Long Beach fencing removal

This past Monday, August 13, the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds assisted the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protecting in removing the string fencing along Long Beach in Stratford. Several volunteers also kindly contributed their time and energy for this arduous task after an already busy season of monitoring, and if we could thank them one thousand times we would!

Our group met at 11AM in the parking lot, making teams that would cover each section. We reeled up all of the string from the stakes and removed them, carrying them all back to the parking lot and waiting DEEP vehicles. We also had to bring some metal stakes and exclosures back off the beach as well. It was a very warm day, especially in the sun, but considering the heat as of late it was definitely tolerable for such physical labor.

Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut, and Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation Technician for Connecticut Audubon Society, took some photos during the work when they didn't have their hands full.

Some of the group figuring out who will go where

And here we go

Making the walk out

It was a beautiful mid-August day

We noted many shorebirds while hiking including these Black-bellied Plovers. Others nearby included Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers.

A much-improved Long Beach West

The section 5 group resting for a minute before hiking back

Many Sanderlings were feeding along the Sound

Some juvenile Least Terns were nearby with a couple dozen adults flying by and feeding

A close-up

A trail of people heading back after their second trip out

More of the crew returning

A job well done!

Once again, thank you to all of the volunteers who helped us on Monday and for the entire season! Long Beach is now considered completed for the season, as are all sites once they have their fencing removed. Tomorrow we will show you a little more about the same operation that took place at Milford Point yesterday.

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