Guess Whoooo’s Coming To Give A Program For Town & Country Garden Club?

On Wednesday, September 9, the Town and Country Garden Club of Newtown is sponsoring a program featuring a talk and power point presentation by Ken Elkins, the education programs manager at The Audubon Center at Bent of the River in Southbury.

Mr Elkins teaches most of the programs at the Audubon Center that range from learning about the connected ecosystems that exist in back yard to hands on experiences involving collecting animals for study. The program will start at 7 pm at Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook, and it is open to the public free of charge.

Ken Elkins began bird watching when he was ten years old and visited with his grandparents who moved to Vermont. He now leads bird watching tours in Connecticut as well as Texas, Arizona, and Alaska.

Mr Elkins will be focusing on the five species that nest in Connecticut, including two on the endangered species list: the long-eared owl and the barn owl. These birds are nocturnal, however, when other species such as the Snowy Owl or the Great Gray Owl migrate south into Connecticut in the winter when their normal food sources are depleted, they can be seen in the daytime because they are very hungry. Mr Elkins has to educate people to keep their distance from these “eruptive” visitors because they are out of energy and should not be disturbed.

While there will be no live owls at the program, Mr Elkins will be bringing the sounds of the owls with him, so that even if they cannot see them in backyards those attending the program will be able to identify them the next time they hear them.

His purpose is to make people aware of owls’ habitats and appreciate their presence in the landscape.

For information call Liz Arneth at 426-5359.