Free Migration Festival on Saturday

Lemmon lemmon at snet.net
Wed Sep 20 09:02:06 EDT 2006


CONTACT:   Patrick Comins
pcomins at audubon.org
203/264-5098 
 
Dan Barvir
dbarvir at newhavenct.net
203/946-6086
 
 
FOURTH ANNUAL NEW HAVEN MIGRATION FESTIVAL
LIGHTHOUSE POINT PARK, NEW HAVEN, CT 
 
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2006
 
 
 
New Haven, CT, September 23rd, 2006 - On September 23, 2006, the City of New Haven, the New Haven Bird Club, the Connecticut Butterfly Association, Audubon Connecticut, Northeast Hawk Watch, the Connecticut Ornithological Association, Wind Over Wings, Menunkatuck Audubon, and the Connecticut Audubon Society will join forces to celebrate the spectacular fall hawk migration at the fourth annual New Haven Migration Festival at New Haven's Lighthouse Point Park.
 
Lighthouse Point Park is recognized as an Important Bird Area due to its importance as a major stopover destination for migrating raptors. The park, on average, reports the largest numbers of migrating hawks northeast of Cape May as the annual numbers of some species such as Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels reach into the tens of thousands. Lighthouse Point Park also features regular appearances of less common raptors like Merlins, Peregrine Falcons, Northern Goshawks, and Bald Eagles, as well as a wide variety of migrating songbirds and shorebirds; flocks of thousands of Blue Jays, Tree Swallows, and blackbirds are not uncommon. In addition, this is the only site in Connecticut where the Red-headed Woodpecker can be reliably seen. 
 
Not only is Lighthouse Point Park a premier birding hotspot, but it is also a popular destination for butterfly and dragonfly enthusiasts. As the New Haven Parks and Recreation Department has curtailed mowing in strategic areas of the park, wildflowers attractive to butterflies should be in abundance, which should result in an excellent turnout of butterflies.  A new butterfly and hummingbird garden installed by the Connecticut Butterfly Association and the City of New Haven, in partnership with Audubon Connecticut and the Menunketuck Audubon Society, should greatly enhance the butterfly viewing opportunities for this year.  
 
The public is encouraged to come and witness this natural phenomenon and to participate in the many activities the festival has to offer, which will give the public the opportunity to learn about raptor biology and behavior as well as the chance to see live hawks up close and personal. 
 
The day’s festivities will include:
            
·        A hawk and songbird flight ID workshop led by the Connecticut Ornithological Association
·        Bird banding demonstrations by the Connecticut Audubon Society
·        Monarch butterfly banding demonstrations by the Connecticut Butterfly Association
·        A live raptor show featuring Wind Over Wings
·        Bird walks led by the New Haven Bird Club
·        Rides on the historic carousel
·        Butterfly and dragonfly walks led by the Connecticut Butterfly Association
·        AND MORE!
 
Patrick Comins, the Director of Bird Conservation at Audubon Connected stated, “We are excited to help out with this event. Birders have known how amazing the spectacle of migration can be at Lighthouse Point Park and this is our opportunity to share this special place with other residents of Connecticut so they can see first hand why this City park has been named one of Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas.”
 
For a complete schedule of events, please call the City of New Haven Parks and Recreation Department at  (203) 946-6086, or Patrick Comins at (203) 264-5098.
 
Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them.  Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experience.
 
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