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.

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“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

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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

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.