Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds Update #7

This is the seventh update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2012 season. It includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher received from 12:00 p.m. on April 23 through 12:00 p.m. on April 30 with sightings of birds spanning April 22 through April 29 by our staff and volunteers.

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
Volunteer and staff surveys:
1 adult at a private beach in East Haven on 4/22
1 pair, 1 adult at Milford Point on 4/24
3 pairs at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/24
4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
4 pairs on Long Beach with one 4-egg nest on 4/25
1 adult on Pleasure Beach on 4/25 (FIRST OF SEASON)
5 pairs at Bluff Point with one 4-egg nest on 4/25
3 pairs, 1 adult at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/25
1 pair, 3 adults and 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
2 pairs, 2 adults at Milford Point on 4/26
6 pairs, 1 adult, 4 nests but 2 washed out at Bluff Point on 4/26
2 pairs, 1 adult, one 3-egg nest at Long Beach on 4/28
1 pair, 1 adult, apparent nest at Milford Point on 4/29
1 adult, one 4-egg nest at Long Beach on 4/29
1 pair, one 4-egg nest at East Broadway Milford on 4/29
3 pairs, 1 adult, one 3-egg nest and three 4-egg nests at Long Beach on 4/29 after one was predated earlier in the week


American Oystercatcher
Volunteer and staff surveys:
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/24
3 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/24
1 pair, 3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/25
2 pairs at Bluff Point on 4/25
1 pair at Bluff Point on 4/25
1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points with two nests noted on 4/26
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/26
2 pairs at Bluff Point with one 3-egg nest on 4/26
2 pairs, 2 adults at Milford Point with one 3-egg nest on 4/28
2 pairs at Milford Point with one 2-egg nest on 4/29


There have been no reports of Least Tern or Common Tern though this will very likely change by the next update. Please be on the lookout for these two typical species as well as other tern species now! There have been no reports of Black Skimmer in 2012, but they should be spotted in the next week or two. They have been recorded in New York in the last week. Great Egret and Snowy Egret are common in expected areas, and a few dozen consisting primarily of the former species were seen from shore on Charles Island this past weekend. Green Heron were observed in a few locations both inland and along the coast.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover are now becoming irregular sightings across the state. Numbers have been slow to increase thus far, though they should rise rapidly in the next week. Short-billed Dowitcher was reported in Stratford. Spotted Sandpiper and Solitary Sandpiper have been reported uncommonly from a handful of locations but they should also been seen more frequently by the next update. Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin and Sanderling are common and abundant in expected areas, with hundreds being a common sight in staging areas such as the mouth of the Housatonic River and associated marshes.

There should be a tremendous push of birds of all species into Connecticut from Tuesday onward with a warm front entering the region. Great numbers have been “backed up” to the south, and some of the larger accumulations of birds of species present in Connecticut now will move out to the north as these new species enter New England. The forecast beyond Tuesday is highly uncertain and tremendously complex, but the strong chance of occasional showers on many days may mean fallouts of some shorebirds at times as well.

This concludes update #7 through 4/30/12 as of 4:00 p.m


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.