Mattabeseck Audubon Society: Welcome!

Our Mission: The Mattabeseck Audubon Society, a chapter of the National Audubon Society, is committed to environmental leadership and education for the benefit of the community and the earth's biodiversity.

deKoven House, 27 Washington Street, Middletown, Connecticut 06457

MAS will hold its Annual Meeting on May 20 at the deKoven House at 7:30 pm in conjunction with our regular board meeting. New Board Members and Officers will be elected. If you would like to join the board or volunteer for one of our committees, please call Mary Augustiny, Nominating Committee Chair, at 860-873-9612.

According to Julie Victoria, Wildlife Biologist, CT DEP Wildlife Division, there has been an increase of birders approaching active Bald Eagles nests too closely. By CT law, persons must stay at least 700 feet away from active bald eagle nests. It is illegal to disturb any bald eagle and persons shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days or both. Any person who enters a posted no access area for a bald eagle or a posted no access area for an active bald eagle nest shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both. (CT Statue Sec. 26-29)

MAS is in search of an engineer who can design an effective beaver baffling system for our Helen Carlson Wildlife Sanctuary. We’ve had 2 systems installed by Skip Hilliker and Friends of Animals, but neither has worked. We’re hoping to find someone with experience with drainage systems. We do not want to completely drain the beaver pond, but we would like a system that allows us to lower the water level periodically in order to keep the trail open and grow a few cranberry plants. Please call Alison Guinness at 860-873-9304 if you know someone or have any ideas.

Carlson Sanctuary Platform is subject of article in Landscape Architecture magazine

In an article titled "Decked Out" in the February issue, author Angus McCullough outlines the story of building "SplitFrame", the multi-level viewing platform at the Helen Carlson Sanctuary built last year by Wesleyan students as a course project.

On Sunday, Oct. 19th, Mattabeseck held a dedication ceremony for the new viewing platform. Here are some photos from the event.

Preliminary results from the after-count gathering at the Cypress Restaurant: 73 species seen—not our lowest count total, but a ways off from our highest total. Seems like the better the weather, the lower the species count. Check back later for more details.

Echo Farm Eagles
Sparrow Crawl
Flutes, Feathers, and Fine Art
2008 Christmas Count (preliminary)
Pecausett Pond Canoe Trip
Wildflower Walk
Titus Memorial Warbler Walk
Portland Reservoir Walk
CT Water Trails Day

The deadline for items to be included in the Spring/Summer Issue is Saturday, March 28, 2009. We expect subscribers to receive their copies about Saturday, April 18. Please send items to Daniel Tinter, 61 Wildflower Lane, Middletown CT 06457, or email to <djtinter2@snet.net>

The Board of Directors will meet at 7:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at deKoven House, 27 Washington Street, Middletown.

This beetle is a serious pest in other parts of the world and can kill hardwood trees in roadside plantings, shelterbelts, and plantations. In the United States, the beetle prefers maple species.

ALB typically does not spread quickly on its own, but it can easily be inadvertently transported in untreated firewood and other forest products. Trees affected include: Boxelder, Norway, Red, Silver, and Sugar maples, Alders, Birches, Elms, Horsechestnut, Poplars, and Willows. A complete list of host trees in the United States, however, has not been determined. Previous infestations have occurred in New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

Residents suspecting they have seen ALB should report their findings to CAES at (203) 974-8474 or (203) 974-8485. Residents can also report sightings to APHIS via their website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/.

The David Titus Memorial Bird Card is now available for a $3 donation. We will have them at MAS activities or email our web site. Many thanks to Pat Rasch for putting it all together and Mike DiGiorgio for his beautiful illustrations. This is a very inexpensive way to own some of the best bird art you’ll ever see. The card is extra heavy-duty all-plastic laminate, printed in full color on both sides. Twenty-four birds are identified by common name and Latin name, with the length of the bird and seasons that they are usually seen in our area also given. In species where there are visual differences between the sexes, both sexes are portrayed.

If you find a baby bird or other animal, it's best to leave it alone. Chances are the parent is nearby and will take care of the baby when you leave the area. If not or you have some other wildlife problem, contact the CT Wildlife Rehabilitators Association at http://www.cwrawildlife.org/ where you can find a rehabilitator in your area or someone to address your problem.

We encourage everyone to buy Duck Stamps each fall. The funds the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the State of Connecticut receive from the sale of Duck Stamps goes directly to conservation of habitat that supports not only waterfowl but many other species of birds and other animals and indigenous plants. You may purchase Federal Duck Stamps at the Post Office, and State of Connecticut Duck Stamps at your local town hall.

Yellow lampmussels (Lampsilis cariosa) were identified in the sandy bottom of the upper reaches of the Connecticut River near South Windsor in 2006. This find establishes these mollusks, although still rare, as firm residents of Connecticut, and restores the species to the Endangered Species List. (Extirpated species are taken off that list.)

The drought from July-August 2007 left river flows precariously low in the Yellow lampmussel’s upper Connecticut domain. Their ingenious method of survival is to bury themselves down into the moist sand and mud. Some species of mussel, such as the Eastern elliptio, have been found buried like stacks of cordwood as deep as two feet, with not a drop of river water flowing above them. Held in a sort of suspension, they await the return of normal river flows.

TheConnecticut River in Windsor, looking North to Bissell Bridge, and then South. The critter is a Yellow lampmussel, very rare in Conn.