John Hannan
Board Member
Bylane Farm by Bob Rohr
John Hannan
Bedford Audubon offers us so much that it is hard to choose just one reason for joining. The bird walks and monthly lectures are excellent reasons to be an active member, and there is also our bird conservation and habitat management potential, which really excites me. Our organization is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Westchester County, allowing us to make significant contributions to bird conservation through responsible habitat management and, through that work, serve as a demonstration site for other landowners who also want to protect birds and wildlife.
I am an avid naturalist and amateur ornithologist who has spent my entire life traveling and experiencing nature’s beauty. Growing up, I lived in Ireland, England, Brazil, and Argentina which gave me a sense of just how wonderful a world we live in and how we should all strive to work across borders to protect it. For the last 24 years my wife and I have lived with our children in Somers.
Professionally, I am a 40-year veteran of the nonprofit world, working in various organizations as development director, chief financial officer, executive director, and director of strategic planning. For more than two decades, I have been involved in the Audubon family at all levels. On staff, at National Audubon, working in the CT State Office, volunteering as Chair of the Audubon NY State Chapters’ Council and as a past President of the Bedford Audubon Board of Directors. Now that I am retired, I am very excited to devote significant energy once again to our Chapter by rejoining the Board.
If I had to pick a favorite bird, it would be the Bobolink. They nest in the larger hayfields of Westchester and Putnam County with males easily identified by their eclectic and frenetic song. But we share this bird with the rest of the Americas. They are truly migratory ambassadors whose survival depends upon us cooperating in a multi-national conservation plan that stretches from Canada all the way to Argentina. During their annual migratory travels, Bobolinks will go as far north as Canada to nest, migrate across the US and Caribbean and then pass though almost every Central and South American country before reaching their non-breeding wintering grounds in Argentina’s vast Pampas grasslands. These beautiful birds remind us of our interconnectivity and dependance upon each other.
Beyond birds and Bedford Audubon, I am an ardent soccer fan, photographer, and kayaker.