A day to remind me what it's all about (fairly long)
Yesterday I had one of those days that reminded me why I work so hard at this job to conserve birds and their habitats. I had the honor of attending the celebration of the protection of the 155-acre Sciongay property in Westbrook, CT. The Connecticut DEEP, who had help form other partners including the Trust for Public Land, celebrated the permanent protection of this property in the tidal headwaters of the Menunketesuck River. This means that more than one mile on both sides of the river is now permanently protected, due also to an earlier project to protect the Chapman Millpond property in Clinton. This acquisition creates a vital buffer to the important tidal headwaters of the river that runs through the Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR and empties to Long Island Sound at Duck Island Roads/Pilot's Point. This was especially important because the Town of Clinton has been seeking a property on which to dispose of treated sewerage discharge through a community septic system of sorts. The property has an area of sand dune habitat, which is a nesting area for eastern box turtle and the globally endangered wood turtle that would also be perfect for such a system from an engineering viewpoint.
Why is this project so important? Many years ago, I worked for the Connecticut Audubon Society and then the US Fish and Wildlife Service and was based at Salt Meadow Unit. At times I would need to be at work very early for bird surveys. I found that there was an amazing variety and abundance of warblers and other migrant birds that used the Refuge in fall migration. An early morning there after the passage of a cold front can be an amazing experience! I started thinking about why so many migrants might find themselves on this property in fall migration and noticed that there were very few roads to the north of the property. I then noticed that there is a very dark (at night), relatively undeveloped forested corridor that stretches from Salt Meadow Unit northwards to the Connecticut River in Middletown and beyond. This corridor can even be seen from space at night and likely is a highway for our nocturnal migrant landbirds. It can be seen in this photo as the dark corridor just to the east of the I-91 ribbon of light: http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/620615main_iss1600_946-710.jpg
I started compiling maps and other images in an attempt to get the word out about this potentially important flyway and even gave a talk several years ago at the COA Annual Meeting that featured this feature prominently. I eventually started talking a bit less about it, but a few years ago learned that perhaps some seeds were planted after all. Local municipalities, under the leadership of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (I believe they were the lead) had made a successful push to officially recognize a portion of this corridor as the Menunketesuck Greenway, with a goal of protecting land between the Refuge and the Cockaponsit State Forest to the north. To make a very long story short, a parcel that I thought was absolutely key to protecting this flyway was the area directly to the north of the Refuge across I-95, i.e. this very property, along with the the parcels on the east side of the river. Now both sides of the river are protected, which will hopefully spur on additional protection efforts to make the entire greenway a reality as a protected corridor.
I'm not trying to play up my personal role in the actual acquisition, those kudos go to Dave Kozak and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Trust for Public Land, funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Sciongay family who sold it for much less than market value, the Town of Westbrook and other partners I'm sure. Though I am privileged to have helped a little by helping to make the case for that funding (funding that Audubon also plays a key role in securing for all of the partners to access through our Long Island Sound program). My point is to never get discouraged, sometimes conservation action takes decades and sometimes small seeds you help to plant can bear great fruit when others see the vision and have the means to implement it.
The story gets even better though, later in the day I traveled to Norwalk for the announcement of this year's Long Island Sound Futures Fund awards, where a grant was announced to restore fish passage past the dam that is on the property. This will allow river herring, blueback herring and and alewife to access over 3 miles of spawning habitat north of the dam. I'm told (by DEEP fisheries biologist Steve Gephard, who also played a major role in this effort) that the name Menunketesuck means "the river of small silvery and bony fish", apparently the river historically ran silver with these fish that are so critical to the health of Long Island Sound and are now so endangered.
What does this have to do with birds you might say? If you have ever kayaked the Menunketesuck River, you may wonder why people think Little Blue Herons are a rare sighting. That marsh is a real hot spot for them and just off the mouth of the river sits Duck Island, a critical heron rookery and probably the most important nesting area in the state for Little Blues. Also, the Menunketesuck flats are a prime staging area for terns in the late summer and fall, including the federally endangered Roseate Tern. Think of how much better that bird habitat would be with oodles of small fish to forage on?
