Page 5 | Greenwich Sentinel
Where Cristina Buccieri’s Passion For Birds Is Leading Her By Anne W. Semmes Cristina Buccieri, age 1 2 , can trace her fascination with birds beginning four years ago witnessing the migration of hawks in late September at the Greenwich Audubon Center. “Everywhere you looked in the sky you saw one. It was one of the moments that just gave you some sort of hope, something that lifted you off your feet. It was incredible. You get these masses of birds - once we got around 2,700 birds of Broadwinged Hawks in these huge circles, which we call kettles. Everybody can experience this - you just need to go out and learn. That's why I try to insist that my friends come and visit Greenwich Audubon because it's so amazing. “The only thing is you have to open your eyes and start looking up, start noticing the bird calls you hear around you because we hear them all the time in the morning - we have that whoo, whoo of the Mourning Dove. We hear all these sweet songs of the Carolina Wren and all these Song Sparrows.” There’s no doubt Cristina is growing into a passionate advocate for learning about nature, beginning with birds. She just finished five weeks at the Audubon Center Summer Nature Day Camp. When she wasn’t soaking in her learning, she was teaching other campers and counselors. “I pointed out a couple of woodpecker sounds that we heard in the distance. I was talking to my counselors…
Cristina Buccieri sidles up to an owl at the Audubon Center. “She is living proof of how valuable education is at the core of Audubon's mission to protect birds as she is inspiring new generations of children to be just like her." Ryan MacLean, Audubon Bird Education Specialist. Photo by Anne W. Semmes. actually sharing some birdcalls I knew that they didn’t know, the Yellow Warbler’s ‘sweet, sweet so sweet’…about the Goldfinch which has the phrase ‘potato chip, potato chip,’ and the White Throated Sparrow, that goes, ‘oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada.’” So, what is Cristina aspiring to? What her Audubon mentor Ryan MacLean does as bird education specialist. “I want to share my knowledge with other people. And I also want to do a career that impacts with my love of birds.” [Historical note: Ryan MacLean f irst came to the Audubon Center age 12 and by 13 was learning about owls from now retired bird education
specialist Ted Gilman.] Cristina shares some of those magical bird moments MacLean has brought to her over the years at Audubon. “So, he taught me about the Woodcocks, and he inv ited us over at nig ht to go look at the Woodcocks display. And he was shining his flashlight along the trail, and we saw the Woodcocks going ‘beep, beep, beep,’ and displaying. They then f lew up 100 feet in the air in circles making this fluttering, ‘chich, chich, chich’ sound in their wings, and then suddenly they just dropped down, landing in the exact same spot they were in before.” But there was a double feature. “As he was shining his
light, the Woodcocks flew away, and then we saw two bright eyes fluffing back at us, a rabbit hopping along. And we realized why it ran so fast - two young bobcats came onto the road staring back at us, and then they walked away. It was amazing.” Then there was the call from Maclean to come to that other birding spot, the Edith Read Sanctuary in Rye. “And we saw this beautiful white Snowy Owl sitting on a branch of a dead tree. There you can see tons of Barn Owls which are just as beautiful, with their big faces and their monkey calls, like, ‘who cooks for you, who cooks for you.’” Cristina adds one more
magical moment at the Audubon Center. “Suddenly someone points out these things that look like geese. But then they start to come closer, and we see these beautiful long necks with the red on the top of their head. It was beautiful Sandhill Cranes and there were three, and it was at sunset. It was a really beautiful moment we shared.” Then there was her discovery la st ye a r of a bi r der ’s l i fe list. “Ryan told me about the Audu bon app that you ca n download that actually lets you make your own life list. So, basically this app allows you to identify different birds. It has a lot of cool features. It’s where you count every species of bird that you've never seen before.” After Cristina counted the birds she’d already seen her total come to 126, after seeing that Green Heron. [The Audu b on Ce nte r ’s sp e c ie s record is approximately 230]. “I really think the life list is cool to keep track of,” she says, “Like some people have thousands of species on their life list, and once you reach an older age it's nice to see how many you have.” For E a r t h D ay l a s t ye a r Cristina planted an organic garden in the front lawn of her Port Chester home. “So, the organic gardens mainly c o n s i s t o f ve g e t a b l e s a n d natural fertilizer because I've learned that pesticides sink into the ground and get into underg round water ways, or when a storm comes and washes it out from the grass.” S h e ’s r a i s e d a to t a l o f 6 0
Monarch butterf lies of f the milkweed she planted, including an albino Monarch. “If you've seen a Monarch butterf ly it's exactly what they look like but everything that's orange on them is white. It's beautiful.” Cristina submitted a video of her garden with its pole of six bird feeders to Audubon that was shown in an Audubon zoom call. Her gardening became a teaching moment, learning about the connection between pesticides and fish in Long Island Sound. “And we get fish from there. So, let’s say it’s almost like self-poisoning because a fish comes to us, and we eat the fish.” Cristina’s desire to share what she’s learned has her proposing a nature club to the principal of her school, Corpus Christi Holy Rosary where she’ll be entering the seventh grade. “My principal actually accepted the idea and she said we might do it,” she tells, her fingers crossed. “Some kids are in their own world in my class. Some of them don't want anything to do with it, so it might take a while. But some of them every time I’ve spotted a Turkey Vulture, or a Red-tailed Hawk over the blacktop during recess, they'll say, ‘Where, where…that's so cool.’ So, I think some of them are like really excited about nature. Some of them got really curious and when they found out I was creating a club they said, “Sign me up right away when it opens!”
