Great Horned Owl Is Early Nester

The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), one of America’s most powerful raptors, ranges across the Western Hemisphere, from the northernmost forests of Canada and Alaska to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. It is a year-round resident in our area. This imposing bird is the largest of our local owls, standing eighteen to twenty-five inches tall. Its “horns” are actually tufts of feathers that stand atop its head. Some people call them “ear tufts,” but they have nothing to do with the owl’s ears, which are situated on the sides of its face. Those bright yellow eyes, encircled by facial disks and hooded by a v-shaped feathered brow, seem to stare right through you. There is no doubt about it – this bird means business. 

Roosting by day in white pines and other dense cover, the great horned owl avoids detection and harassment from mobbing crows. By night it is the consummate hunter, preying on birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects. Rabbits are a favorite food, but the great horned often will kill larger prey species such as geese, swans, woodchucks, hawks, and even other owls. Historical and first-hand accounts have documented that skunk is another favorite food. Come into contact with a great horned owl or its nest and invariably you will detect the pungent scent of skunk.

Great horned owls are the earliest breeding raptors in our area and nesting begins in late winter, often while there is still snow on the ground. A mated pair will hunt, roost and breed in the same area year after year, defending their territory from other great horned owls. The pair will use the abandoned nest of a hawk, crow or even a squirrel. If you happen upon an owl nest in early February, leave it be. The adults are incubating eggs, protecting their future offspring from the vestiges of winter.

Submitted by Cindi Kobak

Images: Wikimedia

The Atlantic Flyway

On the Wing From Labrador to Tierra del Fuego the Atlantic Flyway encompasses some of the hemisphere’s most productive ecosystems, including forests, beaches, and coastal wetlands. From the northern Atlantic coast and through the Caribbean to South America, Audubon is working to support this avian superhighway’s 500-plus bird species and millions of individual birds.

Forty percent of the Atlantic Flyway’s bird species are species of conservation need. These include the wood thrush, the most widespread of our eastern forest neotropical migratory species, whose population has been reduced by half in the past 40 years. With only one-tenth of the U.S. landmass, this flyway is home to one-third of the nation’s people. And dense population carries with it many challenges for birds and habitat: development and sprawl, incompatible agriculture, overfishing, and climate change.

Film Screenings: The Last Mountain and Facing the Storm

The Last Mountain

Sunday, January 27, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of Big Coal.

The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America’s struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens is trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.

The Last Mountain tells this story.

Facing the Storm

Sunday, February 24, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

Facing the Storm is the epic account of our tempestuous relationship with the iconic symbol of wild America. The American bison once dominated the plains of North America, numbering in the tens of millions. Native Plains Indians shared a sacred relationship with the species that went far beyond survival and sustenance. Then, in the nineteenth century, they were nearly eradicated from the continent, and an entire Plains culture was forever changed.

Facing the Storm recounts this harrowing history, and thoroughly explores the future of bison in the twenty-first century showing us that the American bison is not just an icon of a lost world, but may very well show us the path to a more sustainable future.

The film series is cosponsored by Audubon Connecticut.

Menunkatuck Supports ‘Adopt A Book’ In Guilford

The Guilford Library continues seeking donations toward the purchase of new books for their children’s room. Menunkatuck Audubon again answered that call to ‘Adopt a Book’ by donating biographies of two of our most influential naturalists: by Peggy Thomas, with wonderful illustrations by Laura Jacques, and Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor and illustrated by Laura Beingessner. And we couldn’t resist donating As the Crow Flies by Sheila Keenan, a whimsical, rhyming, spot-on portrayal of these intelligent birds appropriate for younger kids.

Book plates have been placed in each of these books with the Menunkatuck Audubon Society named as donor. Be sure to share them with a favorite kid this coming year when you visit the Guilford Library.

Thank you to our members, whose support made this donation possible.

Menunkatuck Audubon Society Annual Report 2012

Suzanne Botta Sullivan reports on the past year’s activities

I am pleased to report that 2012 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, increased our schoolyard habitat programs, and much more. With great pride, we list here for your review the significant accomplishments achieved in 2012.

