Join Menunkatuck Audubon Society at the 156-acre Ansonia Nature Center for a celebration of Mother Earth.

These celebrations will honor the environmental legacy and spirit of the first Earth Day, which was held on April 22, 1970, by acknowledging the seriousness of today’s climate crisis and by affirming the ways in which residents of our town, region, and state are responding to the environmental crisis of human-caused global warming.

Enjoy native plants, hikes, live animals, and environmental exhibitors. Learn about our conservation programs including native plants for natural climate solutions, marsh migration, homes for birds, and making homes bird safe.

Food and unique items are available for sale from local vendors.

All ages are welcome to this family-friendly event. No park admission fee. No registration required.

Good News for Linking Habitat Conservation Across the Americas

John Hannan has worked with multiple bird conservation organizations across the Americas. Join us to see his beautiful imagery of our hemisphere’s birds and landscapes while learning about some of the key bird conservation initiatives happening right now across the Americas.

This work, being done by a wide ranging coalition, has become a core part of National Audubon’s ten-year strategy and there is a central role chapters can play in it. Together we can help build healthy and sustainable communities all along our migratory birds’ flyways, therefore protecting the same birds we work to safeguard right here in Connecticut. From massive endeavors to preserve more than 550 million acres of of coastal and wetlands habitat to community science projects you can participate in, John will present an uplifting view of bird conservation in the Americas and ways you can be part of it.

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Audubon's Bird-Friendly Maple Program recognizes maple producers and sugarbush managers who commit to managing their forest for bird habitat value alongside sap production. Through this work, these land managers help improve habitat for many species of birds who depend on our forests for breeding and migratory stopover habitat, and whose populations have been declining. The Bird-Friendly Maple Program began in Vermont, has been steadily expanding into more states, and currently includes 8 sugarbushes across nearly 100 acres of forest in Connecticut. In this webinar, we will cover the basics of Bird-Friendly Maple, what ideal sugarbush habitat looks like, and how this program contributes to Audubon's overall forest work.

Rosa Goldman (she/her) is a Forest Program Senior Associate with Audubon Connecticut and New York, a regional office of the National Audubon Society. As part of Audubon's Healthy Forests team, she works with private landowners, land trusts, and state and conservation partners to advance habitat management for forest birds across Connecticut, as well as in New York's Hudson Valley. Rosa manages Audubon's Bird-Friendly Maple and Forester Training & Endorsement programs in Connecticut. She is a licensed forester in Connecticut and holds a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of the Environment.

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The Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR), a center within the University of Connecticut, was designated in January 2022, as the newest of 30 such sites across the country that focus on coastal research, education, and stewardship.Kevin  O’Brien, manager of the CT NERR, oversees a staff responsible for a variety of projects that target collaborative, place-based approaches to delivering environmental monitoring, science, education/training, and stewardship that address issues of habitat sustainability, climate impacts, and water quality in southeastern Connecticut.

This presentation will provide attendees with a background of what the National Estuarine Research Reserve System is and brief history of how the CT NERR came to be. It will also provide details on some of the current and future efforts designed to provide locally relevant and nationally significant programs, information, and resources to help create a resilient, healthy Long Island Sound estuary and watershed where human and natural communities thrive.

Kevin has a Bachelor’s Degree from Lafayette College and a Master’s Degree from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. He was a NOAA Coastal Services Center Coastal Management Fellow from 1999-2001, and prior to joining the CT NERR, he spent over 20 years within the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s Land and Water Resource Division, working on state and regional programs focused on coastal resource management. One of the projects he managed was the CT NERR designation.

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We've all heard amazing facts about bird migration—the long distances that birds travel, the ways that they navigate, etc. But did you ever wonder how we figured all of this out? While working for the American Ornithological Society, Rebecca Heisman became fascinated with the varied and creative techniques that scientists have used to study bird migration, and this eventually became the basis for her book Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird

Migration. In her talk, she'll share some surprising stories from the history of bird migration research and discuss why understanding migration is so crucial for bird conservation.Rebecca Heisman is an award-winning science writer who lives in Walla Walla, Washington, and has worked with organizations including the Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the American Ornithological Society. Flight Paths is her first book.

