This past January we at COA decided to do something a little differently. Instead of a normal Big January (just what is normal these days?) where birders take to the field to try and see the most bird species they can during the month of January, we decided to promote a competition to help the … Read more
The 5th annual Mega Bowl of Birding in CT, held on Saturday, February 6, 2021, was a great success. Sixty CT birders participated in the event, spread out over much of the state. The top scorers in the 7 counties for which there were participants (nobody signed up for Windham County) were: Karin Dionne in … Read more
The Mega Bowl is a fun and friendly activity that celebrates birds, birders, and birding! Participants go birding alone or in small groups in the CT county of their choice, trying to observe as many species as they can. Birders are awarded points for seeing each species observed, with a range of 1 point for … Read more
Make your Big January 2021 Birding Count for the CT Bird Atlas. Here are the rules for participating in the Big January 2021 COA/CT Bird Atlas Late Winter Surveys competition. Points are scored by performing 1-hour winter surveys in specified blocks in accord with the protocol described here:http://www.ctbirdatlas.org/Surveys_winter_timed.htm The survey period is January 1 through … Read more
Birders, Thankfully 2020 is winding down and we are on the threshold of a new year. We can only hope 2021 will be better in every way! Better than hope however is action. In years past COA has encouraged Connecticut birders to go out during the month of January and find as many avian species … Read more
The deadline for 2021 Mini-Grant applications is midnight on January 15th. The grants in amounts of up to $1,000.00 fund projects that “benefit Connecticut’s birds.” Successful projects have included osprey nest platforms and habitat improvements using native, bird friendly plants. Grants are typically awarded at our COA annual meeting in March. Full details and applications … Read more
121st Annual National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count – Connecticut 2020-2021 For a PDF of the 2020-2021 Christmas Bird Count schedule, click here. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020: Storrs, CT (CTST) Compiler: Steve Morytko, 288 Varga Road, Ashford, CT 06278 smorytko@yahoo.com (M) 860-680-5728 (Natchaug Ornithological Society) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2020: New Haven, CT (CTNH) Compiler: Chris Loscalzo, 67 … Read more
The following is an excerpt from an OCTOBER 30, 2020 message BY CHRIS ELPHICK Winter is here [At our] third annual volunteer appreciation event, [we showed] preliminary results and provide[d] more guidance on how to use the web site. We were not able to record the event, but you can review the presentation sides here and we … Read more
Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 8:00 am COA Gull Workshop Stratford Point, Stratford Join us as we look for and learn about the gulls of Connecticut. Nick Bonomo will share his considerable knowledge about how to identify members of this extraordinarily challenging group of birds. We’ll have a sit down session where we’ll go … Read more
The 2019 Winter COA Bulletin is now available to download here (PDF file). Be sure to check out the COA Bulletin archives here.