Summary of Activities 2002-2003

Preface

This has been a busy and exciting year for Menunkatuck Audubon. From education programs and field walks to biological inventories, to advocating for the land we love and what we believe to be right, Menunkatuck board members and volunteers can be seen hard at work throughout the chapter area and all year long. Menunkatuck continues to collaborate with our long-standing friends in the environmental community. Additionally, we are reaching out to other groups and organizations within our chapter area and beyond. Menunkatuck is blessed with active board members and volunteers Ð but the dramatic reduction in the dues-share weighs heavily on all our minds.

The year 2004 promises to be another great year of interesting speakers with beautiful presentations, exciting field trips and a continuing battle over the proposed development of Griswold Airport.

Below is a brief description of each of Menunkatuck's 2003 activities. The width and breadth of the projects and programs, the dedication of board members and volunteers, and the particulars of each accomplishment fill me with a great sense of pride and joy. I hope you will feel the same way as you see what Menunkatuck has done with 2003.

Education and Outreach

The Annual Birdathon was held May 10, 2003. The day was a wonderful success. Several groups were led throughout the chapter area. Menunkatuck and the New Haven Bird Club participated together and a total of 185 species were counted. Please note, this serves as a fund-raiser for Menunkatuck.

Menunkatuck participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count with Cornell University in February. The chapter publicized the event locally and submitted data for people that did not have online capabilities.

Menunkatuck participated in Connecticut Audubon's Eagle Festival in February. A group of board members and other volunteers manned the Chester Ferry dock, one of the designated sites along the Connecticut River with binoculars and scopes. When the public came to the site, Menunkatuck volunteers pointed out the location of eagles and other birds in the area. Board members and other Menunkatuck volunteers manned the site Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. That weekend was one of the coldest all winter. Hats-on to the volunteers.

General Public Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month. Menunkatuck hosted a particularly large meeting (approximately 120) in May with a program by David Sibley.

The Eighth Annual Teachers Workshop was held on a gorgeous May 17, 2003. The workshop was led by Chris Sullivan of Project SEARCH. The workshop instructed teachers (and community members that signed up for the workshop) on a variety of methods to test water quality. The methods included: observational assessments, collecting chemical data, and using biological sampling (by collection plus identification of fresh water macroinvertebrates and performing the metrics on the collected sample). There were eight participants.

This has been a year of expansion for Menunkatuck's field programs, thanks to the leadership of Vice-president and trip leader Bill Yule as well as other trip leaders John Picard, Dorothy Holabird, Dennis Riordan and Suzanne Botta. In 2002, two field walks were held. In 2003 Menunkatuck held the following eight programs:

Eagle-Duck Hop: January 26, led by Bill Yule with a second group led by board members Dorothy Holabird and Dennis Riordan

Eagle watch for a Hamden Boy Scout group, held at the Shepaug Dam, February. 1, led by Suzanne Botta

Dance of the Timberdoodle (Woodcock): Westbrook Salt Meadow Unit, March 23, led by Bill Yule

Butterflies and Wildflowers of Bluff Head, April 19, led by Bill Yule (in conjunction with the Connecticut Butterfly Association)

Spring Warbler Migration East Rock, May 3, led by John Picard

Spring Warbler Migration Hammonasset, May 24, led by John Picard

Dragonflies and Butterflies, Bauer Park, June 14, led by Bill Yule

Paddling the East River, July 12, led by Suzanne Botta

Additionally, at the request of Fred Hill, Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary Manager, Suzanne Botta has twice provided field walks of the Anne Conover Nature Trail to the local residents.

Menunkatuck hosted two Audubon Council meetings in 2003 and Suzanne Botta provided a field walk of the Anne Conover Trail to council members.

Jerry Connolly (Program Coordinator) of the Audubon Shop led Saturday morning bird walks. During the months of January and February. he also led eagle-sighting trips along the Connecticut River.

The Annual Scholarship of $500 was awarded to a graduating senior in our chapter area who plans to study marine biology.

The Know Your Natural Neighbors natural history article is written by Cindi Kobak and printed weekly in several local papers including The Sound (Branford), The Guilford Courier, the East Haven Courier and the North Haven Courier.

Long Island Sound Secondary Research is a project in which Menunkatuck is collaborating with Project SEARCH to obtain water quality monitoring equipment for Project SEARCH staff to utilize during site visits with high schools across Connecticut as well as for Menunkatuck’s use.

