As for most of the world, 2020 did not go as planned for Menunkatuck Audubon Society. However, the challenges imposed by the corona virus became opportunities and we were able to have some significant accomplishments.
Conservation
Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery teens and mentors.
Menunkatuck launched a new project, the Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery, in the Newhallville neighborhood of New Haven. Partnering with Community Placemaking Engagement Network, a neighborhood community action group, we worked with six teens growing native perennials and shrubs. An Audubon in Action Grant provided the seed money for the nursery. The project is featured in an article on the Audubon website.
Terry Shaw’s crew installed more than 10 new and replacement Osprey platforms along Connecticut’s east shore.
Ewing Preserve Purple Martin gourds.
The Purple Martin colonies at Hammonasset and at the Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary with 345 fledglings, Tree Swallow nest boxes at Hammonasset, the Ox Pasture Preserve, Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary, and West River Memorial Park. We fledged 310 young birds, and Eastern Bluebird nest boxes at the Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary and had 15 Eastern Bluebirds fledge. We worked with the Orange Conservation to install Purple Martin gourds in the Ewen Farm Preserve. With the support of an Audubon Collaborative Grant and a generous private donation we partnered with Boy Scouts in Woodbridge to begin a new Tree Swallow nest box trail on some of the Town’s open spaces.
Community Science
We started the year with a successful Christmas Bird Count. John Picard organized our teams to cover the land part of the Guilford-Long Island Sound Count Circle. The survey had 15 participants who cataloged 63 species with 1600 individual birds.
Marsh Migration Survey.
We began a new project in conjunction with CT DEEP to monitor the East River Marsh Migration. The East River Marsh Migration Survey is a multi-year line transect and quadrat sampling study to catalog the plants and animals in three areas of the East River Marsh. The survey is also part of the Long Island Sound Study Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan.
Advocacy
As part of the Connecticut Forage Fish Alliance, we continued our education and advocacy campaign to save our seabirds from the extinction crisis facing them, advocating for the Forage Fish Conservation Act.
Outreach
Australia Bushfire Relief fundraiser.
For the past several years we have been tabling at 8-10 events each year. This year we tabled at Peabody Museum’s Martin Luther King Day celebration and had six more lined up when the virus hit. All of them were canceled. The last public event before everything stopped was the Australia Bushfire Relief Fundraiser in February. We met about 80 people and were able to raise $5000 that we forwarded to five Australian wildlife organizations.
Education
John Picard talking Purple Martins at the Orange community program.
We were able to present only three in-person community programs, including our first in Orange, before the shutdown. Realizing that it would be a long time before we could resume regular programs, we purchased a Zoom account and were able to live-stream nine programs. One positive benefit of the online programs was that the number of participants was about double the number at indoor programs. We partnered with Audubon Connecticut to stream three other programs.
Our streaming video from our nest cameras in New Haven, at Hammonasset Beach State Park, and on Falkner Island continued, although not without problems. The corona virus restrictions prevented us making immediate repairs when some of the cameras went down. Falkner Island and the West River are both challenging locations.
Volunteers & Funding
Amazingly in these difficult times, we had 95 people who donated 2200 person-hours of volunteer time. Working in small groups with all recommended precautions, they installed Osprey platforms, monitored nest boxes, conducted the march migration survey, and performed other activities. Their volunteer time was worth $72,000.
We were successful in leveraging member contributions into grants and gifts totaling more than $10,000.
Looking to 2021
In addition to maintaining our current projects including the Osprey platform replacements, nest box monitoring, and streaming nest cam video, during 2021 we plan to install a greenhouse at the Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery, complete nest box trails in Orange, Woodbridge, and North Branford, install a new native plant demonstration garden, and initiate climate solutions.