EagleFest® Schedule

Who’s living in your backyard? Live mammals, mounts, and bones will be used in this lively program about the species found in the lower Hudson Valley. Meet Teatown’s furry animal ambassadors and learn why some animals struggle to survive in our suburban environment, while others thrive and multiply. Leave with an appreciation of the diverse life that surrounds us, and some ways to live in better harmony with wildlife.

Maddy Schroeder is an Environmental Educator and Animal Caretaker at Teatown Lake Reservation. She strives to inspire conservation by teaching the public about native wildlife and encouraging people to live harmoniously with their wild neighbors.

Brian Robinson has been providing wildlife education programs to schools, libraries, and museums since 1993. His animals have been featured on national television shows, alongside Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi’s Simone Boccanegra, and at the Explorers Club in Manhattan, among many other places. Brian has a Master of Science degree in Education with a concentration in biology and, in addition to doing wildlife lectures, teaches biology at Saugerties High School. Brian’s presentation features live birds of prey and reptiles and will focus on the amazing adaptations these animals have, as well as their importance in nature. He will also discuss the incredible resiliency of the Hudson Valley and share some local wildlife success stories.

Meet the world’s fastest animal, New York’s smallest owl, and more!

Christine Peyreigne spent her Connecticut childhood rescuing various reptiles and at age 14, used them in educational programs about responsible pet ownership. At 16 years old, she became a licensed apprentice falconer and learned all about the fantastic world of birds of prey. It was through falconry in which her passion and devotion for birds of all kinds were born. At 18 years old, she became licensed with the state of Connecticut and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to rehabilitate injured birds of prey, and subsequently became licensed to exhibit non-releasable birds, now providing a home for 22. Today, Christine’s Critters attend numerous educational talks each year in an effort to spread awareness of actions we all can take for a cleaner environment. In addition, Christine’s Critters intakes over 100 rehab patients annually, and works side by side with avian veterinarians to heal these birds for release back into the wild. Christine graduated from Mercy College in 2020 with a B.S in Veterinary Technology, and has a passion for improving wildlife medicine into the future.

Brian Bradley, a master falconer since 1984, presents educational programs throughout the Northeast with his hawks, falcons, and owls. Brian’s program features live flight demonstrations with his birds of prey.

Jim Soto of TC Management, Inc. will focus on African eagles and conservation efforts to save them. He will discuss the falconry techniques used to work with these birds and how using those techniques aids us conservation efforts. While studying biology at the University of Binghamton, Jim sought a way to work with animals more intimately. A falconer’s license allowed for an up-close and personal lifestyle of working with birds of prey, and thus Jim pursued it with great interest and determination. After finding the Cullen Family of Falconry Excursions, he has steadily risen to be the Head Falconer and Director of Programming. Jim spends part of his year working in South Africa and Botswana for the VulPro organization, rehabilitating Vultures and Eagles back to the wild. An avid photographer, Jim has also assisted in the photo documenting of the breeding habits of the Umbrella Bird in the rainforests of Costa Rica on a multi-year study.

Brian Bradley, a master falconer since 1984, presents educational programs throughout the Northeast with his hawks, falcons, and owls. Brian’s program features live flight demonstrations with his birds of prey.

Who’s on the wing in your neighborhood? Live birds, mounts, and bones will be used in this lively program about the species found in the lower Hudson Valley. Meet Teatown’s avian animal ambassadors and learn about biodiversity, habitat specialists and generalists, and habitat loss.

Maddy Schroeder is an Environmental Educator and Animal Caretaker at Teatown Lake Reservation. She strives to inspire conservation by teaching the public about native wildlife and encouraging people to live harmoniously with their wild neighbors.

Lisa Kelly is Teatown’s Animal Care supervisor and licensed wildlife rehabilitator with a focus on herpetology. She has contributed to turtle research at Teatown, has worked with KT Wildlife to ensure animal safety on work sites, and has extensive experience with the SPCA.

Ivy Kelly is a dedicated long time raptor volunteer. She has been helping with the care and handling of Teatown’s raptors for 25+ years.

Can you tell an eagle from an egret? Learn tips and tricks to get comfortable identifying birds in the field. We’ll review important tools, helpful resources, and test our ID skills together. Test your newfound skills on a bird walk in Croton Point Park! Emily will offer a family walk at 10:30 am.

