Tom Robben has confirmed the eight Connecticut Summer Bird Counts with compilers. Contact the region’s compiler if you would like to participate.
The schedule (see below) is similar to last year. These counts are very similar to Christmas Bird Counts, on those same 15-mile circles, except that they are run in June, the crucial time of year when most birds are breeding here. Continuing this long-time series of breeding bird counts is one of the best ways for us to measure the changing populations of our birds. These changes can be a good index of clean air, clean water and the overall health of our natural and human environment in Connecticut.
Fortunately Connecticut is the one state that has an unbroken set of annual SBC data going back to around 1990 for most counts (thanks to Joe Zeranski and the local SBC compilers), plus Greenwich-Stamford SBC data going back 47 years to 1976 (thanks to Tom Burke and Gary Palmer) and Woodbury-Roxbury going back to 1978 (thanks to Ed Hagen, Russ Naylor, Chris Wood, Angela Dimmitt, et al). This multi-decade set of SBC bird data gives us a good view of some long-term changes in our bird life and our environment.
FIRST WEEKEND IN JUNE 2023: JUNE 3-4, 2023
• Woodbury-Roxbury. Contact: Russ Naylor, 44 Church St., Woodbury, CT 06798; 203 841-7779.
SECOND WEEKEND: JUNE 10-11, 2023
• Greenwich-Stamford. Contact: Thomas Burke, 235 Highland Rd., Rye, NY 10580; 914 967-4922, thomaswardburke@gmail.com, and Gary Palmer, 34 Field Rd., Cos Cob, CT 06830; 203 661-4897, garyjane4523@gmail.com
• Hartford. Contact: Jay Kaplan, 71 Gracey Rd., Canton, CT 06019; 860 693-0157 and cell 860-707-5246, jaybrd49@aol.com
• Litchfield Hills. Contact: David Tripp Jr., 97 Hunter Court, Torrington, CT 06790; dtrippjr@gmail.com
• New Haven. Contact: Steve Mayo, 27 Tuttle Court, Bethany, CT 06524; 203 551-1707, rsdmayo@sbcglobal.net
THIRD WEEKEND: JUNE 17-18, 2023
• New Milford / Pawling. Contact: Angela Dimmitt, PO Box 146, Sherman, CT 06784; 860 355-3429 angeladimmitt@aol.com
• Storrs. Contact: Steve Morytko, 288 Varga Rd., Ashford, CT 06278; 860 680-5728, smorytko@yahoo.com
FOURTH WEEKEND: JUNE 24-25, 2023
• Barkhamsted. Dave Rosgen and John Marshall. Contact: John Marshall, 60 Wilson Dr., Watertown, CT 06795;203 232-4393, johnmarshall47@gmail.com (alternate: d.rosgen@outlook.com)