Community PRIDE Shines in Greenwich By Shari Shapiro Tu r n i n g my c ol u m n ove r, once again, to my colleague Joe Belisle, who runs the Lighthouse LGBTQ teen group at Kids In Crisis. June Pride was a busy and rewarding month at Kids In Crisis. We are grateful for with the support we received toward our mission of building healthy communities where children and families thr ive throu gh prevention , coun seling , and crisis services available 24-hours ever y day. In particular, we were thrilled to watch a new community initiative launch and grow, and we have nothing but gratitude and respect for those who made it possible. A s t he Co ord i nator K ids In Crisis LGBTQ youth prog ram, Lig hthouse – my heart is very full today as I write this. I want to take this opportunity to give a gigantic shout-out and thank you to Wells Noonan who graciously spent a lot of time and energy on our behalf to have
Every rainbow yard sign is a lifeline to LGBTQ people everywhere. They are an important display of welcome and inclusion.
#Greenw ich HasP r ide law n signs made and displayed on lawns throughout Greenwich. 100% of the proceeds went to our Lighthouse group here at Kids In Crisis! We a s k e d G r e e n w i c h residents to put these signs out during June Pride Month and so many of you purchased one and displayed it with pride. We are so honored and proud to partner with Wells in this
initiative that she so cleverly dreamed up. We thank you for your enthusiasm and for recog nizing that sy mbols matter. Every rainbow yard sig n is a lifeline to LGBTQ people everywhere. They are an important display of welcome and inclusion. Many LGBTQ people suffer alone and in silence still in the closet or worse, out of the closet, but still not accepted
by f a m i l y or f r i e nd s . 4 2 % of L GBT Q yout h s er iou sly considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and non-binary youth. More than 80% of LGBTQ youth stated t h at COV I D -19 m ade t hei r living situation more stressful — and only 1 in 3 LGBTQ youth found their home to be LGBTQaffirming.* Thank you too to everyone that put out a sign on their front yard. We saw them and so did our community’s LGBTQ youth population! Other Fairf ield County towns took note of what we were doing and joined in on the effort; hopefully this will only grow in coming years. You all made a difference in the lives of so many LGBTQ youth who
make their home right here. Your support means so much to me personally and to the kids that we serve. I’m so proud to call this community home and proud that you understand the importance of the outreach work we do. A million thank you’s!! *Trevor Project – National LGBTQ Mental Health Survey 2021 Located in Cos Cob, Connecticut Kids In Crisis provides emergency shelter, cr isis counseling, and community education programs for children of all ages and families facing crisis. Crisis can include domestic violence, mental health concerns, homelessness, substance abuse, economic difficulties, and other critical challenges. The Kids In Crisis Helpline is staffed 24 hours a day w it h t ra i ne d Cr isis Cou nselors, a nd prov ide s free, confidential phone and face -to -face i nter vent ion,
counseling, and referrals. Since its founding in 1978, Kids In Crisis has provided vital 24hour services to more than 158,000 children and teens, and their families. Providers, educators, community members, and family members are encouraged to call the 24-hour helpline: 203661-1911 for support.
Jos eph B eli sle d raws a n d paints, teaches art, is husband to David, and father to Faith. Belisle proudly runs Lighthouse, the LGBTQ+ teen group at Kids in Crisis. He grew up in a big family in a small New England town and currently lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut..
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