May 2025 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.
It’s that time of year…
Join Naturalist Tait Johansson in kicking off May with Migration Madness on Maple Avenue in Katonah. The trees won’t be fully leafed out making it easier find warblers and other returning migrants. We might see Louisiana Waterthrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and hopefully a colony of Cliff Swallows! This friendly, local walk is perfect for beginning birders and experienced ones
Thursday, May 1, 7:00-9:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
It’s the same but new…
This month, Tait is traveling so Board President John Hannan is stepping in to lead this month’s First Wednesday’s Bird Walk at Angle Fly Preserve in Somers! This vital sanctuary for wildlife was named after the last natural brook-trout spawning stream in Westchester, and it boasts 654 acres of diverse habitat. Possible sightings could include Blue-winged Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Wood Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, and Great Blue Heron among others.
Wednesday, May 7, 7:30-9:30am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Garden days are here!
You’ll have double the fun by joining us for this month’s Habitat Renewal Day and our Native Habitat Garden Open House! Naturalist and Board Member Steve Ricker is looking for volunteers to join him to dig in and enhance the quality of the rare habitat that surrounds Bylane Farm. While working on projects in our native habitat garden or the sanctuary beyond it, Steve will share tips on discerning native plants from invasives and explain the importance of this work in supporting wildlife. At the same time, Garden Committee members will be on site to share the philosophy of the garden and answer questions so you can turn your yard into a thriving habitat.
Saturday, May 10, 11:00am-1:00pm. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty (for Habitat Renewal Work): Easy-moderate. Please email Susan to register.
Come with us to an 843-acre park that is a major stopover for migrating birds…
Join Naturalist Tait Johansson for his perennially popular Field Trip to Central Park, a green oasis in an urban setting that provides diverse habitat for birds to rest and refuel on their migratory journeys. We’ll be on the lookout for flycatchers, cuckoos, warblers, vireos, kinglets, tanagers, grosbeaks, and other songbirds, along with Black-crowned Night-Heron. We will stop at the boathouse where you can buy lunch or bring your own, if you prefer.
Tuesday, May 13, 7:15am-1:30pm. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Fun Fact: Sometimes a Cliff Swallow may lay eggs in its own nest and then carry one of its eggs in its bill and put it in another female’s nest.
Join Naturalist Tait Johansson for his Third Thursday’s Bird Walk near the Cross River Dam where we’re sure to find a colony of Cliff Swallows! Indigo Buntings and Blue-winged Warblers nest in the area, so maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of them! This walk is likely to fill up so please register soon.
Thursday, May 15, 7:30am-9:30am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Follow the madness north with us.
Migration Madness continues with Naturalist Tait Johansson’s Field Trip to Sterling Forest, an unbroken deep-forest habitat important for the survival of many resident and migratory bird species. On this trip last year, Tait recorded sightings of Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Double-crested Cormorant, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Ovenbird, and too many warblers to count!
Saturday, May 17, 7:00am-12:00pm. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Moderate. Please email Susan to register.
“A compendium of remarkable lives… united in their devotion to trees… It shines.” —Audubon
This month’s Bylane Book Club read is The Tree Collectors – Tales of Arboreal Obsession by Amy Stewart. It’s a “slyly humorous, informative, often poignant volume,” that tells captivating stories of people who spend their lives in pursuit of rare and wonderful trees and are transformed in the process. Please join Board Vice President and Program Committee Chair Melanie Brocklehurst for this month’s discussion at Bylane Farm. Amy Stewart is the New York Times bestselling author of The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants, and several other popular nonfiction titles about the natural world.
Monday, May 19, 6:30pm. Cost: Free. Please email Susan to register.
Follow the flock – branching out for migration madness!
Join Naturalist Tait Johansson to the northern stretch of our territory in Carmel to explore a local Birding Hotspot: West Branch Reservoir at Washington Street. This stretch of about a mile of wooded dirt road along the southwest shore of the reservoir between Mahopac and Carmel has some very good habitat for migrant songbirds and waterbirds.
Tuesday, May 20, 7:00-9:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Have you ever seen a face-off between two adult male Orchard Orioles?
Come for Migration Madness at Marsh Sanctuary and maybe history will repeat itself. On this trip in 2024, Naturalist Tait Johansson saw just that and reported it on his eBird list! Don’t miss this exploration of the 156-acre sanctuary that is home to the largest freshwater marsh in Westchester County… we’ll be searching resident Blue-winged Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak and other migrating songbirds. Maybe we’ll even see a Common Loon (which was heard doing the “laughing” call several times last May!).
Wednesday, May 21, 7:00-9:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
It’s that time of year…
The annual Bedford Audubon Annual Meeting of the Members is all about conservation! The evening will begin with highlights from our year followed by board elections. Information about this meeting will be emailed to members, as you must be a Bedford Audubon in good standing to vote in our board elections. To join Bedford Audubon or renew your membership online, please click here. If you’re unsure about your membership status, please email info@bedfordaudubon.org or call the office at 914-232-1999.
The business portion of the meeting will be followed by a presentation from students whose science research projects have won the Bedford Audubon Award at the Regeneron Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF). The award goes to two scholars whose research projects best exemplify Bedford Audubon’s mission and purpose “to promote conservation and protection of wildlife through education, advocacy, nature study, and/or ornithology.” We hope you’ll join us to hear from this year’s Bedford Audubon award winners:
“Pitch Perfect: Song Sparrow (Melospiza Melodia) Adjust the Frequency of Their Song in Response to Anthropogenic Noise” – Reese Caparelli
For her project, second time Bedford Audubon award winner Reese Caparelli updated and expanded on her examination of the detrimental effects of anthropogenic noise on bird communication. Ms. Caparelli’s study documented compensatory changes in the frequency bandwidth and length of Song Sparrow songs when exposed to noise pollution. Her findings shed light on the impact of noise pollution on sparrow communication and vocal plasticity, providing a greater understanding of avian responses to man-made noise. Additionally, her evidence highlights how imperative it is that we mitigate and manage noise pollution to protect birds and their ecosystems.
“Impact of Human Proximity and Incubation Period on Reproductive Outcomes in Eastern Bluebirds: An Analysis of Hatch and Fledge Rates” – Mikinley Scherpf
For her project, Mikinley Scherpf examined the relationship between the proximity of Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow nests to human development and their breeding success, including hatch rates, fledge rates, and number of fledglings. Ms. Sherpf measured the distance to human areas and collected data on incubation times and fledgling numbers during the 2023-2024 breeding seasons. Her correlation analysis suggests that both species may be more adaptable to human environments than previously thought, and highlights the need for further research on what truly affects their reproductive outcomes in these “mixed use” areas.
Wednesday, May 21, 6:30pm (Annual Meeting); 7:00pm (Lecture). Katonah Village Library Garden Room.
Next stop for Migration Madness… Yorktown!
Following the route of the former New York Central Railroad’s Putnam Division line, this section of the North County Trailway is a prime local hot spot for spring migrants! Last year we recorded 33 species including Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Double-crested Cormorant, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and so many more! Come discover what we’ll find this year, as Naturalist Tait Johansson leads the search on this restored rail trail that crosses the New Croton Reservoir.
Thursday, May 22, 7:00-9:00am. Cost: Free. Level of Difficulty: Easy. Please email Susan to register.
Band together for birds…
Every summer, Naturalist Tait Johansson manages 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 a team of volunteers will 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, May 25, 8:00-10:00am. Cost: Free but donations are welcome to help support this research. Please email Susan to register.
PHOTO CREDIT: Brown Thrasher by Tait Johansson
