Stake Delivery

The stakes have arrived! Here's our crew doing some heavy lifting this morning, unloading a delivery of stakes used for string fencing on beaches across Connecticut this spring.

We will be needing your help to put them up throughout April, so please stay tuned for fencing and signage dates!

Upcoming USFWS Programs

In between your waterbird monitoring and shorebird stewardship be sure to check out these FREE Upcoming Programs via the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge!

Invite Birds and Butterflies to Your Yard
Wednesday, April 8th 6-7pm
Join wildlife refuge staff as they lead a how-to presentation on attracting these colorful creatures to your backyard. Free booklets provided to first 30 attendees. Held at the Westbrook Public Library, 61 Goodspeed Drive, Westbrook 06498. Call Ranger Shaun Roche for more information at 860-399-2513.

The Buzz about Bees!
Friday, April 10th 6-7pm
Join Dr. Kimberly Stoner, entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station as she gives a presentation on bees and pollinators. The decline of some bee species and the creation of good habitat for bees will be part of the discussion. Held at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge 733 Old Clinton Rd. Westbrook 06498. Call Ranger Shaun Roche for more information at 860-399-2513.

The Hidden Lives of Snowy Owls
Saturday April 11th 6-7pm
During the winter of 2013-14 more snowy owls invaded the northeastern U.S. than in any winter in the past 100 years! Join Don Crockett, developer of the Project SNOWstorm interactive app, as he reveals what the study has shown us about the hidden lives of snowy owls. Held at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge 733 Old Clinton Rd. Westbrook 06498. More information is available here: http://projectsnowstorm.org or by calling the refuge at 860-399-2513.

Please Schedule Your Monitoring

To schedule your coastal waterbird monitoring sessions this spring and summer send an email to: ctwaterbirds@gmail.com

You can pick from the following locations:

• Sherwood Island State Park in Westport
• Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport
• Long Beach in Stratford
• Russian Beach in Stratford
• Milford Point in Milford
• Silver Sands State Park in Milford
• Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven
• Griswold Point in Old Lyme
• Bluff Point State Park in Groton

Short Beach in Stratford may also need some monitoring, as may Sasco Hill Beach in Fairfield. Long Beach, Milford Point, Sandy/Morse Points and Bluff Point typically have the greatest need for monitors. Please tell us what specific days of the month or week (such as every Friday) you want to monitor along with either AM or PM, no certain hours or times necessary. All scheduling is conducted by emailing the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, ctwaterbirds@gmail.com, and we hope to complete it by April 1. That is the only place to sign up for the schedule. Thank you!

Please Submit Negative Data

Please remember that we want to hear from you at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com after every trip you take to your beach during volunteer monitoring. Even when you make a visit to the shore and do not see any Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Least Terns or Common Terns - or any other notable waterbirds - we need this "negative data". Knowing about a lack of birds is just as important as an abundance of birds.

Negative data is important to us in several ways. It lets us know that you were there on the beach at your scheduled time and that birds were simply not there instead us thinking you may have had to miss your monitoring that day and wondering what was or was not present. We can still learn from you about any disturbances and human activities on the beach even if there are no birds to report. We will target our field staff to sites more appropriately with a more complete picture of what is or is not going on. We can also add to historic data from past years - for example, if a given beach now has no Piping Plovers during the entire 2015 season and this is the third year in a row after decades of the species breeding there then we will know with even more certainty that there is a problem that needs to be addressed at that site.

Please remember this throughout the season and send us a report each time after you monitor. While we would much rather read a wonderful account of so many of our species being recorded by all of you we still need to receive monitoring data even when no birds are found whatsoever. That negative data goes a long way in helping us understand, protect and help Connecticut's coastal waterbirds.

USFWS Volunteer Safety Training Certification

If you are a USFWS shorebird monitor with us for the 2015 season please view the following training video on safety in its entirety.


