August 2024 Programs
Registration is required for all programs by emailing Susan at info@bedfordaudubon.org unless otherwise specified.
We have binoculars!
If you’d like to borrow a pair, please ask when you register.
Gardeners and would-be gardeners needed!
Please join us for weekly Garden Volunteer Hours where you’ll work alongside professional native gardener Missy Fabel and fellow volunteers to help maintain this beautiful habitat throughout the season. Garden tour guides are also needed… we can train you!
Every Tuesday from 9:00-11:00am. You’re welcome to drop in, or email Susan to add your name to our list of garden volunteers to stay in the loop on all garden volunteer work. We have tools and supplies, but please bring your own gloves if you have them.
Soar on over to explore Bylane Farm…
Join us for Family Day at the Farm for a morning of birds and nature in our own backyard! Fun activities for everyone include a scavenger hunt, guided bird walk, story time, crafts and more! Learn about birds, birding, and habitat gardening from our summer interns as you and your family explore our sanctuary and native habitat garden.
Saturday, August 3, 9:00am-12:00pm. Cost: Free. Please email Susan to register. Children must be accompanied by an adult – no drop-offs.
Interested in birding at a location where 332 migrating bird species, nearly half the species in the Northeast, have been sighted over the last 25 years?
If so, don’t wait… sign up for our Field Trip to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge with Naturalist Tait Johansson! This trip is timed to coincide with high tide at Jamaica Bay for the BEST shorebirding on the East Pond. During high tide, the marshes of the open bay are submerged but the East Pond mudflats are not tidal, providing foraging and/or resting areas while the waters are high outside. Wear rubber boots, or old sneakers and a change of footwear for later, as we’re expecting mud possibly up to above the ankles while we search for Glossy Ibis, Great Blue and Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Osprey, egrets, and flocks of hundreds of sandpipers and plovers of many species.
Sunday, August 4, 8:00am-1:00pm. Cost: Free. Level of difficulty: Easy-moderate. Please email Susan to register.
Do you know… Great Blue Herons sometimes hunt in meadows for frogs, voles, or insects?
Tap into Naturalist Tait Johansson’s knowledge on these and the many other species we hope to see on his First Wednesday’s Bird Walk. We hope to beat the heat on this summer morning foray to Deans Bridge in Somers. Tait will expertly guide us in an exploration of water, wetland, grassland, and woodland habitat to search for Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Yellow Warbler, and possibly Solitary Sandpiper (fingers crossed!).
Wednesday, August 7, 7:30-9:30am. Cost: Free. Level of difficulty: Moderate. Please email Susan to register at info@bedfordaudubon.org.
Embrace serenity!
Escape the bustle of your day for an hour and join local Reiki Master Practitioner, Catherine Downs, for Nature Meditation in our sanctuary. Based on the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku), this tranquil session will include a seated, guided reiki inspired meditation and an immersive slow walk focusing on using the senses to connect to the natural world.
Thursday, August 8, 10:00-11:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy-moderate (may include an incline if we walk the trail). Please email Susan to register at info@bedfordaudubon.org
Everything you want to know about bird banding… up close and personal!
All summer, Naturalist Tait Johansson and Summer Field Biologist Arden Schneider have been getting up before the birds to operate an active Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS) station in our Hunt-Parker Sanctuary to collect data about birds in our area. The MAPS program is a continent-wide collaborative research project led by the Institute for Bird Populations. Information collected helps scientists understand which life-stages may be most important in driving bird population change. Learn more about MAPS and Bedford Audubon’s role at a Bird Banding Demonstration at Bylane Farm – Tait and Arden will actually band birds, explaining every step along the way with birds in hand. This is a family-friendly event, but children must be accompanied by an adult.
Sunday, August 11, 8:00-10:00am. Cost: Free, but donations are welcome to help support MAPS and our other research projects. Please email Susan to register.
“Warblers are the stars of the extraordinary diversity of colors and sounds of our annual avian visit from the tropics.” – Tait Johansson
If you missed seeing warblers during spring migration, join us in search of them before they head out, as many warblers are already migrating by mid-August. Join Naturalist Tait Johansson at our popular Third Thursday’s Bird Walk to look for these small birds and other songbird migrants while you have the chance. This is an easy walk, great for beginners and experienced birders alike.
Thursday, August 15, 7:30-9:30am. Cost: Free. Level of difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Get your game on!
You’re invited to Summer Game Night at Bylane Farm! Join us as Dr. Samir Biswas, assistant principal at John Jay High School and board game enthusiast, facilitates an enchanted evening of board gaming on our patio featuring Wingspan and other games with themes around conservation.
Wingspan, an award-winning bird-themed board game that took the world by storm in 2019 and was even featured in the New York Times. It was brought to life by avid birder and board game creator Elizabeth Hargraves and board game illustrator Beth Sobel. The objective is for players to attract birds to a wildlife preserve – every bird added to your habitat will help you accumulate food, eggs, additional bird cards, and most importantly, victory points. The beautiful illustrations and design make for a charming game based on birds and their habitats.
Thursday, August 22, 5:30-7:30pm. Cost: Free. Please email Susan to register at info@bedfordaudubon.org. (Rain date is Thursday, August 29)
Photo Credit: Wood Duck/Mick Thompson