Buffer, for a beautiful marsh, more fish for birds to eat and a keystone parcel protected on the flight path to a key migration stopover, what could be better than that? And partners who did the legwork to make the deal happen to top it off. Kudos to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Trust for Public Land, US EPA and all of the partners who made this a reality...I'm proud to have played my small role to help you do your great work!
For more info on this great conservation victory:
http://www.theday.com/article/20131024/NWS01/131029854/-1/rssharbornews
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131023/deep-buys-property-clinton-had-eyed-for-wastewater-treatment
And a photo of the property:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151803613384480&set=pcb.10151803616719480&type=1&relevant_count=2
Sincerely,
Patrick
Patrick M. Comins
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Connecticut
185 East Flat Hill Road
Southbury, CT 06488
Phone: (203)264-5098 x308
Fax: (203)264-6332
pcomins@audubon.org
http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-CT
Audubon Connecticut is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AudubonCT
Friends of Conte is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Silvio-O-Conte-National-Fish-and-Wildlife-Refuge/121976791147545?v=wall
That's FANTASTIC News Patrick!! I really appreciate all your hard work
behind the scenes on our behalf making sure that the Wildlife we enjoy
so much have these prime areas protected. This is a great
accomplishment and you should be very proud! Thank You so very much
for your foresight and your endless hard work!!
Keith Mueller
Quoting "Comins, Patrick" PCOMINS@audubon.org:
Yesterday I had one of those days that reminded me why I work so
hard at this job to conserve birds and their habitats. I had the
honor of attending the celebration of the protection of the 155-acre
Sciongay property in Westbrook, CT. The Connecticut DEEP, who had
help form other partners including the Trust for Public Land,
celebrated the permanent protection of this property in the tidal
headwaters of the Menunketesuck River. This means that more than
one mile on both sides of the river is now permanently protected,
due also to an earlier project to protect the Chapman Millpond
property in Clinton. This acquisition creates a vital buffer to
the important tidal headwaters of the river that runs through the
Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR and empties to Long
Island Sound at Duck Island Roads/Pilot's Point. This was
especially important because the Town of Clinton has been seeking a
property on which to dispose of treated sewerage discharge through a
community septic system of sorts. The property has an area of sand
dune habitat, which is a nesting area for eastern box turtle and the
globally endangered wood turtle that would also be perfect for such
a system from an engineering viewpoint.
Why is this project so important? Many years ago, I worked for the
Connecticut Audubon Society and then the US Fish and Wildlife
Service and was based at Salt Meadow Unit. At times I would need
to be at work very early for bird surveys. I found that there was
an amazing variety and abundance of warblers and other migrant birds
that used the Refuge in fall migration. An early morning there
after the passage of a cold front can be an amazing experience! I
started thinking about why so many migrants might find themselves on
this property in fall migration and noticed that there were very few
roads to the north of the property. I then noticed that there is a
very dark (at night), relatively undeveloped forested corridor that
stretches from Salt Meadow Unit northwards to the Connecticut River
in Middletown and beyond. This corridor can even be seen from space
at night and likely is a highway for our nocturnal migrant
landbirds. It can be seen in this photo as the dark corridor just
to the east of the I-91 ribbon of light:
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/620615main_iss1600_946-710.jpg
I started compiling maps and other images in an attempt to get the
word out about this potentially important flyway and even gave a
talk several years ago at the COA Annual Meeting that featured this
feature prominently. I eventually started talking a bit less about
it, but a few years ago learned that perhaps some seeds were planted
after all. Local municipalities, under the leadership of the Lower
Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (I believe they were
the lead) had made a successful push to officially recognize a
portion of this corridor as the Menunketesuck Greenway, with a goal
of protecting land between the Refuge and the Cockaponsit State
Forest to the north. To make a very long story short, a parcel that
I thought was absolutely key to protecting this flyway was the area
directly to the north of the Refuge across I-95, i.e. this very
property, along with the the parcels on the east side of the river.
Now both sides of the river are protected, which will hopefully
spur on additional protection efforts to make the entire greenway a
reality as a protected corridor.
