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.
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.
Details coAudubon'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.ming soon.
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.
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.
The Guilford Conservation Commission is sponsoring a community-wide Earth Day Celebration on Guilford Town Green on Sunday afternoon, May 4, 2025, from 1:00 – 4:00. Menunkatuck will be there.
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.
Join us to learn about our conservation programs including native plants for natural climate solutions, marsh migration, homes for birds, and making homes bird safe..
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.