AAfCW 2014 Volunteer Update #4

This is the fourth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2014 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher from April 21 through 4:00 p.m. on April 28 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

Last week's weather prevented some surveys and this week's weather may as well with continually cool and damp conditions often prevailing. There may also be strong winds and potentially a thunderstorm or two. Please keep in mind as we find more nests that we want to avoid monitoring during inclement weather and that if you find a new nest to please email rsuzf@hotmail.com and Laura.Saucier@ct.gov along with us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com to immediately alert them to your discovery.

 

Least and Common Terns should be arriving sometime in the next week in a few areas so keep an eye out for them.

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
1 pair, 9 adults at Milford Point on 4/21
6 pairs, 1 adult at Griswold Point on 4/21
3 pairs at Bluff Point on 4/21
2 pairs at Long Beach on 4/21
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/22
5 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
6 pairs at Milford Point on 4/22
1 pair, 3 adults at Milford Point on 4/22

2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/23
1 pair at West Haven between Washington Ave and East Ave on 4/23

1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/23
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/24
1 pair at West Haven between Washington Ave and East Ave on 4/24
4 pairs, 4 adults at Milford Point on 4/25
1 pair at West Haven between Washington Ave and East Ave on 4/25
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/25
1 adult at Long Beach on 4/25

1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25

1 pair, 4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
2 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/27
1 pair at West Haven between Washington Ave and East Ave on 4/27

1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/27

12 adults at Milford Point on 4/28

2 pairs, 3 adults, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/28

 

American Oystercatcher

8 adults at Milford Point on 4/21
1 pair at Griswold Point on 4/21
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/21

1 pair, 1 adult at Great Captain's Island on 4/21
1 adult at Long Beach on 4/22
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
5 pairs at Milford Point on 4/22
3 adults at Milford Point on 4/22

1 pair at Taunton Rock on 4/22
1 pair at Umbrella Island on 4/22
1 pair at Great Island on 4/22
1 pair at Kelsey Island on 4/22
1 pair at Darrow Rocks on 4/22

2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22

5 pairs at Cockenoe Island on 4/22
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/23
1 pair at Morse Beach on 4/23

5 pairs at Menunketesuck Island on 4/23

1 pair, 1 adult at Westbrook on 4/23

1 pair at Long Beach on 4/23

1 pair, 1 adult at Chaffinch Island on 4/24

1 adult at Gull Rock on 4/24

1 pair, 1 adult at Chimon Island on 4/24

3 adults at Long Beach Island on 4/24
3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/25

2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
1 pair at West Haven between Washington Ave and East Ave on 4/25
2 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/27

1 pair at Long Beach on 4/27

4 adults at Milford Point on 4/28

2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/28

 

This concludes update #4 through 4/28/14 as of 5:00 p.m.

Lifting Off to Great Gull Island

Last week a very cool operation took place to help coastal waterbirds and it started on a Groton airstrip! Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds staff joined volunteers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials, and U.S. military personnel on a mission to load wood into a transport helicopter to bring to Great Gull Island. AAfCW Waterbird Technician Ewa Holland took many great photos of the effort which included two great birds: the CH-47F Chinook with the UH-60 Black Hawk as an escort.

 

There will be additional opportunities to help Great Gull Island throughout the year. Please keep an eye on this blog and emails sent out to all of our monitors and volunteers to see when and where help will be needed. Thank you!

Terns on the way

Here in Connecticut we have a relatively certain schedule for our Least and Common Terns to arrive. For the most part you can expect to find one of either species sometime around May 1 or after. It may take a while for a given location to yield one or both of the species but if you are actively searching for them on the coast you stand a good chance to find one once the calendar moves to May.

Terns coming back to our state are less influenced by the weather and patterns than some of the smaller passerine migrant birds. This means that during this colder than average year they should still arrive around the same time even if the rest of our environment is behind schedule. Here's an eBird map of where Common Terns have been in 2014 through today, April 24.

 

The Common Tern population moves into the lower Great Lakes before reaching us in Connecticut as they cross over from around the Delmarva region. They should populate New Jersey soon and be here by next weekend.

 

Here's the same map for the Least Tern.

 

 

Once again the northern extent of the population is essentially established in Delmarva and will be on the move north to us probably by next weekend. These birds all look to be in line with historically expected dates.

 

If you have been wondering why you have not seen any terns yet, this is the reason - it's not time yet! As you can see it will be very soon so keep an eye out on the waters of Long Island Sound to see if you can spot the first arrival for the state in 2014.

