2024
COA’s 40th ANNUAL MEETING 2024
Saturday, March 9, 2024 • In-Person at CT State Community College, Middlesex
COA Business Meeting, Three Speakers, Birding Vendors, Raffle
We were very excited to meet back in person at COA’s Annual Meeting on March 9, 2024, at CT State Community College, Middlesex (The site is our traditional location in Middletown with a new name). This was a long-overdue social gathering of Connecticut birders. Admission to the meeting included: three excellent speakers, refreshments, and a delicious buffet lunch.
Doors opened at 8:00 AM for check-in; meeting began at 8:45 AM and ended about 3:15 PM.
There was a grand raffle of artwork, binoculars, and other valuable items. COA hats were available for sale.
Morning Refreshments and Lunch included
Pre-registration was required.
Welcome and COA Business Meeting by Chris Wood
Election of new Board Members and Officers
Molly Zahn
Peter Grund
Corey Leamy
Gilles Carter
Aidan Kiley
Brian O’Toole
President – Chris Wood
Vice Pres. – Cynthia Ehlinger
Treasurer – Paul Wolter
Secretary – Allison Black
Presentation of COA Awards by Chris Wood, Allison Black, and Jo Fasciolo
- Betty Kleiner Award: Frank Gallo
- Mabel Osgood Wright Award: Tina Green
- President’s Award: Miley Bull, Paul Desjardins, Ed Hagen, Denise Jernigan
- COA Mini-grants:
- Gather New Haven Community Gardens
- Southbury Land Trust
- Deanna Broderick
- Avon Land Trust
- CT Audubon Society’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center
- Earthplace
- Essex Land Trust
- Roaring Brook Nature Center
- Community Placemaking Engagement Network(CPEN) New Haven
- Freedom First Wildlife Rehab Inc.
- George Zepko Audubon Camp Scholarship: Cristina Buccieri
Presentations by
Marshall Iliff, eBird Project Leader
Richard Montcrief from Zeiss presentation on infrared technology
Rosemary Mosco, Science Writer and Naturalist, Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird
Mike Webster, Director of the Macaulay Library, Cornell University, Can Birding Save Birds?
2023
COA’s 39th ANNUAL MEETING 2023
Saturday, March 25, 2023 • Online Event
Note: The keynote talk was not recorded.
6:30 PM COA Business Meeting
Welcome – Angela Dimmitt, Moderator
Introduction – Tom Robben, President
COA 2023 Awards
- Betty Kleiner Award (author or artist in the field of ornithology – Phil Rusch
- Mabel Osgood Wright Award (contribution to the knowledge, study, and conservation of birds) – Frank Mantlik
- George Zepko Audubon Camp Scholarship Award – Sophie McAndrew Chen of West Harford
- President’s Award: Tom Robben, outgoing President, in lieu of an award Tom thanked outgoing board members and dozens of others with a special shout out to Milan Bull and Guy Tudor
Mini-Grant Recipients 2023 We received applications for project totaling $13,000.00 and were able to fund the projects listed below within our budget of $7,500.00.
See the list of eleven awardees here.
COA 2022 Report and Final Words – Tom Robben, President
- New look for COA and CT Warbler with design by Julian Hough (2021)
- Saving trees and expenses by going to all digital membership (which continues to grow) (Steve Morytko), digital COA Bulletin (Andrew Dasinger) and email correspondence (all).
- New CT Birds listserv moderator – Chuck Imbergamo
- 2 Science Conferences in Fall (Tom, COA and scientists)
- Bird of the Month project (Miley, Tom and Committee) 2022
- Lights Out CT Campaign, a project of COA with the aim to save thousands, perhaps millions of birds migrating through the state – led by a team including Meredith Barges and Craig Repasz.
- AND our website continually improving, e.g., adding portraits of Board, Affiliates, ARCC. Thank you Cynthia! And Steve M.
Election of COA Officers and New Board Members – Denise Jernigan, Secretary
OFFICERS:
- President: Chris S. Wood, Woodbury
- Vice President: Cynthia Ehlinger, Riverside
- Treasurer: Paul Wolter, Beacon Falls
- Secretary: Tom Robben, Glastonbury
NEW BOARD MEMBERS (3-year term):
- Joe Attwater, New London
- Jim Hunter, Woodbury
- Kimberly Jannerone, New Haven
- Micky Komara, Westbrook
- Bill Rankin, New Haven
- Dan Rottino, East Haddam
Keynote Speaker
Jennifer Ackerman
Science writer and author of The New York Times bestseller The Genius of Birds, The Bird Way, and the forthcoming What an Owl Knows (2023)
Presentation: “The Genius of Birds”
Explore the brilliance of birds and delve into the mysteries of the avian brain as explored in the international bestseller, The Genius of Birds. Join Jennifer Ackerman and experience her adventures firsthand, from the beaches of Barbados to the rainforests of New Caledonia, as she shares stories and stunning photos from her journey to better understand the feathered geniuses around us.
