
Alison Robey
If last month’s solar eclipse taught me anything, it’s that we all still love seeing cool stuff in the sky. I don’t think we realize how fast astronomical wonders are fading out of sight: studies show that our night skies grow about 10% brighter every year, and the number of visible stars plummets as a result. At this rate, someone born 18 years ago to a sky with 250 visible stars would now find only 100 remaining.
Vanishing stars may feel like just a poetic tragedy, but as I crouch over yet another dead Wood Thrush on my morning commute, the consequences of light pollution feel very real. Wincing, I snap a photo of the tawny feathers splayed around his broken neck on the asphalt.
It’s not the only such photo I’ll take this year. The building whose towering windows took this thrush’s life is infamous; like many other passersby, I pay close attention to the ground around such spots to record any victims. We upload our morbid photography to iNaturalist, an app usually reserved for more cheerful records and identifications of flora and fauna, where they automatically join several citizen science projects focused on bird-window collisions.
Why the macabre gallery? These collections provide concrete evidence of just how many birds windows kill. Ideally, that information encourages tactics to reduce casualties, like lobbying homeowners and institutions to add decals or screens to their glass.
Though such measures are critical for limiting window strikes during the day, we often overlook the damage our windows cause at night. Remarkably, most bird migration actually occurs by moonlight; if you stand under the stars and listen during migration — which began in earnest last week — an audible chorus of chirps and buzzes overhead indicates a sky full of birds.
Birds evolved to fly under the cover of darkness for many reasons. Nightly travel means they can spend the bright, bug-filled days gathering food. Darkness helps migrants avoid predators, and the lower turbulence and cooler temperatures of nighttime skies allows for more energetically efficient flights.
Though the specifics of nocturnal navigation are a longstanding ornithological mystery, that navigation is undoubtedly disrupted by the growing brightness of the night sky. Bright lights disorient the birds’ sense of direction and attract them towards the light sources themselves. In that state of confusion, nocturnal window strikes skyrocket.
In the U.S., one billion birds die each year by flying into windows. Distinct behavioral changes around brightly lit structures are the main cause of mortality: the usual conversation of nocturnal flight calls grows into a confused cacophony. Those that avoid collisions face different risks: the energy they waste investigating unfamiliar lights means they’ll have a harder time avoiding predators, catching enough food, and reaching their final destinations.
The harm caused by light pollution is not limited to birds. Even in rural areas, many nocturnal animals struggle to adapt to brightening nighttime environments: bats can’t fly efficiently, amphibians can’t reproduce normally, and insects can’t forage effectively.
Humans aren’t immune either. Brighter nights disrupt our sleep cycles — something I can personally attest to, as someone who grew up in Kent and now struggles nightly with the brightness of New Haven — and are associated with a slew of negative health effects. And though people widely associate more lights with greater safety, evidence of this is mixed.
Despite the repercussions, the reach and severity of light pollution keeps growing. Electricity usage in the U.S. is on the rise again; while much of that energy has more intensive uses, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that 6% of residential and 17% of commercial energy is all for lighting.
As disheartened as I am by increasing energy usage and vanishing stars, by unnecessary lights glaring from empty sports fields or barren storage facilities, and by dead songbirds on my morning commute, there is a silver lining to this story. Fixing most pollution problems — microplastics, oil spills, atmospheric CO2 — requires complex, intractable solutions. Light pollution, on the other hand, is completely, immediately, effectively reversible.
This is a critical time of year to make that change. The transition from April to May brings spring rains, bursting tree buds, and a deluge of migrating birds: cheerful songs of Yellow Warblers, gleaming feathers of Scarlet Tanagers, playful flights of American Redstarts. You can watch these migrants gather above your home like a rising storm using BirdCast, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s avian version of a weather radar.
The closer that storm comes, the more important it is to flip those light switches off. Simple steps, like limiting the use of aesthetic lighting, keeping the beams of necessary lights targeted, dim, and warmly colored, or curtaining bright windows, make all the difference to our birds. Participating in darkening the skies this spring will help keep these little travelers aloft — and maybe bring some stars back into view, too.
Alison Robey is a writer for the Kent Land Trust, a volunteer at the Sharon Audubon Center, and a third-year PhD candidate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.
State, local and federal officials responded to a "hazmat incident" at the Becton Dickinson and Company facility in the afternoon Thursday, May 15.
The BD facility in North Canaan remains closed Friday, May 16.
Two employees who opened a suspicious package were hospitalized as a precaution. They have since been released.
Ken LeClerc, emergency response coordinator for CT DEEP, said in a press conference, "The package was opened inside the building and what we're looking at is primarily a potential airborne contaminant."