At the request of the Hammonasset chapter of Trout Unlimited President Steve Butcher, Suzanne Botta presented a program on Establishing a Volunteer-based Water Quality Monitoring Program for the Hammonasset chapter of Trout Unlimited. The program was very well received and hopefully we will collaborate with our local Trout Unlimited chapter in the future.

Chris Sullivan, Coordinator of Project SEARCH and Suzanne Botta ran a Watershed Education Day program for the eighth grade class at Our Lady of Mercy School. This four-hour program covered watersheds, groundwater and water quality testing.

Branford Biodiversity Day was held September 12Ð13, 2003 and was a fantastic success. Over 80 biologists, naturalists, educators and their students participated in this 24-hour biological survey of the Town of Branford

The slide show for Branford Biodiversity Day is in the process of being assembled. A special meeting will be held for the slide show with a target audience of Guilford and Branford The meeting will be hosted by the Branford Land Trust March 24, 2004 as part of the Land Trust Blackstone Lecture Series.

Advocacy

Henry Ferris continues to work diligently on Griswold Over-Development. Menunkatuck provided testimony regarding the economic value of birders and other eco-tourists. Last year the developer withdrew its application and the coalition to stop the development used the time to regroup. A new application has been submitted and Menunkatuck is once again filing for intervenor status. Additionally, Menunkatuck continues to work with Stop Griswold Over Development (SGOD) Ð supporting printing costs, etc.

Regarding the Islander East Natural Gas Pipeline, Suzanne Botta has been and continues to work closely with CT Stop the Pipeline to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny Islander East permits to construct a natural gas pipeline that would go through the chapter area, into and across Long Island Sound. Menunkatuck has provided testimony on the impact to wetlands, birds, biodiversity, marine mammals, and erosion concerns in potentially impacted wetlands (inland and coastal). Menunkatuck has intervenor status with the Connecticut Siting Council. To date Menunkatuck has provided testimony opposing the pipeline to the Branford Blue Ribbon Commission, the Connecticut Siting Council, as well as Federal Secretary of Commerce.

Newsletter

The Newsletter is printed six times per year. In addition to informing our members (as well as gratis recipients) about Menunkatuck’s activities and events (advocacy, education, workshops, general meetings, etc.) we include BioBits~Know Your Natural Neighbors, information on generally local flora and fauna. We also include relevant upcoming events and announcements in our chapter area, i.e., land trust walks, biking, and DEP and National Audubon calls for volunteers.

Board member, Dennis Riordan is currently overhauling the Menunkatuck web site.

Conservation

One of our new board members, John Picard, is currently receiving training on organizing volunteers to monitor amphibians in pre-specified areas as part of the Connecticut Amphibian Monitoring Project, a statewide monitoring program run through the DEP and West Hartford Science Center.

Cindi Kobak, representing Menunkatuck Audubon, was invited to participate in a Community Landscape Analysis of the Town of Guilford. The town has partnered with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in a lengthy study that will "enhance the town's decision-making capability in the area of land use management and natural resource conservation." After two pilot projects in smaller towns in Wisconsin and Ohio, the Guilford study will be the first in the nation conducted in a larger town.

Menunkatuck volunteers continue to provide conservation services in the chapter region. Theses services include cleaning out tree swallow nest boxes and maintaining the Birders' Log at Hammonasset State Park

The Branford Fish Ladder Project is in the early planning stages and Menunkatuck is keeping in contact with the Branford River Project and Branford Land Trust regarding this project and will assist when needed.

2004 Up-coming Projects

Board members Dennis Riordan and Dorothy Holabird recently returned from a birding trip to Scotland refreshed and with some wonderful new project ideas:

Build an extremely large sand barrel to be home to bank swallows in the chapter area

Work with school children to create an illustrated trail map. The children will draw the pictures for the map and Menunkatuck will provide the text.

Menunkatuck will continue last year's full calendar of field walks.

Menunkatuck will continue to fight the over development of Griswold as well as the proposed pipeline.

Menunkatuck will create and show the Branford Biodiversity Day presentation, as well as compile the collected data into a publication to be distributed to Branford's commissions, environmental organizations, schools, and libraries.

Submitted by: Suzanne Botta, President

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Last updated 18 September, 2004 .