AAfCW 2014 Volunteer Update #3

This is the third weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2014 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher from April 14 through 4:00 p.m. on April 21 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

Thank you to all of the volunteers who joined us in fencing operations last week! After another cold period we are still waiting for nesting to begin as only one nest has been found thus far (today at Milford Point by DEEP). It should be soon as temperatures will continue to climb and we should avoid any nights below freezing. Please remember that we would like data and information from any visit to our beaches, even if there are no birds found.

Help is needed this week - possibly tomorrow morning - in Groton to load wood into a transport helicopter to bring to Great Gull Island. Please let us know if you are available and we can provide you with the details and confirmation of whether or not it will take place tomorrow morning or on Wednesday or Thursday. There may also be a need for some folks to go out to the island this week to move lumber away from the landing area. Thank you!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
2 pairs, 9 adults at Milford Point on 4/14
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/14
2 adults at Long Beach on 4/14
2 pairs, 1 adult at Bluff Point on 4/16
4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/16
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/17
7 pairs at Milford Point on 4/17
5 adults at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/17
1 pair, 3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/17
5 pairs, 1 adult at Milford Point on 4/18
6 adults at Griswold Point on 4/19
3 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/19
4 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/20
1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21

American Oystercatcher
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/14
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/14
2 adults at Long Beach on 4/14
2 adults at Horse Island on 4/14
4 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/16
3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/17
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/17
1 pair at Milford Point on 4/18
1 pair at Compo Beach on 4/18
1 pair at Gulf Beach Milford on 4/18
1 pair at Griswold Point on 4/19
1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/19
5 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/20
1 adult at Long Beach on 4/20
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21

This concludes update #3 through 4/21/14 as of 5:00 p.m.

Tern fencing at Harkness

Last week the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds were joined by several volunteers to help the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection construct metal fencing for tern nesting at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford.

The crew

Audubon Connecticut's Patrick Comins

 

Ready to haul out



Bringing it to the beach

This fencing will also help to protect Piping Plovers and the Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle, a species of "Special Concern" in Connecticut.

Once on the beach the hard work began in earnest.

 

A huge thank you to the volunteers who joined the crew for this difficult and very important effort! The birds appreciate it and we hope they will end up a very successful breeding season.

Work party updates

The work parties for Great Gull Island will not happen this week but we are still fencing at Harkness Memorial State Park tomorrow morning at 10:30AM and can use additional help! We will be putting up metal fencing and it requires a lot of hands. It is a good opportunity to visit the normally closed Natural Area Preserve at Harkness and you can find more information here: http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/2014/04/harkness-memorial-state-park-fencing-417.html

 

Thank you and we will see you tomorrow!

Watch the weather

It sure feels like winter again today! This is one of those days we would rather not have anyone surveying for our birds. While we want our staff and monitors on the beaches across Connecticut as much as possible, there are a few times when we would rather have no one there at all. This is when the weather conditions are potentially hazardous to the birds we are working to protect, survey, and educate the public on. As you can imagine the threat increases at times when the birds are incubating eggs or tending to young. This goes for Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern, Common Tern, and all of the species we are monitoring this season.

We request that everyone please keep the conditions in mind and only survey when the temperature is not overly hot or cold, there is no rain, and the wind is not strong. If gusts are strong enough that you notice them pushing you around, especially on a cool or cloudy day, it may be better to stay home. When the temperature is below 50 at any time, or perhaps even 60 when the birds are on eggs, or over 90, you may want to exercise caution and skip a monitoring session. Lastly, when there is rain falling it is also best not to go on to the beach. When it is very foggy it can also be somewhat difficult to watch for birds as well.

The key is that we do not want incubating adults coming off eggs for too long of a time so that they are exposed to extreme conditions. Even before nests are established this week's cold and windy days mean that providing the birds extra space or more time alone to feed and stay warm is the prudent course of action. For your own safety please watch out for any forecast for thunderstorms so that you are not on the beach at such a time as we enter the severe season.

Thank you all for your constant efforts and for being mindful about when to hit the beaches this spring and summer.

AAfCW 2014 Volunteer Update #2

This is the second weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2014 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher from April 7 through 3:00 p.m. on April 14 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:
Please sign up to schedule your monitoring now by emailing ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you have not as our field season is well underway! You should be sending all data and information from any monitoring to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com now and throughout the season.

Two fencing dates are coming up this week - NOTE CHANGE AT BLUFF POINT as rain has canceled tomorrow's fencing and moved it to Wednesday, April 16:

Wednesday, April 16 at 10:00AM - Bluff Point State Park, Groton
Tomorrow's heavy rain has moved this date back one day. At this location we will meet in the parking area and CT DEEP will shuttle people out to the beach.

