, conservation, and advocacy. Please join the Menunkatuck Board in making 2012 a truly banner year. If you can become more involved please e-mail me at president@menunkatuck.org or speak to any Board member at any event.
~Suzanne Botta Sullivan
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