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Ticks are a significant concern in Connecticut due to their role in transmitting various diseases, most notably Lyme disease. The state's dense woodlands, moderate climate, and diverse wildlife make it an ideal habitat for ticks, particularly the black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick.

Addressing the problem with ticks in Connecticut requires a multi-faceted approach involving personal vigilance, community efforts, and scientific research to mitigate the risks and protect public health.

Join a talk by Dr. Scott C. Williams, Head of the Department of Environmental Science and Forestry at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station about tick management research. Scott will discuss tick and tick-borne pathogen management research he and his team are conducting throughout Connecticut including Guilford.

His recent research is investigating host-targeted efforts, specifically the impacts of medicating white-footed mice and white-tailed deer, similar to treating pets against fleas and ticks but at drastically lower doses. He hopes that this strategy can reduce tick and pathogen abundances at a town-wide level, which should translate to fewer ticks and reduced opportunity for the public to obtain a tick-borne disease. Come with questions on ticks and disease ecology and he will be happy to entertain them.

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The Shepaug Dam Bald Eagle Observation Area has provided visitors with views of wintering Bald Eagles for 30 years. The Shepaug Hydroelectric Station keeps the water below the dam to be ice-free in winter and the churning water brings fish close to the surface making it a place that Bald Eagles are able to find food in the coldest of winter.

We will be at the observation area for about an hour. There are no facilities besides porta-potties. Dress warmly in layers. Bring lunch, binoculars, and cameras.

The drive time between Shepaug Dam and the Menunkatuck chapter towns is between 45 and 75 minutes.

Space is limited to 20 participants so reservations are required. For more information email Carl Harvey at carl@menunkatuck.org.

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In the last 50 years, 2.9 billion breeding adult birds have been lost from the United States and Canada. To put it another way, we've lost more than a quarter of our birdlife since 1970. These findings were reported in the world's leading scientific journal, Science.

Grassland birds are hard hit, with a 53% reduction in population — more than 720 million birds. In the Northeast some species no longer breed. This decline is largely due to hayfield mowing during the weeks that species such as Savannah Sparrows, Bobolinks, and Eastern Meadowlarks are actively nesting. New England's working farmers, in particular, face financial pressures that force them to mow earlier and more frequently. To protect these grassland birds we must develop new strategies.

Margaret Fowle will discuss grassland bird ecology and some of the challenges these species face in the Northeastern US. She will present some strategies such as the Bobolink Project designed to mitigate and potentially reverse the population declines of this important suite of species.

Margaret Fowle is a conservation biologist and Program Manager with Audubon Vermont's Priority Bird and Working Lands Initiatives. Prior to coming to Audubon in 2009, Margaret coordinated Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle recovery efforts in Vermont. Margaret obtained her Master's degree in wildlife biology from the University of Vermont.

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This year the Connecticut State Legislature is meeting in a “long session”. Audubon has several areas in which legislation is sought to protect birds and the places they need. Among these are legislation regarding:

• Regulating neonicotinoids for non-agricultural use

• Expanding nature based solutions

• Protecting vulnerable communities from climate change by supporting urban forestry and community interest in tree planting and maintenance, parks, and/or community gardens in densely populated areas

Join us as we host Robert LaFrance, Director of Policy for Audubon Connecticut, for a discussion of these and other legislative initiatives and learn what you can do to help getting them passed. Before joining Audubon, Rob had a long career with DEEP as its legislative liaison and brings long relationships with legislators to Audubon.

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Join Menunkatuck Audubon Society as we participate in the 124th Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Every year, Christmas Bird Count volunteers collect valuable data on winter bird populations that augment scientific studies and aid regulatory decisions. Christmas Bird Count data was used in the recent Audubon climate report, Survival by Degrees and is used for the Bird Migration Explorer.

