BEDFORD AUDUBON SOCIETY
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Mission Statement
We connect people to nature.
About This Cause
A Case for Wonder Flight. The miracle of migration. Spring emergence. For more than a century, Bedford Audubon has studied, protected, and celebrated nature in the lower Hudson Valley. Today, we invite you to join our journey to protect birds and wildlife from habitat loss, climate change, and other threats, and to experience and share the wonder of nature. We Connect People to Nature We create the perfect conditions to spark a passion for conservation by: • Nurturing a love of nature through experiential environmental education • Protecting and conserving publicly accessible habitat in our community • Conducting critical conservation research and engaging citizen scientists • Advocating for birds, wildlife, and habitat Communities of Service & Reach We serve the communities of northeastern Westchester and eastern Putnam Counties: • Armonk • North Salem • Brewster • Bedford • Pound Ridge • Carmel • Katonah • Somers • Patterson • Lewisboro • Yorktown • Mount Kisco Our bi-annual printed newsletter is distributed to approximately 2,500 households and our email newsletter is sent to more than 1,200 individuals. Bedford Audubon employs 1 full-time staff, 2 part-time staff, 4 seasonal staff, and rely on more than 200 volunteers each year. Our typical annual budget is $450,000. Our History Established on February 13, 1913 Bedford Audubon Society was integral in enacting early conservation laws in New York State to protect birds and habitat. Our reputation for providing outstanding environmental education is rooted in history: some of the early notable visiting guest lecturers are conservation giants by today’s measure, including Dr. Arthur Allen, founder of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Edward Howe Forbush, Massachusetts State Ornithologist; Allen D. Cruikshank, noted ornithologist and author; Louis Aggazis Fuertes, world-renowned wildlife artist and illustrator; and ornithology pioneer Roger Tory Peterson. Conservation in Action Environmental Education Bedford Audubon is well-known for the diversity of high-quality experiential environmental offerings for adults and families. Monthly Lecture Series We lecture series runs from September to June each year. This tradition is more than a century old, and we engage speakers from all over the world on a wide range of natural history and environmental topics. The lectures are free and open to the public. Local Nature Walks & Regional Field Trips Bedford Audubon provides a full docket of local nature walks and regional field trips to give participants chances to see birds and other winged creatures, rare plants and fungi, and private gardens and collections that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to visit on their own. Most walks and field trips are free and open to the public. Workshops We offer a variety of in-depth workshops like Birding 101, Birding by Ear, Planting a Native Garden, Butterflies, and Dragonflies. Workshops are usually fee-based. Habitat Protection Bedford Audubon owns and maintains three wildlife sanctuaries free and open to the public (from dawn to dusk) and more than 12 miles of marked trails throughout the sanctuary network. In addition to public access, our sanctuaries serve as outdoor classrooms and living laboratories for conservation research and citizen science. Palmer H. Lewis Sanctuary Bedford, 24 acres The sanctuary is characterized by mature mountain laurel, and large oaks and hickories. In the woodlands you may find Eastern Coyote, Barred Owl, and Wood Thrush, and a small field is maintained for butterflies and Bluebirds. Ruth Walgreen Franklin & Winifred Fels Sanctuary North Salem, 204 acres The sanctuary is mostly low deciduous woodlands, red maple swamp, and shrub swamp, which Barred Owl, Wild Turkey, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested Flycatcher, Pileated Woodpecker, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Worm-eating Warbler call home. James Ramsay Hunt & Mary Welsh Parker Sanctuary Bedford & Lewisboro, 338 acres This sanctuary is home to a small wet meadow and pond ecosystem that attracts hawks as well as Great Blue Herons, in addition to deciduous woodlands and a red maple swamp. Bylane Farm Bylane Farm is Bedford Audubon’s center of operations, co-located with the Hunt-Parker Sanctuary. Bylane hosts our offices, conference and meeting space, and the John L. Bull Collection of books, manuscripts, and paintings, as well as housing for our Naturalist-in-Residence, seasonal staff and interns, and visiting researchers and speakers. Bylane Farm was generously donated to us by the family of Mary Welsh Parker. Dating to the early 1700s, Bylane is a treasure that we’re renovating using water- and energy- efficient practices and materials to reduce our ecological footprint while celebrating its history. Leon Levy Native Garden Located at Bylane Farm, the Garden is the cornerstone of our Bird Friendly Communities efforts. The Garden and associated programs educate, empower, and engage landowners to utilize native plants and natural landscaping practices to create backyard wildlife oases and inspire neighborhood-level conservation. A garden expansion and renovation plan was designed by the award-winning Larry Weaner Landscape Associates. Easements Bedford Audubon also holds conservation easements at three other locations. We are responsible for regular oversight of the Rose & Rockshelter Preserve and the Pine Croft Meadow Preserve owned by the Westchester Land Trust and the O’Donohue Property owned by the North Salem Open Lands Foundation. Conservation Research & Citizen Science Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) MAPS is a North American research project led by the Institute for Bird Populations. Bedford Audubon’s banding data is submitted alongside more than 500 other study sites to provide critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of North American landbird populations, and the factors responsible for changes in their populations. Tait Johansson leads a core group of volunteers, interns, and local graduate students in the research. Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch The Hawkwatch collects data on migrating raptors using protocols established by the Hawk Migration Association of North America. The Hawkwatch data serves as an ecological litmus test that reflects changes in the health of our environment and enables the Hawk Migration Association of North America and its partners to produce reliable analyses of raptor population trends that drive conservation research and legislation across the country and all of North America. We partner with The Nature Conservancy to conduct the Hawkwatch at their Arthur W. Butler Sanctuary in Bedford Corners and with Westmoreland Sanctuary to provide educational programming to the public. Tait Johansson serves as the Site Coordinator, and we hire two seasonal research staff to carry out the annual three-month endeavor, now in its third decade. EagleWatch Bedford Audubon collaborates with Saw Mill River Audubon Society to conduct a winter roosting survey of Bald Eagles in the Lower Hudson Important Bird Area. Tait Johansson oversees 15 volunteer citizen scientists to monitor four roosts weekly in the winter. We also partner with Teatown Lake Reservation for their annual EagleFest each February. We share the data with Audubon New York for the purpose of monitoring and advocating for Important Bird Areas, and with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to supplement their eagle monitoring efforts and to facilitate informed decisions that impact the Important Bird Area. Wood Thrush Project In spring 2014, Bedford Audubon joined forces with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Audubon, and Forsyth Audubon to begin the Wood Thrush Project. The Wood Thrush is an iconic bird species that breeds in the forests of the northeast, and migrates each fall to Central America to overwinter, before returning north the following spring to breed again. Its haunting song heralds in spring, but each spring the song grows quieter—its population has plummeted by more than 50 percent in the past 40 years. In 2014, we outfitted 22 Wood Thrush with tiny geolocators to shed light on their wintering locations, migratory pathways, and how best to protect them in our community and across the Flyway. Recapture of the geolocators was completed in 2015. Other Research Activities • Audubon Christmas Bird Count. • Hosting state and conservation organization research (i.e., NYS DEC’s New England Cottontail research, Teatown Lake Reservation’s fisher research, etc.). • Assisting local doctoral candidates with their research. Advocacy Bedford Audubon advocates for birds, wildlife, and habitat protection in the communities we serve, Westchester County, and New York State. We are part of the Atlantic Flyway, and recognize that the birds that breed here may travel thousands, or tens of thousands, of miles during migration and advocate for those species at the Flyway, National, and International levels.