Thursday, April 17 at 10:30AM - Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford
Rain date Tuesday, April 22 at 10:30AM. Harkness is not on the list of our volunteer monitoring sites this season but CT DEEP is looking for assistance in erecting metal tern fencing and possibly Piping Plover string fencing and signage. We will meet in the main parking area and volunteers and staff will be transported in via the private CT DEEP entrance. If there is an attendant at the entrance booth we ask that volunteers explain they are U.S. Fish & Wildlife volunteers there to assist CT DEEP with fencing operations and you will be allowed entry.

Volunteers should bring: work gloves, water, a snack, appropriate footwear, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats and whatever else you may need avoid too much sun. These locations can either be quite cool or very warm depending on the day so dress for any weather. A pocket knife or multi-tool can be handy and a sledge hammer or mallet can be helpful to bring. Plan for heavy lifting and toting, but be mindful of your safety.

Please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you will be joining us for fencing. It is important to know if you will be there so that we can best deploy staff and recruit more volunteers if needed - thank you!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
7 adults at Milford Point on 4/7
1 pair, 2 adults at Bluff Point on 4/7
3 adults at Long Beach on 4/7
1 pair, 3 adults at Bluff Point on 4/8
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/8
6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/9
6 adults at Milford Point on 4/9
3 adults at Long Beach on 4/9
13 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/9
7 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/9
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/9
5 pairs at Milford Point on 4/10
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/10
4 adults at Long Beach on 4/10
3 pairs, 5 adults Milford Point on 4/10
5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/10
3 pairs, 3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/12
3 adults at Milford Point on 4/12
18 adults at Griswold Point on 4/13
3 pairs, 5 adults at Milford Point on 4/13
2 pairs at Long Beach on 4/13
2 pairs at Long Beach on 4/13

American Oystercatcher
4 pairs at Milford Point on 4/7
1 pair at Bluff Point on 4/7
1 pair, 1 adult at Griswold Point on 4/8
1 pair at Bluff Point on 4/8
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/8
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/9
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/9
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/9
1 adult at Long Beach on 4/9
1 pair at Milford Point on 4/10
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/10
4 adults at Long Beach on 4/10
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/10
4 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/12
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/12
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/12
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/12
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/13

This concludes update #2 through 4/14/14 as of 4:00 p.m.

Beach training a success

Thank you to all of the monitors who attended the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection training on how to monitor Piping Plovers and Least Terns at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven today. Members of CT DEEP staff along with Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History met with volunteers on the beach on a beautiful Saturday morning with the sun shining brightly on the shore.

As we spent a couple of hours walking the entirety of the Important Bird Area we discovered four pairs of American Oystercatchers plus one adult and three pairs of our main target, the Piping Plover, with three more adults joining them. Laura Saucier and Rebecca Foster of CT DEEP discussed the finer points of how to approach these birds, their biology, counting them safely, educating the public, and more.

The perfect weather allowed us to safely view the target birds - who are still pairing up and beginning to get territorial at this point of the cooler than usual spring season - and chat while spotting all sorts of other species. Great and Snowy Egrets fed in the early morning. An Osprey flew over carrying a large stick to make its nest. A Northern Gannet came far closer than usual flying directly over the beach. Various waterfowl like Atlantic Brant, Red-breasted Merganser, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and more swam offshore. A Merlin hunted the area as we left.

If you need to contact us regarding anything discussed today or with any other questions or comments please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. We want to again thank all of our monitors for their hard work all spring and summer on Connecticut's shoreline. None of this could be done without you! We also thank the Long Island Sound Futures Fund and Audubon New York for their continuing support.

Help Great Gull Island

We were contacted by Helen Hays of Great Gull Island and they need some help next week. Great Gull Island is a really amazing place and perhaps the most spectacular bird resource in Long Island Sound. They need help with the following tasks and some compensation may be available. Please contact Helen at hays@amnh.org and please CC pcomins@audubon.org and ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you can. These are the tasks they need help with to benefit Roseate Terns:

1.       Take things from Niantic to Saybrook state loading dock on Monday April 14? Go with us to GGI and unload landing craft on April 15 returning p.m. April 15
2.       Anyone who could help us load the helicopter with wood on Wednesday, April 16 in Groton?  Flight has not been approved and if it is, directions will follow.
3.       Anyone who could come to GGI April 17-18 or longer to help us unload the wood.
4.       We can pay people who come to help something.

Thank you!

Don't miss beach training on 4/12

This is a reminder of an important event this weekend, especially for our new monitors! On Saturday, April 12 the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will hold a beach/field training session on how to monitor and collect data for Piping Plovers and Least Terns from 10AM until 12PM at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven. The rain date will be the following day, Sunday, April 13. Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds staff will also be on hand.