---

“What struck me is that it is the individual people and the group as a whole that make what you are doing so extra special. The depth and enthusiasm of your Menunkatuck Audubon board is truly amazing. Your board has diversity of age and experience, strong ties to the community, and the expertise of professional educators.“

-Diane Lewis, Special Consultant to David Yarnold, President, National Audubon Society

---

Conservation

The Hammonasset Beach State Park Purple Martin and Tree Swallow Project, begun in 2005, continues to produce outstanding results. Nesting attempts by European starlings and house sparrows have been reduced and astonishingly high success rates for both the purple martin colonies and the tree swallows has followed (180 purple martin fledged and 151 tree swallows fledged).

A fifth osprey platform was installed in the Park. Nesting ospreys used all of the new platforms. 

Two kestrel nest boxes were installed at the Guilford Salt Meadows Sanctuary with additional boxes planned for other sites in Guilford.

Terry Shaw completes the installation of a kestrel nest box at the Guilford Salt Meadows Sanctuary.

Grants from the Audubon Collaborative Grant and the Environmental Professionals’ Organization of Connecticut program provided funds for supporting our partner Northeast Connecticut Kestrel Project with nest box predator guards and radio tracking equipment.

In partnership with the Madison Conservation Commission Menunkatuck continued the Dune Restoration Project at West Wharf in Madison. Additional beach grass plugs were planted. 

Dune grass plugs are planted at the West Wharf dune in Madison.

Additional fishing line recycling bins were installed at boat launches and fishing spots.

Citizen Science

Menunkatuck concluded its partnership with the Connecticut Amphibian Monitoring Project (C.A.M.P.) monitoring a 2.5 square mile area for amphibians. The statewide study sponsored by the Connecticut DEEP and Connecticut Science Center ended its 15-year data collection.

Our partnership with the Project Limulus horseshoe crab tagging surveys had more than 60 volunteers conduct 21 surveys.

Menunkatuck members participated in Audubon Connecticut’s spring and fall bird migration surveys to identify critical stopover habitat.

A partnership with the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network was initiated. SEANET recruits volunteers to survey beaches for sick and dead seabirds.

Advocacy

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 were shown at the Yale Peabody Museum and at venues in the Wallingford area. A public forum with area legislators was also held. The project is supported by a grant to Audubon Connecticut from the Quinnipiac River Fund.

Another new partnership is with Balloons Blow, an organization that publicizes the harmful effects of balloons on wildlife and the environment.

A rusty blackbird got entangled in balloon string.

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. 

The Audubon at Home Schoolyard Habitat Program included construction of a large courtyard planter for a hummingbird/butterfly garden at King-Robinson. Audubon Connecticut was awarded a grant by the Carolyn Foundation to partner with Menunkatuck on expanding the program by establishing a wildlife meadow, equipment purchases, and teacher training.

The planter at King-Robinson is constructed with Timbersil, a non-toxic treated wood, and cedar.

Melissa Jones Elementary School in Guilford was given an AAH Healthy Habitat award for its schoolyard gardens and environmentally friendly school culture. 

Melissa Jone Elementary School students pose with the Audubon at Home Healthy Habitat sign.

Abraham Baldwin Middle School in Guilford had an AAH habitat assessment in May and during the summer implemented many of its recommendations. Sue Kennedy obtained grants from the Guilford Fund for Education and the Guilford Foundation. With the assistance of students from the Guilford High School Environmental Club a courtyard was converted from an area overgrown with day lilies to a garden with diverse bird and butterfly attracting plants. Art and science teachers used the garden during the fall for curriculum-related studies. 

A Baldwin student sketches in the new school garden.

Film Series

Film screenings continued in partnership with Audubon Connecticut and the Blackstone Library. Eight independent documentaries on environmental issues were shown to excellent reviews.

Among the films shown was Mad City Chickens.

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 Colombia, ticks, a trip to the Galapagos Islands, and the Connecticut River watershed. Our meetings are free and open to the public.

Field Programs

This year Menunkatuck provided four exciting field programs, including a woodcock search at Durham Meadows, a spring trip to the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield, and a fall walk at Hammonasset.

Newsletter 

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. 

Volunteers

Menunkatuck volunteers contributed more than 700 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 2013 an even better 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

Citizen Science: Project FeederWatch

Project FeederWatchers are doing their part to unravel nature’s mysteries—simply by sharing information about the birds that visit their feeders from November to April. The new Project FeederWatch season begins November  10, although new participants can join at any time.

