Winter 2019-2020 Connecting people to nature in northern Westchester and eastern Putnam counties and beyond.
PRESIDENT’S THOUGHTS… It’s cold! Is it me, or has the temperature dropped earlier and faster than usual? Perhaps it’s just that I returned from California in the 70’s to New York in the 30’s! After adding many new birds I saw out west to my ebird list I’m now enjoying all our local favorites at the feeders. It’s been another year of progress for Bedford Audubon, with Sean O’Connor, Steve Ricker and Jennifer Segal joining our board of directors. I’d like to thank former board member Marilyn Glass for her years of passionate service to the organization. Karen Rositzke recently joined our staff to help us connect even better with our members and donors and support the team. I would like to thank our staff, Suzanne, Tait, Genny and Karen for the wonderful work they do for Bedford Audubon.
Photo by Charlotte R. Catalano
This year we’ve run over 60 programs for our community: bird walks, field trips, workshops, lectures, open houses, and many other special events. The variety of birds and other wildlife seen by attendees is amazing – a reminder how important it is for us to preserve them.
A hatch-year Tufted Titmouse caught during bird banding at Bedford Audubon.
I want to thank all those who generously contribute to our work. As the natural world comes under more and more threat your donations are essential for us to achieve all we do. We’re particularly grateful to Caesar and Gail Bryan for supporting our educational programs such as Hawkwatch; and to the Samuel Freeman Trust who supported our kitchen renovation. 2020 is planned to be another great year in our journey to connect people to nature and we hope to see and talk with you about your thoughts. Many thanks and Happy Holidays, Simon Brocklehurst, President
A
bout birds birds What We Do: Bird Banding
Bedford Audubon operates an active Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS for short) Station in our Hunt-Parker Sanctuary from late May to early August. This program is made possible through grants and the generous support of our members and donors. MAPS is a North American research project led by the Institute for Bird Populations. Our banding data is submitted alongside 500+ other MAPS Stations to provide critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of N. American landbird populations and the factors responsible for changes in their populations. Tait Johansson leads a core group of volunteers, interns and local graduate students, along with a hired Summer Field Biologist, to assist in the research work.
51%, of new birds caught this season were hatch years, or born this year, while 61%, were born a previous year. Gray Catbirds have definitely been having a good breeding season in the Hunt-Parker sanctuary with 17 (65%) of 26 catbirds caught born this year! The most exciting species caught this summer was a breeding, female Red-eyed Vireo. Since the MAPS banding program began in 2009, only a few Red-eyed Vireos have been caught as the bird’s tend to stay higher in the canopy than our nets allow. Check out our website for more details and photos.
Photo by Charlotte R. Catalano
Charlotte R. Catalano, this summer’s Field Biologist, shared breathtaking photos and information on social media throughout the summer ’19 season. In all, 155 birds were processed this summer. This team processed 155 birds (112 new ones and 43 recaptures); 17 unique species were caught.
Photo of Red-eyed Vireo in hand.
Bylane Farm | 35 Todd Road | Katonah, New York 10536
914-232-1999 | info@bedfordaudubon.org | www.bedfordaudubon.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Simon Brocklehurst, President Gerardo Mendez, Vice President Jennifer Segal, Treasurer Elizabeth Stein, Secretary Susan Fisher Sean O’Connor Steve Ricker Phil Settembrino Julie Sootin
STAFF
Suzanne Cahill, Executive Director Tait Johansson, Naturalist-in-Residence Genny Lawson, Bookkeeper Karen Rositzke, Development Associate
COMMITTEE AND PROGRAM LEADERSHIP
Development, Julie Sootin Facilities, Phil Settembrino Finance, Jennifer Segal Marketing, Susan Fisher Programming, Susan Fisher
facebook.com/BedfordAudubonSociety
VISIT US
Bylane Farm Leon Levy Native Garden John Bull Library
SANCTUARIES
James Ramsay Hunt & Mary Welsh Parker Memorial Sanctuary, Katonah Ruth Walgreen Franklin & Winifred Fels Memorial Sanctuary, N. Salem Palmer H. Lewis Memorial Sanctuary, Bedford
bedfordaudubon
Connecting people to nature in northern Westchester and eastern Putnam Counties
Winter Programming
Visit www.bedfordaudubon.org for up-to-date information on our programs. Register with Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org or call 914-302-1999. IT’S CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT TIME!
DECEMBER
This early-winter bird census is a National Audubon Society community science program that relies on volunteers across the Western Hemisphere to go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds.