How to get involved: Birders of all levels are welcome to participate! More experienced birders may be assigned as a team leader, while those with less experience will be paired with an appropriate team leader. Anyone residing within the count area can submit “Feeder Watch” data from their own property. We will also need volunteers willing to help with publicity, data compilation, providing refreshments, and other tasks. 

For more information: If you would like to participate, please contact Sue Stark (sue@menuntatuck.org).

To view a map of Menunkatuck’s Christmas Bird Count Circle, please visit: menunkatuck.org/christmas-bird-count. 

The winter wildlife of Japan offers a number of spectacles unmatched in the wild! Tens of thousands of Cranes of at least 5 species can be seen feeding on snowy fields or flying into roost against the backdrop of glorious sunsets in Kagoshima. The famous dancing Red-crowned Cranes are in full performance in Kushiro. Snow Monkeys (Japanese Macaques) frolic in hot thermal pools in the Jigokudani valley. Japanese Murrelets come to near shore islands to breed. Steller’s Sea-Eagles, White-tailed Eagles, hordes of seabirds and ducks winter on and around Hokkaido. And, if you know where to go, you can watch the massive Blakiston’s Fish-Owl catch fish right out your bedroom window! This program reveals the winter wildlife of Japan with vivid photos and anecdotes from travels around this island nation of eastern Asia.
A naturalist and birder for more than thirty years, Gina first became fascinated with the natural world in rural upstate New York where she spent most of her childhood out of doors. In 2005, Gina founded Sunrise Birding, LLC to offer personalized, authentic, affordable private and small group bird watching and wildlife tours around the world.

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Join Menunkatuck Audubon and CPEN as they host the Fall 2024 All Things Pollinator with educational booths, kids’ activities, give-aways, and sale of plants from the UrbanScapes nursery.

Huge Native Plant Sale
Over 60 species

Exhibitors include:

• Menunkatuck Audubon- Bird Friendly Native Plants

• Highstead Ecotype Plants and Mason Bee Habitat

• CT-NOFA, ECO 59, Ecotype Project- Native ecotype seed- Food and Pollinator Connection

• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

• Pollinator Pathway- Pollinator Pathways in CT

• WildOnes- Landscaping with Natives

• Xerces Society- Pollinator Education and Children's Activities

• See a Bee Hive and Meet the Beekeeper

• Learn How to Identify Native Plants Using Your Smartphone

Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day by joining Menunkatuck and New Haven Parks' Ranger Harry Coyle for a leisurely canoe trip up the West River in New Haven We will start at the Barnard Nature Center and canoe upstream past the Westville Music Bowl and through Edgewood Park as far as the water level allows.

Lingering birds may include Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, late migrating sandpipers, and Belted Kingfishers. Binoculars will be helpful. Bring water and a snack.

Parks will have eight canoes for 2-3 people per canoe. Bring your own canoe or kayak if you have one.

Registration is required for use of a Parks canoe. Register here.

High wind, rain, temperature below 60 cancel.

Join us for a special community program live from Dnipro, Ukraine, with Ukrainian birder Oleksandr Nastachenko. Because of the time difference between Ukraine and here, we’ve scheduled it for Saturday, October 12, at noon, 7:00 pm in Ukraine.

Dnipro is a city in the eastern part of Ukraine, about 100 miles from Russian occupied areas. Before the Russian invasion Oleksandr traveled throughout Ukraine on his birding adventures. He is now mostly limited to the city limits and even then some sites are out of limits because of their military value.

Oleksandr writes:

I want to tell you that even despite the war, such a hobby as birding in Ukraine has not lost its significance. This hobby continues to gain momentum in the country. People want to do what they love and even find new species of birds for the country's fauna! Birds help us to escape from the many incredible problems and fears that people living in peaceful countries where there are no wars do not face. Birds help us live and this is no exaggeration! Birds help us if there is a serious illness, if you are scared, if you do not know how to live on. Birding saves!