People of all ages and skill levels can be FeederWatchers and do their part to help researchers better understand trends in bird populations. Participants count the numbers and different species of birds at their feeders and enter their information on the FeederWatch website at www.FeederWatch.org.

By collecting information from all these feeders in all these back yards, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are able to track patterns in bird populations and movement from year to year, all across North America.

Here are just a few key findings based on nearly a quarter-century of FeederWatch data:

• Populations of Evening Grosbeaks, once one of our most common backyard birds, continue to decline.
• Many species are expanding their ranges to the north, including Northern Cardinals and Anna’s Hummingbirds.
• The non-native Eurasian Collared-Dove is invading North America at an unprecedented rate – it is now found in backyards from Florida to Alaska.

To learn more about joining Project FeederWatch and to sign up, visit www.FeederWatch.org or call the Cornell Lab toll-free at (866) 989-2473. In return for the $15 fee ($12 for Cornell Lab members) participants receive the FeederWatcher’s Handbook, an identification poster of the most common feeder birds, a calendar, complete instructions, and Winter Bird Highlights, an annual summary of FeederWatch findings. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Late Fall Field Trips

Bird Watching at Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, CT

Sunday, November 25, 2010

8:30 a.m.  –  11:30 a.m. 

Horned larks at Hammonasset

Hammonasset Beach State Park is one of Connecticut’s premier birding spots. After the breeding and migrating birds (and sunbathers) have moved on to warmer places, Hammonasset takes on a somewhat different character during the colder months. Join Nina Levenduski and other Menunkatuck birders as we walk the park to look for wintering shorebirds, ducks, sparrows, raptors and others. Beginning birders welcome! Please bring binoculars and dress in layers for cold & windy conditions. Camera, hand lens, field guides, etc. are also suggested.

Meet outside the Nature Center at Hammonasset at 8:30 a.m.. There is no park admission fee. For questions or to register for this trip, e-mail nina@menunkatuck.org. Bad weather the day of the trip cancels.

Winter Birdwatching at Sandy Point and New Haven Harbor

Saturday, December 15

9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Greater scaup - USFWS

Sandy Point in West Haven is recognized by Audubon Connecticut as an Important Bird Area (IBA), and a great place to see wintering shorebirds, ducks and other waterfowl.  Join Nina Levenduski and other Menunkatuck birders for a walk on the beaches to look for wintering birds. Beginning birders welcome! Please bring binoculars and dress in layers for cold and windy conditions. Camera, hand lens, field guides, etc. are also suggested.

Optional lunch stop after the walk at a local burger/seafood joint.

Meet at the parking area at the junction of Beach Street and Second Avenue in West Haven.

To sign up for the trip, e-mail nina@menunkatuck.org. Bad weather the day of the trip cancels.

Film Screenings: Green Fire and Living Downstream

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time

Sunday, November 25, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time is the first feature length documentary film ever made about famed conservationist Aldo Leopold. The film explores Aldo Leopold’s life in the early part of the twentieth century and the many ways his land ethic idea continues to be applied all over the world today. 

The film shares highlights from Leopold’s life and extraordinary career, explaining how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and still inspires people today. Although probably best known as the author of the conservation classic A Sand County Almanac, Leopold is also renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist, and wilderness advocate.

Living Downstream

Sunday, December 16, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

Living Downstream is an eloquent feature length documentary that charts the life and work of biologist, author, cancer survivor and cancer prevention advocate, Sandra Steingraber. Living Downstream is based on Sandra’s book of the same name, and, like the book, documents the growing body of scientific evidence that links human health with the health of our environment. Part scientific exploration, part personal journey, the film follows Sandra during a pivotal year in her life: as a biologist and author, speaking to groups across North America about cancer prevention; and as a cancer survivor, when she receives ambiguous results from a cancer screening test. The film captures this movement between the scientific and the personal, which is also a hallmark of Sandra’s work.

Raised in small town Illinois, cancer seems to run in Sandra’s family. Sandra was diagnosed with bladder cancer when she was just 20 years old. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Sandra was in high school. Many of her close family members have also struggled with the disease, and her aunt died of the same form of cancer that Sandra had.  But while cancer runs in her family, she cannot say that it runs in her genes. Sandra is adopted.  Thus, Sandra asks what else families have in common besides DNA. The answer is all around us: our environment.

