Author Archives: Hillary T.

About Hillary T.

Where: Mass Audubon Headquarters, Lincoln Who: Massachusetts transplant by way of Florida and New York. Raising two young girls, who she hopes will be budding naturalists Favorite part of the job: Learning something new every day from some of the smartest and most enthusiastic groups of people

Releasing Snowy Owl no. 26

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Hillary T.

On Monday, January 29, Norman Smith (director at Blue Hills Trailside Museum) carefully captured a snowy owl at Logan Airport (for the safety of the owl and the planes). The next day, he released it on Duxbury Beach.

Norman Smith with Snowy Owl

Snowy owls are attracted to Logan because the landscape resembles the Arctic tundra and there are plenty of rodents and waterfowl to eat. This was the 26th snowy owl he has relocated from Logan this winter.

After safely capturing it, he brought it back to Trailside to measure, weigh, and band it. The following day, he fed the owl then safely puts it in the car and heads to Duxbury Beach to release it.

To drive on Duxbury Beach you need a permit. If you do come, please read the signs and stay off the dunes for the safety of the beach and wildlife.

Duxbury Beach

Once at a good spot, Norman retrieves the owl. He has been doing this for more than 25 years and knows the best way to handle the owl. Before letting him go, Norman shared a few words about the owl, including that it’s a second year bird (probably born in June 2017). You can tell by its uniform feathers and no sign of molt.

Once released the owl doesn’t go far. Can you see him? He’s in the center at the edge of the beach just before the water.

Snowy Owl on Beach

You don’t have to brave the wind and cold to see a snowy owl up close. At Blue Hills Trailside Museum in Milton, there are 2 snowy owls in the wildlife exhibit—they have been injured and wouldn’t survive in the wild.

Snowy owls at Trailside

How You Can Help

You can help support Norman’s work protecting and studying snowy owls by making a donation to the Snowy Owl Project.

HQ Goes Solar

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Hillary T.

It was something that we have wanted for a long time. Many of our wildlife sanctuaries already have them. And yet, our headquarters didn’t. But, now, we are happy to share that we have a new photovoltaic (PV) solar array up and running at our central offices in Lincoln.

As a leading conservation organization, it’s imperative that our power come from renewable energy. We generate more than 37% of own our electricity needs with PV arrays. We purchase the rest in renewable energy credits through the nonprofit Mass Energy. Our hope, though, is to continue growing what we generate on our own and reduce the number of credits we buy, freeing up more renewable energy on the grid for others to use.

The HQ array is another step in the right direction. A former estate donated to Mass Audubon in the 1955, our headquarters consists of five buildings. Staff across the campus already make every effort to reduce our footprint—we use energy efficient LED lights and equipment, and receive regular reminders to turn off lights and computers when not in use—but this new array will have, by far, the biggest impact.

Since it was turned on in November, it has already generated more than 4,600 kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean electricity, slightly more than we expected. On December 28, one of shortest days of the year, it generated about 1/4 of the electricity an average home consumes in a month!

See how much power this array is generating and learn more about Mass Audubon’s efforts to reduce our impact.

Slide to See it Go from Frame to Finish