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Ponds, rivers, streams, and marshes are our most biologically diverse environments. Though two streams or ponds may be only a mile apart, each could harbor a unique mix of species, particularly when separated by the hilly landscapes familiar across southern New England. That very diversity can also make life in ponds, rivers, and streams vulnerable: rivers contain more varieties of threatened or endangered wildlife than any other environment.

Patrick Lynch’s talk will look at the variety of birds and other wildlife in freshwater environments and ways to enhance your wildlife viewing to include the myriad other creatures living in our southern New England wetlands — all while keeping your feet dry.

Patrick J. Lynch is the author of many field guides, the most recent of which is A Field Guide to the Connecticut River: From New Hampshire to Long Island Sound, published by Yale University Press in April 2024. His previous books include A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife: Marine Mammals, Seabirds, Fish, and Other Sea Life; A Field Guide to the Southeast Coast & Gulf of Mexico: Coastal Habitats, Seabirds, Marine Mammals, Fish, & Other Wildlife; A Field Guide to Long Island Sound: Coastal Habitats, Plant Life, Fish, Seabirds, Marine Mammals, and Other Wildlife; A Field Guide to Cape Cod: Including Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, and Eastern Long Island; and A Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

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Join Menunkatuck Audubon Society at the Henry Whitfield State Museum in Guilford for Nature Stewards Field Day. We will share information about our local conservation work and have plants from UrbanScapes Native Plant Nursery for sale.

Owls and turtles and bees, oh my! See live animals and discover ways to be a better nature steward from people doing the work.

• Well-Comb Home will display an observation beehive and have their local honey and beeswax products for sale.

• See – and even pet – some of Turtle Haven’s rescued and rehabilitating turtles.

• Learn how to help save displaced and orphaned wildlife with Little Rascals Rescue and Rehabilitation & Raccoon Crossing, Inc.

• See monarch butterflies and discover more about native plants and creating pollinator pathways with Quercus Works Gardens.

Special presentations will take place throughout the afternoon. At 1:00 pm, meet a Great Horned Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Broad-Winged Hawk in a birds of prey presentation by Rose Crisci of Blue Moon Raptors. Angelina Carnevale from Turtle Haven will introduce some of her turtle ambassadors and talk about how to help wild turtles and pet turtles thrive at 2:00 pm. Tour the museum’s 4-month-old native pollinator garden at 3:00 pm with Heather Bradley from Quercus Works Gardens to find out how she installed it and chose the different plants.

A craft area will feature supplies and instructions to make shadow drawings from nature. All ages are invited to pick up their supplies and then explore the museum’s beautiful grounds to find their artistic subject, whether it’s a branch of a majestic red oak tree, a bloom on a native plant in the pollinator garden, or anything else that inspires them.

Admission to the program, the Whitfield House, and the exhibit galleries is free and the event will be held rain or shine. Support provided by Connecticut Humanities.

Join us for this special webinar celebrating the launch of Lights Out Connecticut’s new educational tool, a 5-day lesson plan for Connecticut middle-school science classrooms to promote learning on light pollution and its impacts on migratory birds. In the lesson plan, students learn about how and why birds migrate through Connecticut, discover how human development can negatively impact migratory birds during migration, and help come up with solutions. Written by Catherine Ferreri, a Connecticut middle-school educator, the learning module equips science students with age-appropriate information and critical thinking skills to answer questions like—why do birds migrate, what species of birds migrate near me, what kinds of foods do they eat during migration, and why are migratory birds an important part of ecosystems? The launch is specially timed for the start of fall bird migration in Connecticut on August 15. Our hope is that this educational resource, which meets  Next Generation Science Standards, will foster greater appreciation and care for migratory birds and the night sky by young people and local communities in Connecticut. This project was funded by the Hartford Audubon Society and individual donations to Lights Out Connecticut. 

Format: Interview with Catherine Ferreri, lesson plan author and science teacher at Coleytown Middle School in Westport, CT; and Meredith Barges, lesson plan co-developer and co-chair of Lights Out Connecticut.