The film closely follows the trajectory of Sandra’s life and work, but it also tracks the important progress of scientific investigation on environmental links to cancer and other health ailments. Several experts in the fields of toxicology and cancer research make important cameo appearances in the film, highlighting their own findings on such pervasive chemicals as atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world, and industrial compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Their work further illuminates the significant connection between a healthy environment and human health.

The film series is cosponsored by Audubon Connecticut.

Audubon AFI

The Atlantic Flyway Initiative (AFI) lets nature serve as our guide. By following birds’ migratory paths we are letting them help us identify the places so important not just to their survival, but to all our lives. Audubon is then leveraging one of its strongest assets – its vast, grassroots network of people and conservation capability to power conservation on a hemispheric scale. It will succeed because it clearly focuses its conservation priorities around bird habitats within three distinct and prioritized habitats: forests, coastlines and saltmarshes. Birds, those environmental sentinels, will be the lens through which we gauge conservation threats and successes. By expanding and linking Audubon’s string of Important Bird Area pearls, the program will create an architecture for hemispheric conservation.

Snow Bird

Wikipedia

A common winter visitor to local bird feeders, the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) observed in our area, is actually one of five subspecies. This subspecies, the slate-colored junco, is found throughout North America, but is the one commonly found in the East. It is affectionately known as the “snow bird,” not only for its winter arrival, but also for its plumage. A small slate-gray bird with a white belly, the junco resembles dark wintry skies over a snowy landscape. It is a species of sparrow and sports a lovely pink bill. White outer tail feathers are revealed when its tail is spread in flight, like hidden panels of fabric in a pleated skirt. Males tend to be dark slate-gray, while females are a lighter brown-gray.

USFWS

Slate-colored juncos breed in Alaska, Canada and many of our northern states. They also breed in the mountainous regions of the Southeast. Breeding populations exist in Connecticut, but mainly in the northwest and northeast corners of the state, where mature conifer forests are found. 

Autumn brings the snow birds southward into the rest of the United States. Those at Connecticut feeders have probably traveled here from Canada and northern New England. They migrate in flocks, usually returning to the same wintering areas every year. The juncos that visited your feeders last year will most likely return this winter. They seek out open areas, such as fields, parks and backyards that offer brushy and shrubby areas for cover. A dense conifer may serve as an overnight roost for the flock. 

It is interesting to note that female juncos tend to winter farther south, so your backyard flock may have a higher proportion of males. A social hierarchy exists within the flock and this “pecking order” dictates that males dominate females and adults dominate juvenile birds. Watch for skirmishes beneath your feeders.

Juncos have also been observed clinging to the standing dead stems of black-eyed susan and purple coneflower as they eat from the seedheads. Allowing your garden to go to seed provides necessary food for juncos and other seedeaters, especially when snow covers seeds on the ground. 

Submitted by Cindi Kobak

Purple martins and tree swallows have another year of successful breeding

Stringent monitoring of the purple martin and tree swallow nest boxes at Hammonasset Beach State Park continue to pay dividends with the number of young birds fledging increasing once again.

For the first year all 31 tree swallow boxes were occupied with swallow pairs producing eggs. After five years of increases the number of fledglings fell slightly last summer. This year there was a 27% increase over last, with 151 tree swallows fledging.

Top line - number of laid
Bottom line - number of fledglings

Purple martins were just as successful. For the fifth straight year, the number of nesting pairs, eggs laid, and fledglings increased. Forty-four of the 48 compartments in the four martin houses were occupied, an astonishing 230 eggs were laid, and the adult martins were able to successfully raise 180 fledglings.

Top line - number of laid
Bottom line - number of fledglings

Again this year DEEP wildlife biologists spent one July morning banding the young purple martins. Using silver Federal numbered bands and colony-specific colored bands, one hundred fifty-seven young were weighed, aged, and banded. Twenty other martins were either too young or too old for banding.

Derrick Hendy (third from left), Assistant Warden at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, participated in the DEEP banding. He spent two months at Audubon Sharon learning banding, bird census, and other monitoring techniques to be used in his staff position with Belize Audubon. The training program is part of Audubon’s International Alliances Program.
More photos of the banding.