Those of you who attended training, signed and submitted the USFWS Volunteer Safety Training Certification are all set. Others who have received this form and have yet to submit it, or those who have not, should fill in the document: http://rtpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Volunteer_Safety_Training_Certification.doc

Then mail it to:
Shaun Roche
733 Old Clinton Road
Westbrook, CT 06498

Once again, if you have already filled out that form and it has been received by USFWS then you are all set. If you have not please complete the document and mail it to the above address. Thank you!

Bahamas Banded Piping Plovers

As an additional update to this post on banded Piping Plovers please see the below notice via Audubon about the birds banded in The Bahamas this winter in PDF form.

http://rtpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Bahamas-Banded-PIPLs.pdf 

Once again we encourage you to pass on this information to any birders you may know who will be visiting our beaches this spring and summer. Thank you!

Schedule Your 2015 Monitoring

On Saturday, March 14, the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection completed successful training sessions for many of our fantastic past and new volunteer monitors. We are now working on scheduling everyone to their desired beaches and dates. Please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com with your requested location(s) and schedule. We hope to complete scheduling for most by April 1.

 Here is a list of available monitoring locations:

• Sherwood Island State Park in Westport
• Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport
• Long Beach in Stratford
• Russian Beach in Stratford
• Milford Point in Milford
• Silver Sands State Park in Milford
• Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven
• Griswold Point in Old Lyme
• Bluff Point State Park in Groton

Short Beach in Stratford may also need some monitoring, as may Sasco Hill Beach in Fairfield. Long Beach, Milford Point, Sandy/Morse Points and Bluff Point typically have the greatest need for monitors. Remember that we would like to have all the data we can on Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, and beginning when they arrive in May, Least and Common Terns. Information on additional shorebirds, terns, long-legged waders, disturbances, usage of the beach, and more is always great, including negative data (if you did not record any of our target species). When we begin walking our beaches we want to monitor only in "good" weather to protect both people and birds - heavy rain or thunderstorms in the area or temperatures below 50 or above 90 mean you should skip that day.

If you would like to be paired up initially with master monitors who have past experience or if you are a master monitor willing to help please let us know if you have not already. Remember to check out the right-hand column of this blog for helpful documents and important state and federal forms. If you cannot download any of these forms or have problems attempting to please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com and we can send them as email attachments.

We will start our regular and weekly email updates with general information and bird data in April. Thank you all! We could not accomplish any of this without our tremendous volunteers.

Tomorrow's Monitor Training & Directions

The training and orientation session for new volunteers will be held on Saturday, March 14th 2015 from 10:30am to 12:00noon at Stratford Point, 1207 Prospect Drive, Stratford, CT 06615; past volunteers will be offered a refresher from 9:00am to 10:15am.

Visiting Stratford Point can be confusing to those who have not been there previously. Below is a map of the site.

It is on the left side of Prospect Drive as you proceed down the road, with an extensive fenced in grasslands area visible. There will be a gate on this left side that is open to a driveway with "1207" on the fence. Drive into this driveway, where the marker is on the map, and proceed up it going between some small white pine trees. If you note the buildings on the map we will be meeting in the one at the end of this driveway near the top. You can park where visitor parking is signed or anywhere along the edge of this driveway.

Please be aware some GPS units take you past the property, but we suggest following the above directions and locating it on visually. Feel free to email us with any questions, and we will see you then!

Find Banded Piping Plovers

While we are on the beaches monitoring waterbirds this spring and summer please be on the lookout for Piping Plovers bearing bands and flags. Migratory periods in March-April and late summer have the most potential for marked birds to be found Connecticut. Information for reporting each flag color is provided below. Please cc both Laura.Saucier@ct.gov and ctwaterbirds@gmail.com with any reports, and feel free to email us with any questions.