I'm not trying to play up my personal role in the actual
acquisition, those kudos go to Dave Kozak and the Connecticut
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Trust for
Public Land, funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency,
the Sciongay family who sold it for much less than market value, the
Town of Westbrook and other partners I'm sure. Though I am
privileged to have helped a little by helping to make the case for
that funding (funding that Audubon also plays a key role in securing
for all of the partners to access through our Long Island Sound
program). My point is to never get discouraged, sometimes
conservation action takes decades and sometimes small seeds you help
to plant can bear great fruit when others see the vision and have
the means to implement it.
The story gets even better though, later in the day I traveled to
Norwalk for the announcement of this year's Long Island Sound
Futures Fund awards, where a grant was announced to restore fish
passage past the dam that is on the property. This will allow river
herring, blueback herring and and alewife to access over 3 miles of
spawning habitat north of the dam. I'm told (by DEEP fisheries
biologist Steve Gephard, who also played a major role in this
effort) that the name Menunketesuck means "the river of small
silvery and bony fish", apparently the river historically ran silver
with these fish that are so critical to the health of Long Island
Sound and are now so endangered.
What does this have to do with birds you might say? If you have
ever kayaked the Menunketesuck River, you may wonder why people
think Little Blue Herons are a rare sighting. That marsh is a real
hot spot for them and just off the mouth of the river sits Duck
Island, a critical heron rookery and probably the most important
nesting area in the state for Little Blues. Also, the Menunketesuck
flats are a prime staging area for terns in the late summer and
fall, including the federally endangered Roseate Tern. Think of
how much better that bird habitat would be with oodles of small fish
to forage on?
Buffer, for a beautiful marsh, more fish for birds to eat and a
keystone parcel protected on the flight path to a key migration
stopover, what could be better than that? And partners who did the
legwork to make the deal happen to top it off. Kudos to the
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Trust for Public
Land, US EPA and all of the partners who made this a reality...I'm
proud to have played my small role to help you do your great work!
For more info on this great conservation victory:
http://www.theday.com/article/20131024/NWS01/131029854/-1/rssharbornews
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131023/deep-buys-property-clinton-had-eyed-for-wastewater-treatment
And a photo of the property:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151803613384480&set=pcb.10151803616719480&type=1&relevant_count=2
Sincerely,
Patrick
Patrick M. Comins
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Connecticut
185 East Flat Hill Road
Southbury, CT 06488
Phone: (203)264-5098 x308
Fax: (203)264-6332
pcomins@audubon.org
http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-CT
Audubon Connecticut is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AudubonCT
Friends of Conte is on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Silvio-O-Conte-National-Fish-and-Wildlife-Refuge/121976791147545?v=wall
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association
(COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit
http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
Thank you, Patrick -- and all the others who worked on this project -- for
your patience, perseverance, and vision. Those of us not working in the
field depend on you to keep up the pressure, keep after the projects, and
keep us informed so we can help at pivotal moments. Then comes the VERY
sweet celebrations when there is success after a long time!
Sarah Faulkner
Collinsville
----- Original Message -----
From: "Comins, Patrick" PCOMINS@audubon.org
To: "CT Birds List" ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 6:49 PM
Subject: [CT Birds] A day to remind me what it's all about (fairly long)
Yesterday I had one of those days that reminded me why I work so hard at
this job to conserve birds and their habitats. I had the honor of
attending the celebration of the protection of the 155-acre Sciongay
property in Westbrook, CT. The Connecticut DEEP, who had help form other
partners including the Trust for Public Land, celebrated the permanent
protection of this property in the tidal headwaters of the Menunketesuck
River. This means that more than one mile on both sides of the river is
now permanently protected, due also to an earlier project to protect the
Chapman Millpond property in Clinton. This acquisition creates a vital
buffer to the important tidal headwaters of the river that runs through
the Salt Meadow Unit of Stewart B. McKinney NWR and empties to Long Island
Sound at Duck Island Roads/Pilot's Point. This was especially important
because the Town of Clinton has been seeking a property on which to
dispose of treated sewerage discharge through a community septic system of
sorts. The property has an area of sand dune habitat, which is a nesting
area for eastern box turtle and the globally endangered wood turtle that
would also be perfect for such a system from an engineering viewpoint.