John Picard, Menunkatuck Vice-president and Conservation Chair, is responsible for the increase in fledgling success rates. He keeps the nest boxes closed until a number of tree swallows and purple martins have arrived from their winter homes. Neither bird begins nesting when they arrive, sometimes waiting a week or longer. When the birds start to show nesting behavior John opens the nest boxes. He continues to monitor them during nest building and evicts any house sparrows that might try to compete with the swallows and martins. After the birds have laid eggs, John still monitors the boxes – house sparrows can continue to be a problem. The results of John’s persistent monitoring are evident.

With the increased number of purple martins nesting at Hammonasset, Menunkatuck plans to install a fifth purple martin house at the Chase (Swan) Pond colony in Spring, 2013, in time for next year’s breeding season.

Marine Conservation E-Atlas Launched

BirdLife International has launched the first global inventory of important sites for the conservation of migratory  marine species. The new e-Atlas covers 3,000 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) worldwide. It is the result of six years of effort that, to date, has involved the world’s leading seabird scientists in collaboration with government departments of conservation, environment and fisheries, and the secretariats of several international bird conservation conventions. The e-Atlas provides essential information for conservation practitioners and policy makers; for energy sector planners (windfarms, gas and oil exploration and drilling); for fisheries managers; for marine pollution management planners; and for the insurance industry. Like a Google Map, the e-Atlas will be dynamically updated as new sites are identified and new data about them become available. It will be linked to other BirdLife data resources, including BirdLife’s species accounts, IBA fact sheets and State of the World’s Birds case studies. Experience the IBA e-Atlas at www.birdlife.org/datazone/marine. News release about the Marine IBA e-Atlas: http://chapterservices.audubon.org/news-announcements#marine

Project Limulus: 2012 Horseshoe Crab Population Survey Summary

I am sorry to report that it was a disappointing spring for Menunkatuck’s Project Limulus  volunteers, especially after last year when we tagged 975 crabs.  Our total tagged for this year was only 240.  The crabs just weren’t there!  This would have been of greater concern to us had we not learned that Short Beach in Branford was crawling with them!  Heather Smiarowski, a Beach Captain for The Branford Land Trust, reported that they almost had more crabs than they could handle.  I wondered if Guilford’s lack of crabs could have been due to reconfiguration of the bottom of the Sound caused by Hurricane Irene.  I asked Dr. Mark Beekey, one of the Sacred Heart professors in charge of Project Limulus, and he said that it is not unusual for the crabs to show up in an area one year and then go somewhere else the next year.  We don’t know why this happens. Finding answers to questions like this is one of the reasons we are doing the study.

Recapture numbers were considerably less in Guilford as well.  A recapture is a crab which has already been tagged.  We found only 61 recaptures compared to 262 found last year.

Guilford’s Project Limulus team surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove a total of 21 times.  We also met on two extra days for tagging only.  Crabs were tagged at the following Guilford beaches: Indian Cove Public, Indian Cove Private, Shell Beach, Joshua Cove, and Grass Island.  Our 2012 survey period began on May 3rd. and ended on July 1st.  We found the greatest number of crabs on May18th.  It is interesting to note that horseshoe crabs were sighted by volunteers as early as April 15th.   This was approximately one month earlier than the past 3 years and was probably related to the mild winter and warmer than average spring temperatures.  One hypotheses to explain our lower crab numbers this year was that we had missed a couple of weeks of tagging because the tags weren’t available until the beginning of May.  This idea, however, seemed to be negated by the fact that Branford continued to find large numbers of crabs throughout May and June. 

I think it is also interesting to note that during the actual beach surveys, which follow a prescribed protocol according to specific dates and tides, the number of crabs counted,(165), was not significantly different from last year’s count of 171.  I don’t know how to explain this.  All of my seasoned volunteers agreed that we really did see less crabs this year. 

New this year, were two visits to local schools.  Accompanied by a pair of live horseshoe crabs,my husband, Vaughn, and I gave presentations about Project Limulus to the students at the King-Robinson Magnet School in New Haven and at Rockville High School in Vernon.  It was great to see the students "getting up close and personal" with the horseshoe crabs! 

  

I can’t say thank you enough to my great team of volunteers for their time, enthusiasm, and dedication.  Here’s hoping that the crabs will decide to come back to Guilford next year!   I look forward to seeing you then.

We are always happy to have new volunteers.  If you are interested, please contact judy@menunkatuck.org.  For more information about Project Limulus, go to info@projectlimulus.org. 