Emily Edmonds-Langham is Teatown’s Director of Education. She has worked in environmental education for many years at organizations including the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Native Plant Trust. Emily loves helping new birders find their feet, whether young or old.

Anne Swaim is Executive Director of Saw Mill River Audubon, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society that is based in Chappaqua, New York. Saw Mill River Audubon owns eight local wildlife sanctuaries, offers more than 200 free public programs and field trips annually as well as classroom programs and field trips, and helps connect people with nature in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Join Town of Ossining Historian Scott Craven for a peek into the fascinating history of Croton Point Park. Scott is a lifelong birder and has been doing “history heavy” walks for EagleFest since its inception – join his history walk at 2:30 pm. Scott is a retired Ossining police officer and currently works at the Ossining Library. He’s the Town of Ossining Historian and has been speaking to local groups about environmental history here in the Hudson Valley for decades.

As the Bald Eagle, our national symbol, was facing extinction in the continental U.S. in 1976, Tina Morris was beginning her graduate work at Cornell University. By luck and circumstance, she was selected to reintroduce the species into New York State in the hope that eagles could repopulate eastern North America. Young, female, with no experience, she faced the challenges of saving this iconic bird while striving for acceptance in the unfamiliar male-dominated world of raptor biology. Playing mother to seven eagles forced her to transcend the isolation of field research to rescue an endangered species while in turn rescuing herself. Join author Tina Morris as she shares the stories included in her recent book, Return to the Sky: The Surprising Story of How One Woman and Seven Eaglets Helped Restore the Bald Eagle.

Tina Morris completed her graduate work in ornithology and wildlife biology at Cornell in 1978, writing her thesis on the adaptations of hacking techniques to reintroduce Bald Eagles. Following her studies at Cornell, she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy for several years, focusing on endangered species and critical habitat conservation, before embarking on a 23-year career teaching English and biology. Since her retirement in 2020, Tina has devoted her time to her own writing, especially creative non-fiction with a science or nature focus. Thirty years ago, with four children in tow, Tina and her husband bought a farm in northern Massachusetts, which they manage as a wildlife sanctuary, promoting biodiversity and habitat protection for species in decline.

Can you tell an eagle from an egret? Learn tips and tricks to get comfortable identifying birds in the field. We’ll review important tools, helpful resources, and test our ID skills together. Test your newfound skills on a bird walk in Croton Point Park! Emily will offer a family walk at 10:30 am.

Emily Edmonds-Langham is Teatown’s Director of Education. She has worked in environmental education for many years at organizations including the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Native Plant Trust. Emily loves helping new birders find their feet, whether young or old.

Join master storyteller Jonathan Kruk, accompanied by musician Steve Kellman, for stories and songs of Bald Eagles in the Hudson River Valley. He’ll enchant us with musical numbers about this majestic pairing of revived raptor and restored river, celebrating the power of people to make a difference in their backyards. This session will include interactive audience participation – come prepared to get called upon to join his troupe of troubadours!

Take a world tour of this widespread family of birds! From familiar Bald Eagles to exotic Eastern Imperial Eagles of Africa and Asia, learn what makes a bird a member of this illustrious group. There 68 species of eagle worldwide, and eagles can be found on every continent except Antarctica. This talk will provide a fascinating look at many of these international apex predators, their wide variety, different habitats and behaviors.

John Phillips is a Curator & Naturalist at Westchester County Parks, Recreation & Conservation’s Croton Point Park and Tarrytown Lighthouse in Sleepy Hollow, also serving as an officer of the Lower Hudson Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association. John is a life-long birder and each fall records migrating raptors as part of the Hook Mountain Hawk Watch team.

Melissa Almendinger (she/her), currently a science teacher at Hillsborough Middle School, brings hands-on environmental education expertise to the classroom. Her educational leadership roles include serving as the Community Garden Coordinator at Duke Farms, where she developed and taught garden curriculum; the Founding Executive Director of the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team; and the Stewardship & Education Director of the Upper Raritan Watershed Association, demonstrating her commitment to connecting students with environmental science and conservation.

Kyle Bardwell (he/him) has been an avid birdwatcher in the Hudson Valley since his early teens. He is now a board member of Putnam Highlands Audubon Society, as well as an active member of Saw Mill River Audubon, and the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club. Kyle helps as an eBird reviewer for NYSOA Region 9, which covers the Southern Hudson Valley.