DEC. 14 (ALL DAY) Peekskill, NY Christmas Bird Count
We have four local Counts in this region – plenty of opportunity to add to the 120-year strong tradition. New or inexperienced birders will be paired with more experienced groups, and fun is almost guaranteed! Check the event listing below for details on how to sign up and be a community scientist! There are two Christmas Bird Counts in December, and two more in January. Each Count is organized by a Compiler who assigns volunteers to specific routes through a 15-mile diameter circle. Contact the compiler for the December Count for which you’d like to participate: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 Peekskill, NY Christmas Bird Count. Email Compiler Mike Newhouse for details and to sign up at mnewhouse@ene.com.
DEC. 15 (ALL DAY) Greenwich-Stamford, CT Christmas Bird Count DEC. 19 7:30-9:30AM Third Thursdays Bird Walk, Maple Ave., Katonah
JANUARY STARTING JAN. 9 Thursdays in January & February, 1.5 hours before sunset, Science in Action: EagleWatch. JAN. 1 (ALL DAY) Pawling, NY (Hidden Valley) Christmas Bird Count
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15 Greenwich-Stamford Christmas Bird Count. Contact Compiler Cynthia.ehlinger@gmail.com or 203-219-1963.
JAN. 4 (ALL DAY) Putnam County, NY, Christmas Bird Count
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1 Pawling, NY (Hidden Valley) Christmas Bird CountEmail Compiler Carena Pooth at pawlingcbc@ watermanbirdclub.org.
JAN. 8, 7:00-9:00PM Lecture: Climate Change with Robert Whitaker
SATURDAY, JANUARY 4 Putnam County, NY, Christmas Bird Count. Email Compiler Charlie Roberto at chasrob@optonline.net or email Tait at tjohansson@bedfordaudubon.org or call 914-232-1999.
Support our year end appeal. Donate today! www.bedfordaudubon.org/donate
JAN. 11, 8AM-12NOON Field Trip: Greenwich Point Park JAN. 13, 6:30-8:00PM Bylane Book Club: Where the Crawdads Sing JAN. 16, 7:30-9:30AM Third Thursdays Bird Walk, Maple Ave., Katonah
JAN. 25, 1:00-3:00PM Winter Seeding Workshop, Bedford Hills Train Station JAN. 26, 10:00AM-NOON Winter Tree Identification, Muscoot Farm
FEBRUARY FEB. 14 - FEB. 17 SPECIAL FIELD TRIP Newburyport/Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend FEB. 20, 7:30-9:30AM Third Thursdays Bird Walk, Maple Ave., Katonah FEB. 26, 3:30-6:30PM Field Trip: Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
W
hat we’ve been up to...
An adult male Northern Cardinal caught during bird banding.
Staff, members, and Teen Council volunteers plant young trees in our sanctuary.
2019 Audubon Traveling Photography Exhibit Reception at Bylane Farm.
Past presidents gather to reminice and help plan for the future.
Tait Johansson leads a bird walk at Bedford Audubon’s sanctuaries.
Former Board members Carol Cioppa and J. Alan Clark visit Bylane’s newly renovated kitchen.
ABOUT
TAIT JOHANSSON
Photo by Suzy Allman
NATURALIST-IN-RESIDENCE
If you’ve ever been on a bird walk led by Tait Johansson, you’ve undoubtedly been in awe of his ability to listen to and identify bird sounds, locate the birds, and concisely describe their exact location. With quiet determination, Tait’s focus leads to thrilling birdwatching, and on these walks, you may learn a lot about birds, but not about Tait.
Tait Johansson on a bird walk. Tait learned to “bird by ear” by tracking down any unfamiliar bird sounds and find out what was making them. He says that consulting recordings can help in a limited capacity, but nothing beats spending time in the field. At age 10 Tait began to learn birds sounds, but is still learning some of the flight notes. The closest thing Tait has had to formal training related to being a naturalist was a college level class in organismic and evolutionary biology. But, the single most useful thing for learning about birds and nature has been birding with highly skilled birders and being in the field with expert naturalists while self educating himself through in-field practice and resource reading.
FUN FACTS ABOUT TAIT 640
Approximate # of species Tait has counted in N. America (N. of Mexico)
WHITE BELLBIRD
A very loud cotinga found in northeastern S. America that Tait wants to see and hear.
FIREY TOPAZ
One of Tait’s favorite sightings was of this hummingbird found in the northwest Amazon basin in Ecuador.
290-300
# of species Tait typically counts in the Northeast US each year.
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
Tait’s favorite research activity.
2002
The year Tait joined Bedford Audubon. (after being a Hawk Counter at Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch in 2000 and 2001)