This Sunday, the Connecticut Audubon Society is celebrating its 110th anniversary in Fairfield at the Birdcraft Museum, 314 Unquowa Road, from 1 to 4 p.m.

The event will pay tribute to the CAS' founder of 1898, Mabel Osgood Wright, who began Birdcraft in 1914 when it was CAS' original headquarters. The Birdcraft Museum has the distinction of being the first and oldest private bird sanctuary in the country. It was officially recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1993.

Additionally, Wright is an inductee of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, and CAS' Birdcraft Museum is one of the sites listed on the Connecticut Women's Heritage Trail.

The CWHF's Web site, cwhf.org, offers a more extensive biography of Wright, labeling her trade as a "naturalist." Settling in Fairfield with her husband in the late 1800s, not only did Wright found CAS, but she "also sat on the advisory board of the National Commission which was formed to oversee the state organizations and is credited with helping to revive the national movement as editor and writer for Bird-Lore, the precursor to The Audubon magazine."

Residents familiar with the Birdcraft Museum may not know how it acquired its name. As cwhf.org explains, the sanctuary was named after Wright's book of the same title. "Its design and construction were carefully planned by Wright. Within ten years of its opening in 1914, Birdcraft received over 10,000 visitors and was home to 32 different nesting species. By the 1940's there

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were over 153 species, a museum and education center had been added, and the site was visited by ever increasing numbers of school groups and scout troops as Wright would have wished."

According to ctaudubon.org, the Birdcraft Museum's focus is "To offer premier natural history education programs and exhibits for the benefit of school children and adults and to preserve the historic heritage of the facility as the first privately owned songbird sanctuary in the country." To do so, the museum boasts changing exhibits and informative lectures, along with the teaching bridge and pavilion, which provide "a unique environmental experience."

"This is where it all began," Nelson North, director of Fairfield operations, said yesterday morning of the Audubon Society. "Our curator [Frank Mitchell] will be here, and there will be federally approved bird banding demonstrations at our open house on Sunday."

These demonstrations, as ctaudubon.org notes, are "licensed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" and have been in operation at Birdcraft since 1979. "More than 18,000 birds have been mist-netted, documented, banded and released unharmed" since then, the site continues.

"This celebration is a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to Audubon Society founder George Bird Grinnell and CT Audubon Society founder Mabel Osgood Wright," North continued. "The fact that we remain steadfast to their vision is a tribute to their importance and effectiveness as advocates for birds and wildlife conservation. Our mission remains the same since its inception: to conserve Connecticut's environment through science-based education and advocacy focused on the state's bird populations and their habitats. We are proud that for over a century the Connecticut Audubon Society has been a leader in wildlife conservation."

Attendees of the celebration will enjoy guided tours of the 6-acre sanctuary, lectures and games for children. Refreshments also will be served. There is no fee to attend, but donations are appreciated.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and First Selectman Ken Flatto also are slated to make appearances Sunday, according to CAS' Joan Winter, Nature Store assistant. Flatto "will read a proclamation honoring the anniversary and stressing the impact Connecticut Audubon Society has had in the community," Winter explained in a press release yesterday.

"On behalf of the Fairfield community, I congratulate the Connecticut Audubon Society on their 110th anniversary and wish them many more years of continued success because they provide so many unique opportunities for people to learn about protecting bird habitats and our environment," Flatto said.

The Birdcraft Museum and Nature Store are open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and are closed Sundays and Mondays. For more information, visit ctaudubon.org.