                                       2010                     2011                  2012

Total crabs tagged-       370                       975                    240

Total recaptures-             26                        262                      61

                                        2010                    2011                  2012

Total crabs counted 

during surveys -              151                      171                    165                   

2010

Indian Cove Public Beach              Indian Cove Private Beach    

Single males-4                                  Single males-13

Single females-1                               Single females- 4

Pairs-30                                              Pairs-19

Female with 2 males-2                    Female with 2 males-3

Female with 3 males-0                    Female with 3 males-4

Total crabs-71                                   Total crabs-80

2011

Single males-19                              Single males-6

Single females-9                             Single females-1

Pairs-41                                            Pairs-13

Female with 2 males-7                  Female with 2 males-1

Female with 3 males-1                  Female with 3 males-0                                                                                                                 Total crabs-135                               Total crabs-36

                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                      

2012

Single males-15                               Single males-7

Single females-4                              Single females-3

Pairs-27                                             Pairs-31                      

Female with 2 males-5                   Female with 2 males-0

Female with 3 males-0                   Female with 3 males-0

Females with 4 males-1                 Female with 4 males-0

Total crabs-93                                  Total crabs-72

Three Chapter Area Schools Embrace Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program

Michelle Frankel and Taralynn Reynolds describe a program for children

King-Robinson Magnet School in New Haven and Melissa Jones Elementary School and Abraham Baldwin Middle School in Guilford are embracing the Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program.

Melissa Jones students admire the Habitat Recognition sign that the school was awarded for its adoption of the Audubon At Home healthy habitat program.

The Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program develops healthy schoolyard habitats for children and wildlife by providing schools with the guidance, training, and resources to create habitat for wildlife on the school grounds and integrate place-based nature education into the curriculum. The program is well aligned with the children and youth programmatic priorities at the schools. Access to a schoolyard habitat will provide all children at the school with access to nature on a daily basis and help them understand the connections between making healthy choices for themselves and for the environment. Activities will build skills in inquiry, observation, and math using experiential techniques, enabling children to be more successful at school. They will have the opportunity to work with adults, play leadership roles and make positive decisions by participating in the Garden Stewardship committee. Family education activities will provide opportunities for families to nurture and support children’s learning and encourage families to make healthy choices at home.

Place-based nature education is critical to the development of an environmentally aware citizenry. At a time when passive indoor activities and restrictions on outdoor play dominate children’s out-of-school time, youngsters have little direct experience in nature. There is an urgent need for place-based learning about the natural world, particularly in urban areas. Richard Louv documented the nationwide epidemic of “nature deficit disorder,” linking lack of nature exposure to rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. The American Association for the Advancement of Science urges teachers to take science out of the textbook and into reality.

Audubon Connecticut has been awarded a grant for $23,314 from the Carolyn Foundation to develop the Schoolyard Habitat Program at King-Robinson. The grant will expand on the three-year partnership Menunkatuck has had with King-Robinson to enable the establishment of a large wildlife meadow, development of a Schoolyard Habitat Educator’s Guide, teacher training, and field trips for the school children.Carolyn Foundation to develop the Schoolyard Habitat Program at King-Robinson. The grant will expand on the three-year partnership Menunkatuck has had with King-Robinson to enable the establishment of a large wildlife meadow, development of a Schoolyard Habitat Educator’s Guide, teacher training, and field trips for the school children.

This slope at King-Robinson Magnet School will be transformed into a meadow.

The Guilford schools have each received grants from the Guilford Fund for Education.

Melissa Jones school social worker Lorrie Shaw was awarded $3500 in 2011 and has used the funds to establish a native wildflower and shrub garden that was used by the K-4 students as part of their classwork. She was also able to purchase binoculars and field guides for the students to use. Melissa Jones was awarded the Audubon at Home Habitat Recognition Award for its commitment to establishing the school as a healthy habitat.

Baldwin science teacher Sue Kennedy received $3500 this year. With the help of students from the Guilford High School Ecology Club, a monoculture courtyard area has been transformed into a garden space with native perennials and fruit bearing shrubs. A sloped area that has been ignored and is overgrown with non-native plants will become a meadow with pollinator-friendly plants. Additionally, Sue will be purchasing binoculars and field guides.

This courtyard at Baldwin Middle School is being converted from a garden of day lilies to one with a variety of native perennials and fruit-bearing shrubs.