Please include the following information with each report:

    Flag and band colors, location on each leg, and any alphanumeric codes on the flags.
    Location of sighting
    Date of sighting
    Any photo that shows the bands and/or flag

Coded black, gray, or white flags on the upper leg (photo below):  These are coded flags with two alphnumeric characters.  Please send reports to Cheri.Gratto-Trevor@ec.gc.ca.

Photo: Ron D’Entremont

Green flags (coded and uncoded) on the upper leg: Please send reports to vt.plover@gmail.com. Some of the green flags are coded with three alphanumeric characters, but other pipers carry an uncoded (plain) green flag along with lower leg bands. 

Pink coded flags on the upper leg (photo below) with two alphanumeric characters: Please report to vt.plover@gmail.com and cc wgolder@audubon.org and see the below notice via Audubon about the birds banded in The Bahamas this winter in PDF form.

http://rtpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Bahamas-Banded-PIPLs.pdf 

Photo: M. Jeffery

Orange flags (uncoded) and bands: Please report to plover@umn.edu.

Color bands on only the upper legs and no flag: Some of these have one band on each upper leg, some have two bands per upper leg. Please report to michelle.stantial@gmail.com and cc vt.plover@gmail.com.

Thank you for your help! We hope to find some of these birds here in Connecticut, and please remember that the more information and reports these projects receive the more can be understood about the biology of this threatened species.

First American Oystercatcher

It’s that time! The American Oystercatchers are returning to the Northeast, and today we had our first bird in Westbrook.

 
This is three or four weeks later than the first Oystercatcher sighting occurs in some years, with the historic cold keeping migrants at bay until now.

Other species are also arriving more slowly than expected. Now it is all systems go for us as the threatened shorebird species is one of our focal birds.

 If you are going to be in Connecticut this spring and summer please email ctwaterbirds@gmail.com to sign up as a volunteer, and if you bird in Connecticut you can also share eBird checklists with any shorebirds, terns and long-legged waders from within the state with us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Reminder - Shorebird Monitor Training March 14

This is a reminder that 2015 shorebird monitor training is coming up soon! Please plan to attend if you can. The training and orientation session for new volunteers will be held on Saturday, March 14th 2015 from 10:30am to 12:00noon at Stratford Point, 1207 Prospect Drive, Stratford, CT 06615; past volunteers will be offered a refresher from 9:00am to 10:15am. The sessions will review the following: biology of the piping plover, how to monitor breeding pairs and chicks, volunteer organization and logistics, and law enforcement information. Attendance by everyone planning to join us for the 2015 season is important.

You can review complete information from the initial announcement here: http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/2015/02/volunteers-needed-for-shorebird.html

For more information on the training session or for directions, please email USFWS Visitor Services Manager Shaun Roche at shaun_roche@fws.gov. Reservations are not required; but an e-mail letting us know you will be attending is appreciated. Please also let us know if you need to make alternate plans, if you have not already. Thank you!

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Seen in Connecticut only as a very rare vagrant the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a massive waterbird of a different sort. Amazingly one could have seen the species three years in a row in the Stratford/Milford area with an entirely random occurrence of a bird in August 2010, a sighting after Hurricane Irene in 2011, and another after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

You never know what you will see on the shore! When you are patrolling your beaches this summer as a volunteer monitor keep an eye out for these huge birds over the waters of Long Island Sound. Stranger things have happened!

Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)

One of the most unique and unmistakable North American birds, the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is an incredible waterbird with a massive bill used to scoop fish from the water while in flight.

 
Watching a Black Skimmer feeding, using the length of the bill’s lower mandible to penetrate the water’s surface to snag prey, can seem rather surreal.

 
Evolution and adaptation can certainly be unexpected and staggeringly effective. In this case this bird was playing with a leaf!

 Perhaps it was good foraging practice during this warm Florida vacation.

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

This Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) was photographed in Florida but it could end up being one of the birds passing through Connecticut soon enough.

The massive tern, with its huge red bill and powerful wings, may make its way north to our shores in a month! Until then it will have to work on filling in that black cap.