October means pumpkins, apple cider, fall foliage and of course Halloween; it also means peak bird migration at Allen’s Meadow. With breeding season well over, millions of birds begin a southbound migration to their wintering grounds, some arriving from Canada (such as the white-throated sparrow) to spend winter in Connecticut, while others (such as the blackpoll warbler) just stopping over to rest and refuel before continuing their much longer journey to South America.
These are largely nocturnal migrants using the earth’s magnetic field and patterns of stars and constellations to help them migrate, in some cases several thousand miles. A northwest tailwind helps their cause and is often a precursor to a heavy night’s migration, especially following a passing cold front. Every night the deck is reshuffled with new birds arriving each morning.
With this in mind, the Connecticut birding community, sponsored by the Connecticut Ornithological Association, launched a Community Gardens Harvest Challenge to see how many species of birds can be “harvested” (i.e. seen or heard, not shot!) during the month of October.
Twenty community gardens from around the state registered, with participation open to anyone by simply birding any one of the 20 community gardens and submitting an eBird checklist using that community garden’s eBird “hotspot” as the location. eBird is an online citizen science project managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that collects and archives bird observation data submitted by birdwatchers worldwide; this data is used by scientists for research and conservation efforts.
Wilton birder Joe Bear has been actively birding and leading bird walks at Allen’s Meadow for 25 years, and focusing the last few years on implementing a plan to eradicate an acre of mugwort (an invasive weed from Eurasia) adjacent to the community gardens and replace it with a native pollinator meadow of over 40 native flowering plants and four native grasses.
Bear reported that Allen’s Meadow came in first place with a total of 97 species of birds recorded in October, 91 of which he personally recorded after logging over 50 hours of birding.
Between the birding, pollinator meadow and tending his own community garden plot, Allen’s has become a home-away-from-home for Bear, and he said his time has afforded him some amazing moments from Mother Nature.
“For me, the challenge transcended birds — it was a month-long opportunity to get out early and commune with nature at our most treasured and biodiverse town park — a magical harvest indeed,” he said.
“This challenge motivated me to not only get in a lot of birding hours (no twist of my arm there) but to also catch some amazing sunrises with the ball fields often cloaked in fog,” he said. “On Oct. 6, I not only enjoyed a beautiful sunrise [pictured above], but in the very same location in the sky, 12 hours later and viewed through the archway of my garden plot [at left], I witnessed the Harvest Moon rise — magic!”
According to Bear, Allen’s Meadow and its community gardens are well-known throughout the state and region as a birding hotspot, especially during fall migration when plants are going to seed and berries are ripening for avian consumption.
“I led several well-attended walks there this [past] spring and fall for the Norwalk River Watershed Association, which sponsors the native pollinator meadow. The community gardens were teeming with birds as usual, and the new native pollinator meadow was bouncing with several species of sparrows and hundreds of goldfinches,” Bear said.
He encouraged residents who may have only ever been to the Allen’s Meadow ball fields to visit both the community gardens and pollinator meadow. “In its second year of growth [it] is beginning to evolve into a healthy native meadow supporting a whole host of native insects, birds, and other wildlife,” Bear said.