Why is this project so important? Many years ago, I worked for the
Connecticut Audubon Society and then the US Fish and Wildlife Service and
was based at Salt Meadow Unit. At times I would need to be at work very
early for bird surveys. I found that there was an amazing variety and
abundance of warblers and other migrant birds that used the Refuge in fall
migration. An early morning there after the passage of a cold front can
be an amazing experience! I started thinking about why so many migrants
might find themselves on this property in fall migration and noticed that
there were very few roads to the north of the property. I then noticed
that there is a very dark (at night), relatively undeveloped forested
corridor that stretches from Salt Meadow Unit northwards to the
Connecticut River in Middletown and beyond. This corridor can even be
seen from space at night and likely is a highway for our nocturnal migrant
landbirds. It can be seen in this photo as the dark corridor just to the
east of the I-91 ribbon of light:
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/620615main_iss1600_946-710.jpg
I started compiling maps and other images in an attempt to get the word
out about this potentially important flyway and even gave a talk several
years ago at the COA Annual Meeting that featured this feature
prominently. I eventually started talking a bit less about it, but a few
years ago learned that perhaps some seeds were planted after all. Local
municipalities, under the leadership of the Lower Connecticut River Valley
Council of Governments (I believe they were the lead) had made a
successful push to officially recognize a portion of this corridor as the
Menunketesuck Greenway, with a goal of protecting land between the Refuge
and the Cockaponsit State Forest to the north. To make a very long story
short, a parcel that I thought was absolutely key to protecting this
flyway was the area directly to the north of the Refuge across I-95, i.e.
this very property, along with the the parcels on the east side of the
river. Now both sides of the river are protected, which will hopefully
spur on additional protection efforts to make the entire greenway a
reality as a protected corridor.
I'm not trying to play up my personal role in the actual acquisition,
those kudos go to Dave Kozak and the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, the Trust for Public Land, funding from the US
Environmental Protection Agency, the Sciongay family who sold it for much
less than market value, the Town of Westbrook and other partners I'm sure.
Though I am privileged to have helped a little by helping to make the case
for that funding (funding that Audubon also plays a key role in securing
for all of the partners to access through our Long Island Sound program).
My point is to never get discouraged, sometimes conservation action takes
decades and sometimes small seeds you help to plant can bear great fruit
when others see the vision and have the means to implement it.
The story gets even better though, later in the day I traveled to Norwalk
for the announcement of this year's Long Island Sound Futures Fund awards,
where a grant was announced to restore fish passage past the dam that is
on the property. This will allow river herring, blueback herring and and
alewife to access over 3 miles of spawning habitat north of the dam. I'm
told (by DEEP fisheries biologist Steve Gephard, who also played a major
role in this effort) that the name Menunketesuck means "the river of small
silvery and bony fish", apparently the river historically ran silver with
these fish that are so critical to the health of Long Island Sound and are
now so endangered.
What does this have to do with birds you might say? If you have ever
kayaked the Menunketesuck River, you may wonder why people think Little
Blue Herons are a rare sighting. That marsh is a real hot spot for them
and just off the mouth of the river sits Duck Island, a critical heron
rookery and probably the most important nesting area in the state for
Little Blues. Also, the Menunketesuck flats are a prime staging area for
terns in the late summer and fall, including the federally endangered
Roseate Tern. Think of how much better that bird habitat would be with
oodles of small fish to forage on?
Buffer, for a beautiful marsh, more fish for birds to eat and a keystone
parcel protected on the flight path to a key migration stopover, what
could be better than that? And partners who did the legwork to make the
deal happen to top it off. Kudos to the Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, Trust for Public Land, US EPA and all of the
partners who made this a reality...I'm proud to have played my small role
to help you do your great work!
For more info on this great conservation victory:
http://www.theday.com/article/20131024/NWS01/131029854/-1/rssharbornews
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20131023/deep-buys-property-clinton-had-eyed-for-wastewater-treatment
And a photo of the property:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151803613384480&set=pcb.10151803616719480&type=1&relevant_count=2
Sincerely,
Patrick
Patrick M. Comins
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Connecticut
185 East Flat Hill Road
Southbury, CT 06488
Phone: (203)264-5098 x308
Fax: (203)264-6332
pcomins@audubon.org
http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-CT
Audubon Connecticut is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AudubonCT
Friends of Conte is on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Silvio-O-Conte-National-Fish-and-Wildlife-Refuge/121976791147545?v=wall
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA)
for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit
http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org