A bird-lover since childhood, Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about birds and nature for more than three decades. She is the author of nine award-winning books, including The Genius of Birds (Penguin Press, 2016), What an Owl Knows: The new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds (Penguin Press, June 2023), and The Bird Way (Penguin Press, 2020). Jennifer’s books have been translated into 30 languages, and her articles and essays have appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times, Scientific American, and many other publications.
2022
COA 2022 ANNUAL MEETING
Saturday March 19, 2022 at 6:30 pm • Online Event
COA Business Meeting
Tom Robben, COA President, presented a brief overview of the year’s activities, followed by the election of officers and board members. See his presentation slides with comments here.
Officers for COA for 2022-23
- Tom Robben, President
- Chris S Wood, Vice-President
- Paul Wolter, Treasurer
- Denise Jernigan, Secretary
New COA Board members: Adam Fasciolo, Jo Fasciolo, Rick Gedney, Emily Keating, David Woolery
Presentation of COA Awards
- Mabel Osgood Wright Award, presented annually to a person or persons in Connecticut who have made a significant contribution to the knowledge, study, and conservation of birds, went to Paul Fusco.
- Betty Kleiner Award honors the memory of Betty Kleiner, whose name is synonymous with The Connecticut Warbler, COA’s flagship publication. The award recognizes a deserving author or artist in the field of ornithology. Julian Hough received the award for his article “Identification of Dowitchers in Juvenile and Non-Breeding Plumages” in the October 2021 issue of The Connecticut Warbler.
- COA Mini-grants Award – awarded annually to the applicant(s) whose project most benefits Connecticut birds.
- President’s Award (* indicates person is leaving the COA Board)
- Steve Broker*
- Nick Bonomo*
- Angela Dimmitt*
- Maureen Wolter*
- David Provencher*
- Cynthia Ehlinger, Web Master extraordinaire.
- Denise Jernigan, Secretary extraordinaire.
- George Zepko Audubon Camp Scholarship is awarded annually to a young birding enthusiast.
- Jonathan Wright-Goodison – Mountains to Sea Birding for Teens, June 26 – July 1, 2022
- Conner Lehmacher – Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens, June 19-24, 2022.
Keynote Speaker
A Seabird Responds to a Melting Arctic: Observations and Insights from 50 Years of Study
George Divoky, PhD
Director, Cooper Island Arctic Research
SIGN IN AND CLICK ON THE MEMBERS ONLY PAGE FOR THE RECORDING OF DR. DIVOKY’S PRESENTATION.
George Divoky has studied Alaskan seabirds since 1970 when, as a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution, he participated in a three-year census of marine birds and mammals in response to the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay. In 1975 he began a study of Mandt’s Black Guillemots, an ice-obligate seabird, on Cooper Island, 35 km east of Point Barrow, Alaska. The study is the longest continuous seabird study in the Arctic and its findings on the consequences of decadal-scale reductions in snow and sea ice to seabird demographics and breeding provide some of the best examples of the long-term biological consequences of climate change.
Divoky is currently Director of Cooper Island Arctic Research, funded by the Seattle-based nonprofit, Friends of Cooper Island.
Divoky’s research on the Black Guillemots of Cooper Island was featured in a cover story in the New York Times Magazine, in the PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers program “Hot Times in Alaska” with Alan Alda, and on ABC Nightly News and Nightline.
Photo: Mandt’s Black Guillemot by Joe McNally
2021
The COA Board of Directors held an online Annual Meeting on Zoom on March 20, 2021 with 145 attendees. Author and researcher Scott Weidensaul presented the keynote address. Outgoing president Chris Loscalzo presided over the business meeting.
- The officers for COA for 2021-22 are: Tom Robben, President
- Chris S Wood, Vice-President
- Paul Wolter, Treasurer
- Denise Jernigan, Secretary
- The new board members are: Melissa Baston, Ryan MacLean, Laurie Reynolds, Abby Sesselberg
- The recipient of the Mabel Osgood Wright Award is: Kathy Van Der Aue
- The recipient of the Betty Kleiner Award is: Alexander Lin-Moore
- The recipients of the President’s Award are: Steve Morytko and Terry Shaw
- The recipient of the Zepko Audubon Summer Camp Scholarship is: Eli Holton
The recipients of the mini-grant awards are noted here.
A 52-minute video of the business portion of the 2021 Annual Meeting is available here.