Doug Bloom (he/him) is a former president of the Bronx River Sound Shore Audubon Society and its current vice president. He is a lifelong birder, the current birding field trip leader at the Audubon Society, and all-around nature and birding enthusiast.

Phyllis Bock (she/her) is the former Director of Education at Teatown Lake Reservation and a current Board member. Phyllis began her career at Teatown in October 1991, when she began as a volunteer Nature Guide. Ms. Bock possesses a BA Biology from Queens College, CUNY.  As Education Director, she took to heart Teatown’s mission and encouraged young and old alike to embrace all that nature has to offer.  She can often be found hiking or kayaking somewhere in the Hudson Valley.

Marcus Cáceres (he/him) is an amateur naturalist with a background in ecology, outdoor education, and conservation. As a naturally curious Bronx native, he spent many hours exploring parks all over The Bronx and beyond. He was inspired at a young age to help preserve the natural world and began to work alongside environmental-based nonprofits at the age of 14. Over the past 10+ years, he has committed to help preserve wildlife habitat, sensitive ecosystems both land and aquatic based in various NYC Parks. Marcus also leads hikes and other events as a Volunteer Outings Leader with the NYC chapter of Latino Outdoors.

Scott Craven (he/him) is a lifelong birder and has been doing “history heavy” walks for EagleFest since its inception. Scott is a retired Ossining police officer and currently works at the Ossining Library. He’s the Town of Ossining Historian and has been speaking to local groups about environmental history here in the Hudson Valley for decades.

Melina Cronin (she/her) is an avid nature photographer and birder. She enjoys sharing her work through her Instagram: my.perspective.by.Melina and Facebook: My Perspective – Photography by Melina Cronin.

Emily Edmonds-Langham (she/her) is Teatown’s Director of Education. She has worked in environmental education for many years at organizations including the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Native Plant Trust. Emily loves helping new birders find their feet, whether young or old.

Jeana Fucello (she/her) is a board member for Feminist Bird Club and on the leadership team for the NYC chapter. She particularly likes sharing the joys of birding with new and inexperienced birders and leads outings in spots like Green-Wood Cemetery, Central Park, and closer to home in Astoria Park. She also manages the FBC annual patch sale and has sent thousands of patches out, worldwide.

Martha Harbison (they/them) is a co-founder of the Galbatross Project, an effort that is focused on gathering up knowledge about identification of North American female birds—much of it not available in standard field guides—and making it known to the wider birding community. Martha is also Vice President of Feminist Bird Club, a birding club founded in NYC that specifically aims to make birding and the outdoors inclusive and affirming to people who may not have safe access to it.

Akilah Lewis (she/her) has served as the secretary of the Feminist Bird Club, co-organizer for Black Birders Week, and the NYC Bird Alliance’s Young Conservationists’ Council. In her free time, Akilah enjoys visiting green spaces, volunteering, and making charcuterie boards.

Alma Padilla (she/her) hails from the west Texas town of El Paso, and recently put down roots in Ossining after a decade in The Bronx. She earned her degree in biology from Cornell University, and for years, she worked in conservation field work throughout the western U.S. Alma later returned home and began a teaching career as a high school special educator in science. She was a founding member and a current Volunteer Outings leader with the NYC chapter of Latino Outdoors. As Teatown’s Community Outreach Coordinator, Alma seeks to use her experiences to help demystify the outdoors to newcomers, to identify and help break down barriers to nature, and to plant the seed of stewardship in all participants. Above all, she strives to use her culture and language to demonstrate that we all belong in nature, to nature, and thus share responsibility for it.

Lynn Salmon (she/her) is a retired environmental scientist. Now Lynn birds, geocaches, and curls in Westchester County. She currently serves as the treasurer of Saw Mill River Audubon.

Anne Swaim (she/her) is Executive Director of Saw Mill River Audubon, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society that is based in Chappaqua, New York. Saw Mill River Audubon owns eight local wildlife sanctuaries, offers more than 200 free public programs and field trips annually as well as classroom programs and field trips, and helps connect people with nature in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Larry Trachtenberg (he/him) has been a member of the Board of Directors of Saw Mill River Audubon for more than a decade and has been an eagle “spotter” at George’s Island for every EagleFest since its beginning.