The courtyard garden is starting to take shape.

The Schoolyard Habitat Recognition Program addresses core content standards and outdoor environmental education provides the perfect format for students to improve their scientific inquiry skills. The students will have the opportunity to describe basic natural phenomena such as the seasonal changes in plants or the life cycle of insects found in the garden.

Melissa Jones students study plants and insects in the garden.

Students will be able to use the wildlife gardens to develop authentic research projects, such as examining factors that affect plant growth, seed preferences of birds at feeders, and parental care at nest boxes. Students will use the appropriate tools including hand lenses, binoculars, tape measures, and simple data collection sheets. Students could have ‘magic spots’ where they go every week to observe seasonal changes of the gardens. Such hands-on experiences encourage students to set questions for themselves rather than simply to respond to questions set by teachers and engage in authentic research and learning experiences.

The Schoolyard Habitat gardens provide an outdoor learning space in which the students can improve their scientific inquiry skills

The first step in adopting the Audubon Schoolyard Habitat Program is an assessment of the school campus habitat followed by recommendations for making it more wildlife-friendly. Contact Taralynn Reynolds (treynolds@audubon.org) for more information about having your school become part of this exciting program.

Michelle Frankel is a Conservation Biologist and Taralynn Reynolds is the Audubon At Home Coordinator for Audubon Connecticut.

Film Screenings: A Sense of Wonder, The City Dark, and Green Fire

A Sense of Wonder

Sunday, September 23, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, the 2012-2013 film series starts with A Sense of Wonder.

When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. Despite her love of privacy, Carson’s convictions and her foresight regarding the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into a very public and controversial role.

Using many of Miss Carson’s own words, Kaiulani Lee embodies this extraordinary woman in a documentary style film, which depicts Carson in the final year of her life. Struggling with cancer, Carson recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government, and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people.

The City Dark

Sunday, October 28, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

The City Dark chronicles the disappearance of darkness. The film follows filmmaker (and amateur astronomer) Ian Cheney, who moves to New York City from Maine and discovers an urban sky almost completely devoid of stars. Posing a deceptively simple question—“What do we lose, when we lose the night?”—the film leads viewers on a quest to understand how light pollution affects people and the planet. In six chapters weaving together cutting-edge science with personal, meditative sequences reflecting on the human relationship to the sky, The City Dark shines new light on the meaning of the dark. 

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time

Saturday, November 25, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time is the first feature length documentary film ever made about famed conservationist Aldo Leopold. The film explores Aldo Leopold’s life in the early part of the twentieth century and the many ways his land ethic idea continues to be applied all over the world today. 

The film shares highlights from Leopold’s life and extraordinary career, explaining how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and still inspires people today. Although probably best known as the author of the conservation classic A Sand County Almanac, Leopold is also renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist, and wilderness advocate.

The film series is cosponsored by Audubon Connecticut.

It Glides Through The Air With The Greatest Of Ease

The southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) may be common in our area, but few people have ever seen one since this tiny forest sprite is a creature of the night. 

There are two species of flying squirrel in Connecticut. The southern species lives in deciduous and mixed forests of the eastern United States, from southern Maine to northern Florida. The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) prefers coniferous forests and can be found in Canada, as well as northern and mountainous regions of the U. S. The only area of Connecticut where it resides is in the higher elevations of the northwest corner.

Flying squirrels are our only nocturnal squirrels. They become active at dusk, emerging from a nest in a hollow tree, an old woodpecker hole or a nestbox. The nest is lined with bark, leaves, moss and feathers. In summer a nest is sometimes built of leaves and twigs on the outside of the tree. And occasionally you may find that flying squirrels have taken up residence in your nice, warm attic. 

The southern flying squirrel depends on the forest trees to provide it with sustenance, such as hickory nuts, acorns and beechnuts. Seeds, berries, mushrooms, insects and bird eggs are also eaten. Since it remains active throughout the year, the squirrel will store food for the leaner winter months. 

Its soft, silky fur is gray-brown above with white undersides. Large eyes help it to see in the deep darkness of a forest night. But its most amazing characteristic is the loose skin between the front and hind legs that allows it to fly.

