Director's Page

     This year marks the fifth anniversary of Duck Day, our annual open house.  Last year over 1,000 people attended Duck Day and this year’s event promises to be another fun day packed with educational activities related to waterfowl, wildlife and habitat conservation.
 
     The mission of the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy is to protect waterfowl and their habitats through research, conservation action and education.  Over the last two years we experienced tremendous growth in our programs.  Our research efforts have taken us as far away as Ireland and Greenland and as close as the Connecticut coastline.   Last year we deployed satellite transmitters on Greenland white-fronted geese.  Recently we watched in wonder as the geese left their wintering grounds in Ireland and made a brief, but tenuous, stop to rest and refuel in Iceland during the volcanic activity.  They eventually completed spring migration by travelling over the Greenland ice cap to return to their breeding grounds on the west coast of Greenland.   The Connecticut black ducks, that we marked with satellite transmitters last winter, have had their own travels.  While one bird remains on the Connecticut coast, a second bird is nesting in Maine and a third bird made his way to Labrador.  Stay tuned on our website where you can monitor the locations of these birds.
 
     Although 2009 was a year of saving and downsizing for many organizations, the demand for environmental education continued to grow.  Education is central to the mission of LRWC and we maintain a dynamic education program both in local classrooms and at the Conservancy.  Duck Day plays an important role in LRWC’s educational outreach, because for many people it is their first exposure to the diverse world of waterfowl and the need for wetland conservation.  Last year our most popular program, Incubator in a Classroom, introduced over 800 elementary school children to the wonders of how eggs hatch.  Our Avian Education program brought live birds to summer camps and after school programs, teaching students about bird life and conservation.
 
     This year we are focusing our fundraising efforts on the expansion of our education program.  Our goals include the construction of a state-of-the-art learning center at LRWC, dedicated to teaching students about environmental conservation.  The LRWC classroom will provide unique opportunities for students to learn about wildlife and conservation with an interactive and hands-on approach.  We also are working to subsidize travel costs to schools who wish to visit LRWC from throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.  Finally, we are striving to make the aviary and its inhabitants accessible to all visitors through the acquisition of golf carts, binoculars and spotting scopes.
 
     I hope you can come out for Duck Day this year and thoroughly enjoy the day.  Our accomplishments would not be possible without your generous donations, and for all of the LRWC team, I thank you for your continued support.
 
Dr. Susan E.  Sheaffer
Executive Director 

Weekly Avian Update