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People Caring for IBAs - With Patrick Comins
Important Bird Areas help protect birds!
© Patrick Comins
Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut, explains why Long Beach and its adjoining salt marsh near the town of Stratford are so important for birds. Nearly 300 species of birds, including Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs like these, have been recorded at Great Meadows, designated by National Audubon as an Important Bird Area, or IBA. American Bird Conservancy offers info about Globally Important Bird Areas in the US.
BirdNote®
People Caring for Important Bird Areas –
Interview with Patrick Comins
Interviewed by Chris Peterson
This is BirdNote.
[Waves on Long Beach]
Along the southern Connecticut shore, winter begins to loosen its grip. Today, we’re at Long Beach and its adjoining salt marsh near the town of Stratford. We’re with Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut.
[Waves on Long Beach – and sounds of the adjoining salt marsh]
(910G15T3 1:08) …This area is one of the most important areas for birds in Connecticut. [Call of a Whimbrel]…Nearly 300 species of birds have been recorded here. … It’s got a large population of Clapper Rails [Clapper Rail]… It’s got some nesting Saltmarsh Sparrows and Seaside Sparrows … and American Black Ducks [American Black Duck].
(G15T3 1:34) …Thousands of migratory shorebirds stop over here each year on their long migratory journeys. [Huge flock of Dunlin]
1:46 Also winter birds… sometimes if you come out here in the late winter time when the barnacle larvae are hatching you can see gulls for as far as the eye can see out here --- probably a hundred thousand gulls out here feeding on barnacle larvae. [Large flock of Herring Gulls feeding]
2:03 And also some shorebirds winter over here, Sanderlings and Dunlin, [waves] and also it’s a great place to see raptors and owls. It’s one of the best places in the state to find Snowy Owls, Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers and Rough-legged Hawks.
[Call of Rough-legged Hawk with the saltmarsh habitat as ambient]
What ensures that important bird areas are available for abundant birdlife?
People do! See how, on our website, birdnote.org.
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Individual Whimbrel and flock of Dunlin, recorded by W.W. H. Gunn; Clapper Rail recorded by R.S. Little; quacks of American Duck 53185 recorded by S.R. Pantel; large flock of Herring Gulls 133311 recorded by M. Fischer; Rough-legged Hawk 4301 recorded by A.A. Allen.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org March 2012 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# iba-02-2012-03-08 iba-02
Sights & Sounds
