On our monthly visit to Deans Bridge in Somers for the First Wednesday’s Bird Walk, we will explore water, wetland, grassland, and woodland areas with Naturalist Tait Johansson. Some species we’ve had on past early November walks there include Green-winged Teal, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Fox Sparrow, so come along with us and see what we find.

Wednesday, November 1, 7:30-9:30am. Level of Difficulty: Easy- Moderate (due to a steep incline on the trail). Email Susan to register: info@bedfordaudubon.org

Come with us on a Field Trip to Croton Point and explore the largest peninsula on the Hudson River. Croton Point Park is one of Westchester’s four Important Bird Areas (IBA). The capped landfill, once the feeding grounds for thousands of gulls, is now meadow, and the star attractant for birds year-round. Under the guidance of Naturalist Tait Johansson, our main focus will be grassland birds like Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, American Pipit, Horned Lark, and perhaps Snow Bunting and Eastern Meadowlark. We may also see Bald Eagles, and thicket birds like Fox Sparrow.

Saturday, November 4, 8:00am-12:00pm.Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Email Susan to register info@bedfordaudubon.org

Join Lead Hawk Counter Rich Aracil, Hawkwatch Interpreter/Spotter Adam Bradley, and Naturalist Tait Johansson for a discussion of results and highlights so far this season for Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch at the Arthur Butler Sanctuary.  From late August through late November, Rich and Adam are on the viewing platform diligently collecting migration data and helping visitors spot and identify the raptors.  The raptors we observe here migrate from their northern breeding grounds of Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England to their wintering grounds in the southern United States and Central and South America: we are fortunate enough to be located over their regular flyway. 

From the highs to the lows, the daily challenges and rewards, come and hear what Rich, Adam andTait have to say about this year’s Hawkwatch season.

Wednesday, November 8, 7:00pm. No registration required.

Raptors – if you’ve been up at the Hawkwatch platform, you’ve seen them from afar, and now you can see them up close! We invite you to joinus for a very special encounter with raptors: Live Birds of Prey at Bylane Farm. A licensed specialist will introduce us to one or more raptors on a bird handler’s glove. You’ll learn about the natural history of these magnificent birds, while discovering their unique physical and behavioral adaptations. We’ll discuss different raptor species and their amazing behavioral and predatory adaptations, as well as their conservation status and critical role in the environment.

Saturday, November 11, 10:00-11:00am. Cost: Member $10; Non-members $15; Children are Free. This fee helps offset the cost of programming and research such as Hawkwatch. Please arrive a few minutes early  to settle into your seat. 

Once again we arelooking for volunteers to help us with some fall clean-up around Bylane. Working outside to remove invasive plants from areas around the native garden andsurrounding sanctuary, Naturalist and Board Member Steve Ricker will teach you how to identify and remove invasive plants and explain why this is so vital to the ecosystem. This is a great and fun way to get some exercise, fresh air, and contribute to the communities' wild animals and plants.  Tools and gloves are provided, but you canbring your own: loppers and hand pruners are the most used types. Poison ivy and plants with thorns may be present.

Saturday, November 11, 11:00-12:30. Email Susan to register:info@bedfordaudubon.org

Take a break from your morning routine and enjoy the benefits of being outdoors on our November Nature Meditation guided by local Master Reiki Practitioner Catherine Downs. Catherine will lead us in a seated, guided reiki inspired meditation, and follow with an immersive slow walk focusing on using the senses to connect to the natural world around us.

This will be ourlast outdoor Nature Meditation until the spring: look out for a special Winter Solstice Meditation Walk with Catherine in December. 

Tuesday, November 14, 10:00-11:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy-Moderate (depending where we take our walk). Email Susan to register at info@bedfordaudubon.org

Join Naturalist Tait Johansson in marking the passing of the seasons and changing of birds on our monthly Third Thursday’s Bird Walk in the Cross River Dam area of Katonah. We will be on the lookout for Bald Eagles, and waterfowl that should be starting to arrive from the north like Common Merganser & Bufflehead. We may also see lingerers like Eastern Towhee and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This is an easy and friendly walk, great for beginners and experienced birders alike.

Thursday, November 16, 7:30-9:30am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Email Susan to register: info@bedfordaudubon.org

Stock up on seed for fall and winter bird feeding. You’re sure to find joy watching birds flock to your feeder as the days grow cold and short: https://bedfordaudubon.org/shop/

IMPORTANT FALL SEED SALE DATES

Order Deadline
November 9

Pick-up at Bylane Farm (35 Todd Road, Katonah)
Saturday, November 18, from 10am-1pm or choose from our delivery options

Orders over $150
Free Delivery (between November 18-25)

Orders under $150
$25 delivery charge for local* orders.

*Local delivery is available within the Bedford Audubon communities of Armonk, Bedford, Brewster, Carmel, Katonah, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Patterson, Pound Ridge, and Yorktown. Live outside those areas? Call us at 914-232-1999 to see if we can deliver.

Join Naturalist Tait Johansson for a Field Trip to Milford Point and Silver Sands State Park and visit two Important Bird Areas (IBA) in one day. Milford Point is one of Connecticut’s most-visited bird viewing areas as the marsh, sandbars, and barrier beach are some of the most important shorebird migratory stopover areas on Long Island Sound, providing foraging areas and resting areas for tens of thousands of shorebirds each year. Silver Sands is comprised of woodland edge, grassland, beach and restored salt marsh and dune areas. It is also an IBA for wintering and nesting birds.

Among the many possibilities we will be looking for are Brant, flocks of Sanderlings and Dunlins, often Horned Larks and Snow Buntings on the sandbars, and maybe something special like Cave Swallow, as November is the month for rarities.

Sunday, November 19, 8:00am-1:00pm.Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy-Moderate. Email Susan to register info@bedfordaudubon.org