Mattabeseck Audubon Society

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

The Mattabeseck Audubon Society will hold its 48th Annual Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, December 18th. The count circle you see here is a 15-mile diameter with the Salmon River Covered Bridge in Colchester as its epicenter. Our count is part of National Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count which started in 1900 with 25 teams and 27 participants in North America and has grown to 2600 teams, over 80,000 observers, and involves 28 countries! The NAS Christmas Count takes place every year from December 14 through January 5. The data obtained helps researchers to identify the overall health and condition of bird populations and informs strategies to protect birds and their habitats for generations to come.

It has become frighteningly clear just how fragile our count really is! We are all dedicated to this count for similar reasons, but there are often factors beyond our control that can jeopardize its future, for example: a pandemic, the health and aging of participants, weather, relocation of participants out of the area, or a sick family member. Some teams are only one member deep which puts an unfair burden on that person and makes for a long, potentially lonely day of birding.It also underestimates how many birds are in our area (we all know the more eyes and ears the better).

We discussed ways of trying to expand interest and participation. Since our meeting, I sent emails to several local Boy Scout troop leaders and so far, I have heard back from none. I attempted the same with the Girl Scouts but hit a roadblock just trying to identify the local chapters (the site required joining GSA first). Another option we discussed was reaching out to local schools in our count circle to see if there are young birders who might be willing to help. We MUST start to think about the future of our count-who will be here in 30 years to keep it going? Michael Good put an announcement on his Facebook feed asking anyone interested in birding to consider participating in our count. I promptly heard from 3 of his friends who have expressed an interest! It seems to me flooding social media with information about our count is a great option, it costs nothing, and only takes a few minutes. Your friends who like or love your birding pictures might just need the extra push of a formal invitation to take that step.

We don’t need expert birders, though it’s always nice to recruit one. If you’re like me, you get so much joy seeing the excitement of a new birder who lays eyes on a new species or has a revelation after seeing the beauty of a common backyard bird up close through binoculars for the first time. I encourage anyone with a social media account to spread the word. Doreen Jezek, co-compiler, and I are open to any suggestions you have that will help us keep this most important and longest running citizen science project alive and well in the years to come. Feel free to reach out any time: rsdell@comcast.com or dajezek@gmail.com

The Salmon River Count territory includes a 15-mile diameter circle centered on the Old Comstock Bridge on the Salmon River in Colchester (see Count Circle map). The circle includes parts of Cobalt, Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton, Haddam, Marlborough and Moodus. You do not have to be an expert birder to participate. All are welcome!

• Please keep bird lists in taxonomical order.
• Please use lists provided (see links below).
• Please provide details for any rare, strange, or unusual bird—a photo is always good.

If your home is in the count circle and you would like to remain indoors, you are still able to participate! Watch your backyard and count the birds that you see (species and numbers) on December 19th. If you see anything unusual, be sure to write down as many details about the bird as you are able. Use Count Tally and forward your sheet to one of our compliers. Finally, if you feed the birds in the winter, please be sure to have your feeders filled that day!