Bedford Audubon Society Westchester and Putnam

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Help Bedford Audubon Fulfill a Challenge Grant!

Bedford Audubon's Board of Directors has been challenged with raising $10,000 before the end of February in order to receive a matching grant of $10,000.

Please help us meet that goal by making a contribution.

This is special opportunity for you to help Bedford Audubon achieve a finite goal and see your investment in our future doubled! In this economic climate, who doesn't like to see their money grow twice over?

The Challenge Grant will allow us to make some much-needed renovations to part of Bylane Farm, our headquarters, so we can host educational programs and outreach events right at our facility. And with our Centennial swiftly approaching, the Challenge Grant will help ensure that we celebrate Bedford Audubon and Bylane Farm's history in a way that means we'll be around for another century.

Please consider making a contribution that is meaningful to you to help us meet this challenge! You can make a secure donation on line or send a check to:

Bedford Audubon Society
Bylane Farm
35 Todd Road
Katonah, New York 10536.

Just make sure to write "Challenge Grant" in the memo line! All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

The Board of Directors
The Bedford Audubon Society

All Photos courtesy of Bedford Audubon member Chet Friedman.

Monthly lectures at Katonah Memorial House >
Free and open to the public

Next lecture:

Why Did the Salamander Cross the Road?

Laura Heady
Wednesday, February 8 at 7:30 pm

The NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program and Cornell University are working together to conserve forests, small wetlands, and other critical habitats in the Hudson Valley. Species like spotted salamander and wood frog rely on both forest and wetland habitats and are ambassadors of these important watershed systems. Their annual spring migration to woodland pools is an excellent opportunity to observe these otherwise elusive animals, but it's also a high-risk journey for many of them. Laura Heady will discuss woodland pool ecology and ways in which habitat fragmentation is threatening forest amphibians in the Hudson Valley. She'll also describe the "Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings" project and how volunteers can get involved by witnessing these incredible spring migrations, documenting "Big Night" road crossings, helping amphibians survive their overland travel, and conserving important habitats in their community.

Laura Heady joined the Hudson River Estuary Program in 2006 through a partnership with Cornell University. As Biodiversity Outreach Coordinator, she works with municipal and regional partners to integrate biodiversity and habitat protection into conservation plans and smart growth strategies. Her outreach work began at Hudsonia Ltd. in 2002, where she taught habitat mapping and assessment to local decision-makers. Laura has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and an M.S. in Biology from Idaho State University.

The Bird-Friendly Vegetable Garden

by Cathy Clare

At this writing, it is late October and our 2011 gardening season has just ended. Already feeling nostalgic, I close my eyes and picture how, starting last April, the months rolled by while the Bird-Friendly Garden (BFVG) evolved.

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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

Bedford Audubon Society Welcomes New Executive Director

Janelle Robbins, Director Bedford Audubon The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Janelle Robbins has joined Bedford Audubon as our Executive Director. Janelle comes to BAS from Waterkeeper Alliance, where she worked for eight years on watershed protection and habitat conservation, environmental education, and advocacy to support Waterkeepers from the Hudson Valley to Australia. An accomplished non-profit professional, Janelle is a graduate of Cornell University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University with degrees in engineering with a focus on land and water resource conservation.

Janelle is also a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Her work has been featured in the "Green Babies" books, Glamour's 2009 green issue as an Eco Hero, and in "Ten Ways to Change the World in Your Twenties."

Janelle is a resident of Yorktown Heights and serves on the boards of several local non-profits. Janelle is thrilled to be working with the Board and with Bedford Audubon's naturalist, Tait Johansson, and is looking forward to meeting more BAS members.

*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).

Bedford Audubon Society

A Northern Westchester & Eastern Putnam Counties, New York Chapter of the National Audubon Society

Explore Nature, Learn About Birds, Organic Gardening, Native Plants, Invasives & More

Help Bedford Audubon Fulfill a Challenge Grant!