As the Light Grows Stronger and Spring Is Upon Us

It is one of nature’s marvels to see thousands of birds, navigating by the stars and gravitational force, traversing the Atlantic flyway in the spring and south again in the fall. Yet it happens every year as the light grows stronger, and again, as the declining light draws them south to their winter habitats.

Some 500 birds will be caught every spring in the mist nets that are mounted within the Birdcraft Sanctuary in Fairfield, CT; where trained volunteer banders, working under the auspices of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, will catch, bag, band, and release them after recording salient details. Starting in April after the snow melts, master bander Judy Richardson and her volunteers will be up and out on the grounds at dawn — removing the birds who are caught in the 15 nets stationed strategically throughout the property. They will process, and in most cases, release them in less than ten minutes. The handling of the birds is a craft in itself, for the birds often have wings, a head, or a foot caught in the mesh, and unless they are handled with skill they will die.

Culling the information gathered, scientists can track how far birds travel, how long they live, and discover where they rest and spend the winter. Over time they can assess whether species are rising or falling.

For the banders who participate in this bi-seasonal operation, these are weeks to see an extraordinary assortment of birds, from delicate and exquisitely marked songbirds — gray catbirds are most common in springtime while white-throated sparrows top the list in the fall — to the occasional misfit who has wound up in Fairfield terribly off-course. Some 120 species of birds have been recorded since the banding station was established in 1977.

The Birdcraft operation is now a part of a national banding effort; though it’s remarkable to remember that it was from this diminutive 6-acre urban sanctuary that the plight of birds came to national attention nearly a century ago.

Mabel Osgood Wright*, its creator, set out to thwart the wanton slaughter of birds for women’s hats, and to offer in contrast, at the "Song Bird Sanctuary, ... an oasis in a desert of material things." When Annie Burr Jennings, an heir to the Standard Oil fortune and Mabel’s friend, gave the project her imprimatur, the future of the sanctuary and the Birdcraft Museum was secured. Money was not spared to make the urban oasis, just "ten minute’s walk from trolley, village, and railway station,” and this gem of a place has set the standard for instruction and conservation for nearly 100 years.

Mabel was a visionary — "my idol," Judy says. Today the institution is designated as a National Historic Landmark while continuing to serve as an important educational resource; as with the avian migrants, hundreds of schoolchildren flow through the grounds and the museum each year, studying the mounted specimens and learning how to become better stewards of nature.

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As the Light Grows Stronger and Spring Is Upon Us

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