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.

Register to get Zoom link.

Birds are facing significant population challenges all over the world. Changes in habitat, seasons that are shifting, severe storms, and increased temperatures are all playing a part in an overall decline in numbers. The National Audubon Society is working to find ways to change those trajectories through significant and ambitious goals in conservation - from both ends of the spectrum: increasing the chances for successful breeding bird seasons, and reducing bird mortality rates.

We hear a good deal about bird window collisions that occur in urban environments, because really, when you can show pictures of hundreds of bird deaths in a day during migration season, it becomes news. We read about it, we see pictures of it and in response, we work to find solutions to prevent it from happening again. What we don’t hear about are the average of two birds per residence per year that occur from window strikes in suburban and rural neighborhoods. Although these don’t feel like they are significant in comparison, if you add those numbers up, the deaths of birds as a result are staggering - more than in any city. It is estimated that over 1 billion birds die as a result of window collisions per year in North America. It is considered to be the third highest cause of bird mortality, following habitat loss and predation by domestic cats.

Menunkatuck President Dennis Riordan will provide an overview of the issues that surround building collisions and actions that can be taken at our homes, businesses, schools and other public buildings to help reduce the number of bird deaths each year.

Register to get Zoom link.

The rocks found in Connecticut’s gentle hills and flat river valleys belie the wonderfully complex geological history of our small state. They tell a story that encompasses periods of mountain building with mountains higher than the Himalayas when Connecticut was located off the coast of Africa as well as a time when parts of what is now Connecticut was covered by an ancient ocean. They bear witness to the numerous lava flows that several times covered central Connecticut and earthquakes that titled these flows and formed our central ridges.  Our rock walls and isolated boulders give evidence of our state’s more recent glacial history.  Join us as Magjery Winters leads us on an exploration of this fascinating geological story and learn how all these events contributed to Connecticut being called the “Cradle of Mining.”

\Margery is the Assistant Director and instructor at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton where she is delighted to be able to share her passion for earth science and nature with students of all ages. She manages the Nature Center’s native plant gardens and is an advocate for the role of natives in our designed landscapes. She is a Master Landscape Design Consultant.

Register to get Zoom link.