Well, not actually fly. The squirrel doesn’t flap these skin folds; it uses them more like a parachute or glider. It spreads its legs wide and glides from the top of a tree to the trunk of another. From a height of 60 feet, a two and a half ounce flying squirrel can glide over 150 feet. By turning its legs and body and using its flattened tail as a rudder, the squirrel easily controls where it will glide and ultimately land. Another cool trick: upon landing it immediately runs up or around the tree trunk to hide from any predator that may have observed its flight. 

Unlike our other squirrel species, the flying squirrel is quite gregarious. Groups of these squirrels are known to feed and sleep together and there are reports of over 20 squirrels denning together for the winter. If you hear high-pitched birdlike twittering in the evening, shine a light up into the trees. Perhaps a troupe of flying squirrels is passing through.  

Submitted by Cindi Kobak

Image from Audubon’s Mammals: The Quadripeds of North America

Citizen Science: Neotropical Migrant Survey

USFWS

Once again Audubon Connecticut is seeking citizen scientists (volunteer birdwatchers) to participate in surveys of Neotropical migrant songbirds during fall migration, one morning per week from August 20 through October 20, 2012. Volunteers should have strong bird identification skills and at least a basic ability to identify common plants. Our priority sites for the surveys are coastal sites from Greenwich to New London as well as sites in the greater Hartford area, but people interested in conducting the surveys at other sites in Connecticut are welcome to participate as well. To volunteer or for more information, contact Lori Mott at zoogirl527@gmail.com.

The songbird surveys are part of Audubon’s new Habitat Oases for Migrating Songbirds program, which seeks to identify, improve and conserve important stop-over habitat for migrating songbirds all along the Atlantic migratory flyway, focusing on urban areas and other landscapes where there is limited quality habitat.

The program, performed in collaboration with Audubon chapters, botanical gardens, state and municipal parks departments, and other groups, engages citizen scientists in migratory songbird surveys of urban green spaces and rural forest remnants. The surveys help us to determine the characteristics of high quality stop-over habitat and which species of plants are most beneficial as food sources for migrating songbirds. Audubon and its partners are using the results of this study to:  

• Promote the protection of critical stop-over habitats by helping government agencies, corporations, land trusts, and other landowners make informed land use and land protection decisions
• Improve the quality of public and private lands as stop-over habitat for migrating birds by guiding the management and landscaping practices of natural resource managers, private landowners and professional landscapers
• Develop regionally-specific lists of “bird-friendly” native plants that may be used to guide landscaping practices in parks, gardens and backyards.

More Bad News

The  emerald ash borer has made its way into Connecticut. 

Environmental Headlines has the story: 

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station (CAES) announced today a series of strong, proactive steps aimed at preventing the spread of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a destructive beetle which has now been detected in Connecticut.

DEEP will also maintain a ban that has been in place against bringing any firewood into state parks and forests.  Wood is made available at these facilities for campers.DEEP and CAES announced earlier today that EAS was detected in Prospect, the first record of this pest in Connecticut.  There is also a second probable detection of EAS in Naugatuck State Forest, with final verification from federal officials in process....
The EAB is a small and destructive beetle, metallic green in color, and approximately 1/2 inch long and 1/8 inch wide.  Adults emerge from the bark of infested trees leaving a small “D”-shaped exit hole roughly 1/8 inch in diameter.  This insect is native to Asia and was first discovered in the Detroit, MI and Windsor, Ontario regions of North America in 2002.  It has since spread through the movement of firewood, solid-wood packing materials, infested ash trees, and by natural flight dispersal.

Climate Change? Yes.

From environment360:

New NASA satellite images show that the surface of virtually the entire ice sheet covering Greenland experienced melting in mid-July, a phenomenon not seen in three decades of satellite observations. Temperatures rose so high that ice on the Greenland’s highest peak, Summit Station, turned to slush, NASA said. Until the severe melting earlier this month, the greatest extent of surface melting observed by satellites over the past three decades covered about 55 percent of the ice sheet; on July 12, 97 percent of the ice sheet experienced surface melting.

These NASA maps show how, within the space of four days earlier this month, Greenland's vast ice sheet faced degree of melting not seen in three decades of satellite observations as temperatures there rose. The image at left shows the ice sheet on July 8, with a large part of it experiencing no melting in summer, as is typical. By July 12, the surface of virtually the entire ice sheet was melting, a phenomenon not seen in three decades of satellite imaging. (NASA)