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Join Menunkatuck, the Land Trust of West Haven, and  ArtsWest CT for a reception with introductions to neighbors who are active tribal members, authors, environmental advocates, and researchers,

There will be a discussion with Q&A to learn more about their work, our community, and each other.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is negatively impacting ecosystems around the world. Urban areas, and urban forests specifically, experience these negative impacts especially acutely. While urban forests and trees in cities are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change they are also capable of mitigating climate change and helping to offset its negative impacts.

In this talk, Dr. Danica Doroski, State Urban Forestry Coordinator for Connecticut will explain how climate change impacts trees and forests within the urban matrix, how these urban trees and forests can in turn help to offset climate change and discuss what this means for the management of Connecticut’s urban forests and beyond.

Danica had been working in urban forestry and related fields for the past 10 years as a horticulturalist at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, PA, Volunteer Coordinator for the New York Restoration Project in New York City, NY, Outreach Coordinator for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and most recently as Statue Urban Forestry Coordinator with Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. She holds a BA from Bates College in Maine, a MFS from the Yale School of the Environment, and a PhD from the Yale School of the Environment.

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Join Highstead, Menunkatuck Audubon, and CPEN as they host the Fall 2024 All Things Pollinator with educational booths, kids’ activities, give-aways, and sale of plants from the UrbanScapes nursery.

Tentative exhibitors include:

• Highstead — Ecotype Project, Sowing Seeds and Transplanting

• CT-NOFA —Eco-region 59, Ecotype Project, Native ecotype seed, Food and Pollinator Connection

• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station — How to Survey a Flower Garden for Bumble Bees

• Pollinator Pathways — Pollinator Pathways in CT

• Wiggle Room — Worms and Healthy Soils

• Menunkatuck Audubon — Bird friendly native plants

• Audubon Connecticut — Bird friendly native plants

• WildOnes — Landscaping with Natives

• Kellogg Environmental Center — Kids Exploration Pollinators

• New Haven Public Free Library — Seed library

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For a relatively small state, Connecticut is blessed with two of the nation's largest and most biologically significant estuaries — places where salty ocean water mixes with freshwater. The Connecticut River and Long Island Sound estuaries are two of the planet's most productive ecosystems, and these are no hidden treasures. International groups have long recognized the wildlife riches of our region, as we've seen in the recent Federal designation of parts of our coast and rivers within the new National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR).

The lower Connecticut River is the most pristine large-river tidal marsh system in the Northeast, thanks mainly to the lack of a major port at or near its mouth. Constantly shifting sandbars and sediment reefs have always made the lower Connecticut River a difficult place for larger ships. The lack of an urban, industrialized port has preserved the unspoiled rural character of the landscape around the river and protected its many brackish and freshwater environments.

In addition to hosting large populations of migratory waterfowl, the rich tidal marshes of the Connecticut are home to several rare, threatened, or endangered species, including the Bald Eagle, Shortnose Sturgeon, Puritan Tiger Beetle, and the tiny, beach-nesting Piping Plover and Least Tern. This talk will look at some of the glories of our local shore and river wildlife, and the likely impact of human activity and climate change on the Sound and the River.

Naturalist Patrick J. Lynch spent years researching the Connecticut River for his new book A Field Guide to the Connecticut River: From New Hampshire to Long Island Sound. The book offers an expansive guide to this majestic region with more than 750 original maps, photographs, and illustrations. Organized around environments rather than particular locations, the book includes geological overviews and descriptions of common plants and animals. Lynch also explains the landscape’s environmental history as well as the effects of centuries of human interventions and the growing fallout from climate change.

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The Guilford Keeping Society invited Menunkatuck to sell plants from UrbanScapes Native Plant Nursery at their June 8 fundraiser.

We will bring a selection of the perennials and shrubs that we are growing at our nursery in New Haven. All of the plants are straight natives, no cultivars or nativars.

We will also have information about the important role that native plants play in the environment and other measures that you can take to help create healthy and viable ecosystems and habitat for people, birds, and other wildlife.

