Birds of prey on display at Earth Day celebration in Ansonia

Todd Secki of Killingworth shows off Autumn, a red-tailed hawk, Saturday at the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center's annual Earth Day celebration.  

Secki said red-tailed hawks are the most common hawks found in North America and often live for 25 to 30 years in the wild. 
He and his wife, Christine Cummings-Secki,  are licensed wildlife rehabilitators who run the nonprofit raptor rescue organization, A Place Called Hope. 

Deep River resident Grace Krick and Chestnut, a Great Horned Owl, seem to be having a staring contest Saturday at the nature center. Krick is a volunteer with A Place Called Hope.

Valley swimming area among those closed today

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) today closed the swimming areas at the following state beaches:
Day Pond State Park – Colchester
Wharton Brook State Park – Wallingford
Indian Well State Park – Shelton
Wadsworth Falls State Park – Middlefield
Chatfield Hollow State Park – Killingworth
The swimming areas were closed as a result of elevated indicator bacteria in samples taken at the parks on Monday, Aug. 8. The swimming areas will be re-sampled today at all of the beaches with the exception of Indian Well with results available on Wednesday.
Indian Well will be resampled Wednesday morning with results available on Thursday.
"The swimming areas were closed due to runoff that carries bacteria following the recent heavy rains," said DEEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette, in a news release. "The test results for the swimming areas at these beaches were above standards for safe swimming and these areas will be closed until the sample results show improvement."