Make the Birdathon a success!
What is the Birdathon?
Like a Walkathon, Jumpathon, or Swimathon, a Birdathon is a fundraising event where participants get pledges for each bird or species they identify during any 24-hour period in the month of May. Participants can join individually or form teams.
Bedford Audubon’s Annual Birdathon raises money to support habitat protection in our sanctuaries, research like Hawkwatch and MAPS, and educational programs. And this year, an anonymous member has pledged $1,000 to the Birdathon if other Birdathon participants can raise at least $1,000 combined!
Join Bedford Audubon and the Katonah community for an evening of celebrating the best of Katonah life
at Lasdon Park & Arboretum. Tickets are $20 and benefit Lasdon and the Katonah Chamber of Commerce.
Marty McGuire Scholarship Winners Announced!
This year Bedford Audubon is awarding the Marty McGuire Scholarship to two outstanding local students.
Gabrielle Froehlich is a junior at Fox Lane High School in Bedford. Gabby is an Honor Roll student, and a member of the Bridges to Community and Science Research Club. As a participant in Fox Lane’s Science Research Program, Gabby is conducting research on the interaction between invasive plant species and mosquito reproductive success and survival rate, as related to mosquito-borne diseases, with Dr. Mike Rubbo at Teatown Lake. Gabby is being awarded $500 to support her research on Japanese Stilt Grass, and Phragmites. Good luck, Gabby!
Michael Rosenthal is a senior at John Jay High School in Katonah. A graduate from the Hog Island Teen Ornithology Summer Camp and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation’s Conservationist in Training program, Michael previously worked with Dr. Mark Weckel at Mianus River Gorge on the use of non-invasive camera trapping to census coyote populations. Michael’s Senior Research Seminar in Environmental Studies has led him to work with Dan Aitchison, the Head of Westchester County Deer, Beaver, and Goose Management. Michael is being awarded $500 to support his research on identifying Canada geese nests and managing the non-native breeding population. Michael will be attending Cornell University this fall. Best of luck, Michael.
The scholarship will be presented on June 13 at 7:30 pm at the monthly lecture at the Katonah Memorial House.
Join Bedford Audubon's Organic Gardening Community
For People, Birds and A Sustainable Environment
Pursuing The Possible Without
Pesticides
Enjoy Fresh Vegetables, Flowers, and Herbs all Summer Long
Winter chill and short days outside. Vegetable garden catalogues piling up here in my house. I pore over dazzling close-ups of deep green and purple lettuces, juicy cucumbers, and luscious red and yellow tomatoes. Exquisite torture. Good thing that gardening season isn't far off!
-Cathy Clare, Master Gardener & Garden Coordinator
Join us for the Bird Friendly Vegetable Garden's fourth season at Bylane Farm! Gardeners tend more than 25 beds together...More >
Education Programs
Birding by Ear with BAS Naturalist Tait Johansson
March 28 at 10 am–12 pm, May 16 & 23 at 7:30–9:30 am
Hone your birding by ear techniques with a special focus on preparation for spring warbler migration! Fee: $200 includes course materials. Limited to 5 people; Please register by March 27.
Birding Basics with BAS Naturalist Tait Johansson
March 30 & April 13 at 10 am–12 pm and April 20 & 27, & May 4 at 7:30 am–12 pm.
Learn the basics about optics and field guides, identification by sight and sound, habitat, and more. Fee: $200, includes course materials, but you must provide your own binoculars. Limited to 8 people; Please register by March 27.
Next lecture:
Conservation of Birds of Old Fields and Young Forests
Dr. Robert Askins
Wednesday, June 13 at 7:30 pm (originally scheduled for June 6)
Forests have been the focus of most conservation efforts in the northeastern United States. Less attention has been directed at open habitats, but these areas have a disproportionate number of declining and endangered species. In New England and New York, many of the bird species that have shown persistent, long-term decreases in abundance are associated with shrublands and grasslands. Shrubland species such as Brown Thrasher, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat are primarily found on abandoned farmland or in forests that are recovering from a major disturbance. They have declined as open habitat areas in the region have been replaced with forest.
Is this a conservation problem or a “return to normal” in a historically forested landscape? Where did these species live before people cleared the forest for farming? How can we sustain their populations as open habitats continue to disappear? All of these issues will be addressed in his presentation.
Dr. Robert Askins is Katherine Blunt Professor of Biology at Connecticut College, where he teaches courses in ecology, animal behavior, conservation biology and ornithology. His research focuses on the ecology and conservation of migratory birds in both their northern breeding areas and tropical wintering areas. He has analyzed the habitat requirements of forest birds that nest in deciduous forests in New England and Japan, and the ecology of songbirds that spend the winter in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has also studied Blue-winged Warblers, Prairie Warblers and other species that are restricted to early successional habitats. Robert Askins has published scientific papers in numerous journals including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Wetlands, Ecology, Current Ornithology, Studies in Avian Biology, Wilson Bulletin, and Conservation Biology. In 2000 he published Restoring North America’s Birds; Lessons from Landscape Ecology”, a book on the ecology and conservation of North American birds. A second edition of this book was published by Yale University Press in 2002. The book will be for sale and signing at the lecture.
Calling All Volunteers!
Bedford Audubon Society needs a few good men and women…to volunteer! Whether your passion is gardening, trail maintenance, education, fundraising, or writing, we have an opportunity just for you. Volunteers make a wonderful contribution to our success, and we couldn't have made it this far without the time and energy of numerous individuals.
If you're interested in volunteering, please call Janelle at 914-232-1999 or fill out
this application
*The Bedford Audubon chapter
covers an area of Eastern Putnam County (Patterson, Carmel, Brewster and
Mahopac), and the northeastern section of Westchester County (Yorktown and
Somers in the west, North Castle, Bedford, North Salem, Lewisboro and Pound
Ridge in the east).