The group will meet at Sandy/Morse Points parking lot before venturing out to the beach. Follow this link for driving directions and additional information on the site: http://www.lisrc.uconn.edu/coastalaccess/site.asp?siteid=383 

Everyone should dress for walking the beach and remember appropriate footwear, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, a jacket and whatever else you may need avoid too much sun and stay warm on what can be a windy and chilly beach in April. You should also bring a snack, water, binoculars and a spotting scope if you have one.

Please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you have any questions and we hope to see you there!

AAfCW 2014 Volunteer Update #1

This is the first weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2014 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher from March 21 through 4:00 p.m. on April 7 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

Thank you to everyone who has scheduled their monitoring and hit the beaches! Please sign up to monitor ASAP if you have not as our field season has commenced and monitoring should be underway. Please remember to submit all data and information whether or not you find any of our birds and email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com whenever if you have any questions.

Two fencing dates are coming up this week:

Tuesday, April 8 at 9:30AM - Griswold Point in Old Lyme
The plan is to meet with staff from The Nature Conservancy at 9:30AM as at that time we should have good walking access down the beach. We recommend carpooling if possible which can be done at the park and ride commuter lot off exit 70 of Interstate 95 on Neck Road. The nearby businesses also have the only available restrooms. The group will meet up at the end of the private Griswold Point Lane for a 9:30AM start.

Thursday, April 10 at 10:00AM - Long Beach in Stratford. Rain date Friday April 11th at 10:00AM. Meet in the parking area.

Volunteers should bring: work gloves, water, a snack, appropriate footwear, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats and whatever else you may need avoid too much sun. These locations can either be quite cool or very warm depending on the day so dress for any weather. A pocket knife or multi-tool can be handy and a sledge hammer or mallet can be helpful to bring. Plan for heavy lifting and toting, but be mindful of your safety.

Please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you will be joining us for fencing, and thank you!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
1 adult at Milford Point on 3/21
2 adults at Griswold Point on 3/21
7 adults at Milford Point on 3/24
5 adults at Milford Point on 3/27
3 adults at Milford Point on 3/31
6 adults at Milford Point on 4/1
1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/1
3 adults at Long Beach on 4/2
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/2
7 adults at Milford Point on 4/3

American Oystercatcher
2 pairs at Milford Point on 3/21
2 pairs at Milford Point on 3/24
2 pairs at Milford Point on 3/27
3 pairs at Milford Point on 3/31
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/1
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/1
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/2
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/3

This concludes update #1 through 4/7/14 as of 5:00 p.m.

Harkness Memorial State Park fencing 4/17

Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford is not on the list of our volunteer monitoring sites this season but CT DEEP is looking for assistance in erecting metal tern fencing and possibly Piping Plover string fencing and signage on Thursday, April 17 at 10:30AM. The rain date is Tuesday, April 22 at 10:30AM.

We will meet in the main parking area and volunteers and staff will be transported in via the private CT DEEP entrance. If there is an attendant at the entrance booth we ask that volunteers explain they are U.S. Fish & Wildlife volunteers there to assist CT DEEP with fencing operations and you will be allowed entry. Erecting metal tern fencing is labor intensive and as usual will involve a lot of walking on the beach so the more people we have to help us out the faster and easier the task will be. Thank you very much if you can make it to Harkness on the 17th and we will see you there!

Territories already occurring at Milford Point

Photos and post by Sean Graesser

I decided to quickly check on the Piping Plovers that have arrived at Milford Point this morning. Well to my surprise as soon as I walked onto the beach I could hear males doing territorial calls. They only just arrived and have already staked out territories they are trying to protect.

 
I heard one male’s low grumbling call that is intended to attract mates close to the waters edge, so I decided to investigate him first. I quickly spotted him pacing up and down the beach. He was looking for locations to start putting nest scraping in his territory. After some searching I observed him picking a spot by tilting his head back and forth, puff his breast feathers out, than chest out dig his chest into the ground while moving around to make a basic cup.

 

 

That is the extent of what male Piping Plovers do for nest preparation. Sometimes they will adorn the nest scrapes with some shells to further entice a female, but usually she is the one that creates the camouflage for the nest. After I watched him do two nest scrapes I started hearing a second male in close proximity. Well the first male took off after him and quickly rushed him to show the other male this was his territory that he staked out. The second male quickly vacated the area and moved further down the beach.

All in all I could hear four males setting up shop in a narrow strip of beach. It seems like once again we will have a productive year for Piping Plover at Milford Point.