Bird Migration Film Epic Journeys Will Start 2014-2015 Programs

Shawn Carey

Each year millions of shorebirds make an amazing round-trip journey between the Northern and Southern hemisphere. Join us on September 10 when filmmaker Shawn Carey presents his documentary Epic Journeys which looks at three shorebird species — Red Knot, Piping Plover and Semipalmated Sandpiper—and the challenges these species face during each of their monumental annual treks.

Shawn Carey is a resident of Boston, MA and has been photographing birds and other wildlife for about 20 years. He’s been teaching wildlife photography for Mass Audubon for over 12 years.

Brian Kleinman

Taped entirely in Connecticut, Connecticut Reptiles takes viewers on a video adventure that shows the remarkable variety of the state’s native snakes, turtles, and lizard, and the natural places they inhabit. On October 8, naturalist Brian Kleinman will present his film with incredible insights into each animal’s unique adaptations, lifestyles and place in local landscapes. He will also bring some live reptiles.

On November 12 naturalists and photographers Barbara and Peter Rzasa will present Iceland’s Birds, Flowers and Wildlife, a slide show of several Icelandic flora and fauna that can be found while traveling Iceland’s 832-mile long Ring Road.

Peter Rzasa

Iceland is often called “The Land of Fire and Ice” because of the many volcanoes, glaciers and spectacular waterfalls that populate the country. The country is also a noted birder’s paradise famous for its population of Atlantic puffins, ptarmigan, arctic terns and other arctic birds found along Iceland’s 3,700 miles of coast. Reindeer, arctic fox, humpback whales and seals can frequently be seen while Icelandic horses can be found roaming the farmlands. 

Climate Change is a simple phrase used to describe an incredibly complex issue. Extensive research has identified changes in weather patterns and seasonal temperatures that are affecting ecosystems and communities from our backyards to the entire planet. The effect of climate change on birds could be significant. Saltmarsh sparrows nest just

Patrick Comins

above the high tide line and are already susceptible to spring tides flooding their nests. What would climate change-caused sea level rise mean to the survival of this species? On December 10, Heather Crawford will give us a look at the history of the Earth and human civilization, along with some simple science, so that we can better understand how we have come to our current situation and what kinds of decisions will need to be made as we move forward as stewards of our world.

Heather is an environmental educator who spent 14 years working with the Connecticut Sea Grant Extension Program and presenting programs on coastal ecosystems and land use impacts on water sources. She now chairs the Madison Conservation Commission and does freelance environmental education, including leading ecology field trips for local schools.

(Reprinted from September 2014 Newsletter.)

Bird Migration Film Epic Journeys Will Start 2014-2015 Programs

Each year millions of shorebirds make an amazing round-trip journey between the Northern and Southern hemisphere. Join us on September 10 when filmmaker Shawn Carey presents his documentary Epic Journeys which looks at three shorebird species — Red Knot, Piping Plover and Semipalmated Sandpiper—and the challenges these species face during each of their monumental annual treks.

Shawn Carney

The film asks burning questions: What is being done to help protect these shorebirds and their habitat? How can the public help with their conservation? And where can one go to best see each of these species en-route to their destinations?

Shawn Carey is a resident of Boston, MA and has been photographing birds and other wildlife for about 20 years. He’s been teaching wildlife photography for Mass Audubon for over 12 years.

Taped entirely in Connecticut, Connecticut Reptiles takes viewers on a video adventure that shows the remarkable variety of the state’s native snakes, turtles, and lizard, and the natural places they inhabit. On October 8, naturalist Brian Kleinman will present his film with incredible insights into each animal’s unique adaptations, lifestyles and place in local landscapes. He will also bring some live reptiles.

Brian Kleinman

On November 12 naturalists and photographers Barbara and Peter Rzasa will present Iceland’s Birds, Flowers and Wildlife, a slide show of several Icelandic flora and fauna that can be found while traveling Iceland’s 832-mile long Ring Road.

Peter Rzasa

Iceland is often called “The Land of Fire and Ice” because of the many volcanoes, glaciers and spectacular waterfalls that populate the country. The country is also a noted birder’s paradise famous for its population of Atlantic puffins, ptarmigan, arctic terns and other arctic birds found along Iceland’s 3,700 miles of coast. Reindeer, arctic fox, humpback whales and seals can frequently be seen while Icelandic horses can be found roaming the farmlands.  

Programs run from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford (map).

From the July 2014 Newsletter.

The Atlantic Flyway

As birds continue their migration along the Atlantic Flyway from their northern breeding grounds to their wintering areas in the Caribbean, and Central and South America, Audubon Connecticut’s Director of Bird Conservation Patrick Comins reminds us about the value documenting where shorebirds gather to feed and rest.

It would be helpful to document migrant shorebird usage in the state. Many of our shorebirds continue to decline at disturbing levels and the better we understand stopover foraging areas, high tide roosts, and other habitats that may be essential for them in migration, the better we can protect the places that are important to them. There is a easy way you can help, simply eBird your sightings and share them with ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.

It is important to track big concentrations areas for any migrants, but of particular concern are Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and of course the few Red Knots that find themselves on the habitat limited coast of Connecticut and any concentrations of migrant Piping Plovers.

Dunlin - Terry Shaw

This only covers the globally threatened and candidate species, but American Oystercatcher, Solitary Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Whimbrel, both godwits, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitcher are all considered “Birds of Conservation Concern” by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Please keep in mind that these birds are on a tight energy budget and are of serious conservation concern, so please take care to avoid flushing them in the course of counts, and thank you for your help!

(From the September 2013 newsletter)

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.

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.