Bedford Audubon Society

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Bedford Audubon Society

We connect people with nature. Bedford Audubon's sanctuaries are free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, year around. Palmer H.

Trail maps are available online at www.BedfordAudubon.org. James Ramsay Hunt & Mary Welsh Parker Memorial Sanctuary

Our largest sanctuary with 338 acres has miles of trails that traverse diverse forest, meadow, and wetland habitats. The sanctuary is located in the towns of Bedford and Lewisboro, with trail heads on Todd Road and North Salem Road. Also located at the Hunt-Parker Sanctuary at 35 To

dd Road is the historic 1720s Bylane Farm, Bedford Audubon’s center of operations. Generously donated to us by the Parker Family, Bylane Farm hosts our offices, the John Bull Library, and the Leon Levy Native Garden. Our offices and the library are open Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm and the Garden is open every day from dawn to dusk. Ruth Walgreen Franklin & Winifred Fels Memorial Sanctuary

Located in North Salem, this 204-acre sanctuary boasts low deciduous woodlands, a Red Maple swamp, shrubby wetlands, and a view of the Titicus Reservoir. Barred Owl, Wild Turkey, Chestnut-sided and Worm-eating Warblers, Great Crested Flycatcher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Pileated Woodpecker make their home here. The trail head is located on Lakeview Drive. Lewis Memorial Sanctuary

Our smallest sanctuary, with just 24 acres in the town of Bedford consists of dry rocky hillside with mature mountain laurel, large oaks, and hickories perfect for Wood Thrush and Barred Owl. A small field attracts butterflies and Eastern Bluebirds. The trailhead is located on Route 121.

08/27/2026

Just like that, fall is already upon us, and our annual Season began last Tuesday, August 25. We're so pleased to welcome our Lead Hawk Counter for this fall, Christine Waas. Chris is joining us from Wisconsin — she just arrived last Sunday and has already been hard at work on the Watch with Tait (although not right now, due to the thunderstorm). Chris Waas was born one December day a long time ago in Northern Wisconsin. As she grew up in the pine-dominated woods of the north, she developed a great love for nature, especially birds. These she would catch by hand and with a fishing net in her family’s greenhouses, until she attended a technical college and learned that one could do so as a profession. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she earned a BS in Wildlife Ecology and traveled with a class to Alaska to assist with Gyre Falcon Research. Throughout college and the years that followed, most of her fieldwork focused on Warblers and small mammals. It was during this time that her name, due to it being a very common one, transformed to simply Waas. Waas now spends her Springs in Central Texas studying the Golden-cheeked Warbler on Ft Hood. Her summers and falls have been divided between watching and catching hawks, and listening for Bobwhite Quail.

Please join Waas and our volunteer counters at our Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch station as they count 7 days a week, and all are welcome!

08/23/2026

Our birding trips take us all over Westchester and beyond! Will you be coming to Central Park on Tuesday September 29th to taking the spectacle of fall migration in the big apple! Peep our program calendar to see where else we're going 👀.

education

08/10/2026

Last Friday we said goodbye to our Summer Field Biologist, Jennifer and our Garden Intern, Elena. Thank you both so much for all of your hard work this season - we couldn't do everything that we do without you. We feel very lucky to have such an incredible team of summer stuff and volunteers this year and it's such a pleasure to support the next generation of ecologistas!

08/07/2026

What would happen if a captive-born owl with no survival skills tried to make it on its own in New York City? Be sure to catch WILD INSIDE at Bedford Playhouse to learn about how , the Eurasian eagle-owl, became an celebrity. The documentary will be screening at the Bedford Playhouse for a week starting tonight!

08/05/2026

And just like our summer bird banding season comes to an end. This was our last bird of the season, banded and released last Friday by some of our young volunteers. And just our third bird, it seems that the summer has flown by. Stay tuned for a few more updates from the banding station post season.

All birds are safely handled and released by permitted and trained professionals.

07/22/2026

Measuring about an inch in length, the dion skipper (Euphyes dion) is a little butterfly, but for us at Bedford Audubon, it’s a big deal. We recently confirmed the presence of this species at our Hunt-Parker Sanctuary, where we’ve found it in the past, and were glad to see it return another year.

Inhabiting wetlands where the larvae feed on sedges, the species exists in scattered populations across the eastern United States. But just how rare is it? On a global scale, the population is listed as “secure” meaning that it’s at low risk of extinction on a planetary basis; nor is it listed as endangered or threatened federally. But when you zoom in to a finer gradient, the picture changes. Within the state of New York, conservationists have assigned it a rank of “vulnerable,” or 3 on a scale of 5, meaning that it’s at moderate risk of extirpation (or local extinction) within the state, likely because of its patchy distribution, relatively low numbers, specific habitat requirements, or other factors.

By supporting the work of local and regional conservation organizations, you can help protect habitat for vulnerable species like this one. After all, global extinctions start with local extinctions, like the lights of a city going out one by one at night until it’s completely dark.

Help us keep a light on for the dion skipper.

07/17/2026

Our banders and volunteers were hard at work at our bird banding station this morning and had a fantastic day out in the field. To learn more about what we do and how banding contributes to research and conservation be sure to check out our bird banding demo this Sunday, July 19 at 8 am!

07/15/2026

Mist rises from the fields on a recent early morning at Bylane Farm. Our staff was out at dawn to map the territories of our breeding eastern towhees, blue-winged warblers, and brown thrashers. All three of these species rely on shrublands, brushy fields, and forest edges, early-successional habitats that are threatened by development and succession to mature forests. By plotting the locations of singing males over time, we are able to determine the boundaries of each bird’s territory. This can help answer questions about habitat preferences and territory size and inform future conservation actions. Bedford Audubon plans to restore habitats degraded by invasive species to create favorable conditions that will support these imperiled species.

07/13/2026

What's in a feather? This year, we've begun collecting feathers for the Bird Genoscape Project (BGP). The base of a feather, where it attaches to the skin, carries skin cells that can be used to extract the DNA of individual birds. The Bird Genoscape Project team sequences the DNA of individual birds to create a map of the genetic variation (genoscape) within a species. For example, their data show four genetically distinct populations of Veerys (photo 2 from the Bird Genoscape Project), which adds nuance to the species' range map (photo 3 from All About Birds).

These genoscapes can then be used to track breeding birds to their migratory pathways and wintering grounds by collecting feathers and sequencing DNA from individuals during migration or on their wintering grounds. This data is valuable in informing conservation initiatives.

To learn more about how bird banding contributes to science and conservation, check out our bird banding demonstration next Sunday, July 19, at 8 am.

Address

35 Todd Road
Katonah, NY
10536

Website

http://www.bedfordaudubon.org/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/201809939@N06/albums/

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