Audubon internship welcomes young adults as wildlife conservationists

Two of Sharon Audubon’s summer interns, Denali and Leah, worked with the rescue center to rehabilitate avian wildlife in the Northwest Corner.
Provided
Two of Sharon Audubon’s summer interns, Denali and Leah, worked with the rescue center to rehabilitate avian wildlife in the Northwest Corner.
SHARON — The Audubon Center of Sharon has been on a mission to connect people with the nature surrounding them for more than fifty years. Recently, it has continued that goal by introducing a new avenue for young adults to experience the wilderness by implementing an internship program.
Spanning eight weeks across the summer, Audubon interns focus on conservation projects that center around the four main bird species that the center monitors: the purple martin, American kestrel, wood thrush and chimney swift.
Volunteer Coordinator Bethany Sheffer explained that the program is headed by Center Director Eileen Fielding, and was originally part of a partnership with Yale University, but has since become specific to the Sharon Audubon.
Participants come to Connecticut from across the country, housed either at the center or at the local Miles Wildlife Sanctuary a short drive away.
Interns take on a variety of responsibilities, from manual labor in the rehab center to tracking populations in the local nesting grounds.
Sharon Audubon is one of the few sanctuaries in the region that can treat the chimney swift, a bird famous for only thriving in groups. One responsibility the interns have, Sheffer said, was to keep the swifts fed mealworms consistently over a 14 hour time period.
The center also monitors a colony of purple martins, and interns help provide and maintain nesting space, as well as apply tracking devices to the birds.
Hannah, a conservation intern this summer, said, “Watching the chicks grow through the summer has been a bittersweet experience, but one that is pretty unforgettable, especially when it becomes time to color band and feeling a delicate bird in the hand.”
Other species like the wood thrush are monitored because they act as a “forest species indicator,” meaning their population is heavily tied to the fragmentation, elimination, and lack of management of forests.
“As our center is really kind of a flagship for forest conservation and healthy forest management, the wood thrust is sort of like the poster child for that kind of work,” Sheffer said.
The program aims to offer its interns a leg up in the world of conservation and inspires them to pursue more roles in the field, along with making a difference for the local and global wildlife that inhabits our planet.
One of the entries in this year’s Community Day Scarecrow Contest, Ichabod Hiccup, at left, seems to be particularly enjoying the solo performance of Wil Greenstreet, whose strolling pop-up saxophone performances delighted visitors to the village on Saturday, Sept. 20. For more photos, turn to Page A8.
A popular feature of the Millbrook Library lawn area was a carpet of children’s books being given away for free. Appealing to little Julien Gulbrandsen, 3, of Pleasant Valley was the story of a pancake, being read by her mother Lauren Gulbrandsen. It is likely that the little book went home with them.Photo by Leila Hawken
Family fun and community were the order of the long-planned Community Day, on Saturday, Sept. 20, as village turned out to welcome visitors from throughout the region for a day of activities, contests, parades, displays, sales and the joy of being together.Photo by Leila Hawken
Top row, left to right, Caroline Kinsolving, Christopher McLinden, Dana Domenick, Reid Sinclair and Director Hunter Foster. Bottom row, left to right, Will Nash Broyles, Dick Terhune, Sandy York and Ricky Oliver in Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.”
Opening on Sept. 26, Agatha Christie’s legendary whodunit “The Mousetrap” brings suspense and intrigue to the Sharon Playhouse stage, as the theater wraps up its 2025 Mainstage Season with a bold new take on the world’s longest-running play.
Running from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, “The Mousetrap” marks another milestone for the award-winning regional theater, bringing together an ensemble of exceptional local talent under the direction of Broadway’s Hunter Foster, who also directed last season’s production of “Rock of Ages." With a career that spans stage and screen, Foster brings a fresh and suspense-filled staging to Christie’s classic.
The Playhouse’s casting includes Dana Domenick of Falls Village who leads the cast as Mollie Ralston, the newlywed innkeeper with a secret. Reid Sinclair of Norfolk plays Giles, her husband and partner in hospitality — and maybe in something more sinister. Will Nash Broyles from Lakeville plays the eccentric and enigmatic Christopher Wren, and Sandy York of Sharon will play the role of the imperious Mrs. Boyle. Dick Terhune (Litchfield), Caroline Kinsolving (Salisbury), Ricky Oliver (Pawling), and Christopher McLinden (also Lakeville) round out the cast as the play’s increasingly suspicious guests — and one very determined detective.
As always, Sharon Playhouse has gathered a top-tier creative team to match its cast. The Swader brothers (Christopher and Justin) return with their signature scenic designs, while Kathleen DeAngelis’s costumes and Bobbie Zlotnik’s wigs promise to anchor us firmly in postwar England, even as the plot spirals into timeless psychological suspense. Lighting by Wheeler Moon and sound design by Graham Stone will help turn the cozy theater into a stage crackling with tension.
If you’ve never seen “The Mousetrap,” here’s what you need to know: it’s the murder mystery that truly defined the genre. Premiering in London’s West End in 1952 and still running strong over 30,000 performances later, Christie’s ingenious puzzle unfolds in a snowbound manor house where everyone has something to hide, and no one is safe from suspicion. Its final twist is famously kept secret by audiences — a tradition of theatrical discretion that only deepens the sense of shared experience.
“The enduring success of ‘The Mousetrap’ lies in its suspense, yes, but also in its structure,” said the Playhouse’s Artistic Director Carl Andress. “It’s a masterclass in storytelling. And with Hunter Foster leading this incredible cast of local artists, we know our audiences are in for an evening of mystery, laughter, and yes, plenty of gasps.”
Tickets are available now at SharonPlayhouse.org.