More than 300 employees went through a decontamination protocol before leaving work yesterday. No injuries were reported.
North Canaan First Selectman Brian Ohler stated May 16, "The decontamination process that took place yesterday was standard and in practice when an unknown substance is found inside of a facility with a shared ventilation system."
The package was identified as suspicious due to an unusual mailing address. It was taken by FBI agents for testing at the state lab in Rocky Hill. Results could take several days to get back.
Ohler added, "While we are still waiting for an exact identity of the substance, we are being told by state DEEP officials that there is no threat to the public, or to the surrounding area near the facility.”
The BD facility in North Canaan is on lockdown May 15 due to a "hazmat incident," according to emergency responders on scene.
Norfolk Public Information Officer Jon Barbagallo said BD "received a suspicious package this morning" and "numerous state and local authorities" responded, including the FBI, CT DEEP, state police, area fire departments and ambulances.
BD, manufacturer of medical devices based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, employs about 500 workers at its North Canaan facility.
BD released a statement saying, "We are working closely with law enforcement and emergency personnel to thoroughly investigate the situation, and we are following their protocols. Out of an abundance of caution, we have suspended operations until further notice."
"At this time, two individuals have been transported to a nearby hospital as a precaution," a release from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. "Approximately 300 to 350 personnel at the facility are undergoing a decontamination process as a precautionary measure. DEEP has deployed a contractor to the site to manage the decontamination operation, including shower trailers and the safe collection for clothing for those exiting the facility."
About 300 people are going through a decontamination process after a hazardous material exposure at BD.Photo by Riley Klein
Employees inside were reportedly instructed to remove clothing and shower for decontamination protocol.
A delivery driver attempting to turn down Grace Way was turned away and told the facility could be closed for several days.
A statement received May 15 at 4:40 p.m. from Connecticut State Police stated, "The scene and the investigation is still active, and there is no active threat to the public at this time."
Anna Amachowski and Steve Wilcox of Canaan enjoyed the sunset and some grilled chicken from the top of Tory Hill outside Sharon on Thursday, May 1. They were welcoming in the warm breezes of spring with some fishing and some ridgeline views at the end of a warm evening.
Amachowski and Wilcox's dog, Chuy, enjoyed a soft spot of cool grass and the view over the ridge.Photo by Nathan Miller
Please join us for a Celebration of Life to honor Michael R. Tesoro M.D. (May 20, 1941-—Dec. 25, 2024) whose vibrant spirit touched so many. We will gather on May 17 at 11:30 a.,m. at Trinity Lime Rock to remember Michael’s life with love and laughter.
A light fare reception to immediately follow at the church’s Walker Hall.
Trinity Lime Rock, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville. In lieu of flowers please direct donations to: Malta House of Care, Inc.,136 Farmington Avenue,Hartford, CT 06105 www.maltahouseofcare.org
SHARON — Keith Raven Johnson, a long-time resident of Sharon, died on April 26, 2025, a month after his 90th birthday, at Geer Rehabilitation and Long -Term Care facility in Canaan.
He was born on March 21, 1935, in Ithaca, New York, the son of John Raven Johnson and Hope Anderson Johnson.
Keith was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Cornell University where he was editor-in-chief of the Cornell Daily Sun and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
After serving his active duty in the New York National Guard, he joined the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter in 1957. Four years later he moved to Time magazine where he served as a writer and editor in New York and as a correspondent based in Los Angeles, Washington, Paris and London, with temporary assignments in Africa, Germany, and Vietnam. He was executive editor of Money magazine and later of Discover magazine. He retired as a member of the board of editors of Fortune magazine in 1993.
Before his retirement, Keith served on the vestry at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City where he was also chair of the Choir School. He later became a member of the Lime Rock Episcopal Church.
After retirement, Keith served on the executive committee of the Lakeville Journal where he also contributed a column called “Cars” reflecting a life-long interest in performance automobiles. He also served as a trustee and treasurer of the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon and was on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. He was a member of the Cornell University Council and at one time chaired the Advisory Council of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell.
Keith is survived by his brother, Leonard Johnson, and his wife, Patricia, his son, Stephen Main, his niece, Paige Johnson Roth, his nephew, Keith Raven Johnson II, and his niece, Heide Novado Johnson. He was predeceased by his parents and his nephew, Eric Anderson Johnson.
Donations may be made in Keith’s memory to ACLU of Connecticut, 765 Asylum Avenue, Hartford CT 06015, or Keith Johnson ’52 and Leonard Johnson ’56 Scholarship Fund, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter NH 03833.
A celebration of Keith’s life will be held on Saturday, July 12 at 11 am at the Lime Rock Episcopal Church, followed by a reception in the parish hall.