Light pollution has robbed us from experiencing the night sky. With this loss humans have suffered from insomnia, stress, and increased cancer rates.

Join us as we explore the human connection to the cosmos focusing on mythologies, human health, and well-being.

Presenter Craig Repasz is cochair of the Lights Out Connecticut project of Menunkatuck. He is also the President of the Friends of Stewart B McKinney NWR, an organization devoted to supporting this important refuge. He enjoys backpacking and conducts Mountain Birdwatch surveys for the Vermont Center of Ecostudies, focusing on the Bicknell’s Thrush and other high elevation species.

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Are you at all curious about the birds that live in urban habitats? If so, join us Thursday, May 30, at 6:00 PM, for a neighborhood-based accessible birding event! You might be surprised by the range of species we uncover! CPEN and Menunkatuck Audubon are at the Learning Corridor in New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood. to celebrate #BlackBirdersWeek. The trip will take us along the Farmington Canal Trail searching for the wide variety of birds that can be found in an urban neighborhood.

The outing is accessible for people with mobility challenges and is appropriate for families and beginners. The Farmington Canal Trail and the sidewalks are paved and level. Binoculars will be provided.

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Once considered a wasted resource and a hazard in forest landscapes, dead trees and logs are now known to be valuable and essential parts of a healthy forest ecosystem.  Join Margery Winters of the Roaring Brook Nature Center to learn how they provide habitat and food for many terrestrial and aquatic species, act as seedbeds for new trees, and serve as a source of water, energy, carbon, and nutrients for the entire forest.

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Vultures are often overlooked, under-appreciated, and unloved, despite the vital roles they play in healthy ecosystems. Worldwide, vultures are primarily scavengers; they can help stop the spread of disease by quickly and efficiently removing dead animals from the landscape. Unfortunately, due to poisoning, direct persecution, habitat loss, and other threats, vultures are more likely to be threatened or endangered than any other group of raptors. But in the Western Hemisphere, Turkey and Black Vultures counter this trend and are increasing in number.

Based on Katie Fallon’s recent book, this fun presentation will explore the life and times of the noble Turkey Vulture, including its feeding, nesting, and roosting habits, migratory behaviors, and common misconceptions. Katie will also discuss what it’s like to be up-close-and-personal with Turkey and Black Vultures through her work with the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia.

Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (2020, 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (2011), as well as two books for children. She is a founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the region’s wild birds through research, education, and rehabilitation, and has served as President of the Mountaineer Chapter of the National Audubon Society. A member of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, Katie has worked with birds since 1998; over the last twenty years she has given educational presentations featuring live raptors, vultures, parrots, and corvids. She is also a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest and has taught writing at West Virginia University, Virginia Tech, and elsewhere. Her first word was “bird.” For more: www.katiefallon.com.

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Presented by Meredith Barges, Co-Chair of Lights Out Connecticut, bird-friendly building advocate, and former policy researcher at the Yale Bird-Friendly Building Initiative. Through her work, Meredith helps people to understand and appreciate the complex lives of birds, how birds interact with the built environment, and how our decisions about buildings, lighting, and landscaping affect bird populations. She helped to lead the successful campaign to pass Connecticut's new lights out law, Public Act 23-143, in 2023. She also co-authored Building Safer Cities for Birds: How Cities Are Leading the Way on Bird-Friendly Building Policy (American Bird Conservancy & Yale Law School, 2023).

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Fun, free, family-friendly activities at Newhallville’s Learning Corridor.,

• Bird Walks

• Bird-friendly Gardening Tips

• Native Plants for Sale

• Scavenger Hunt

• Information about New Haven’s Urban Oases and Schoolyard Habitats

• Learn about the amazing distances that some birds travel in migration

• Kids’ activities

• Pancake breakfast 10:00-12:00

Live Raptor Show - 12:30

Live bird shows are not being offered because of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Sponsored by Audubon Connecticut, Menunkatuck Audubon Society, and Community Placemaking Engagement Network.