AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #4

This is the fourth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2015 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher from April 20 through 4:00 p.m. on April 27 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

We have been repairing a lot of the fencing knocked over by the recent strong storm and high tides, and thank you to all who have reported downed fencing or helped put it back up. We are glad this severe event happened before any of our birds were nesting.

The weather has definitely made monitoring difficult, interrupting surveys and preventing us from going out or finding birds, and this week still may have cool mornings that we must be mindful of as Piping Plovers are beginning to nest. We do not want to keep them off any eggs during these poor conditions while monitoring. Please report any new nests to us as well as CT DEEP's Laura Saucier (laura.saucier@ct.gov) and Rebecca Foster (rsuzf@hotmail.com) as soon as possible.

By next week we should have our first tern report or two, as Common and Least Terns both return to Connecticut annually right around May 1. These species will be arriving and passing through for a while, and nesting should not take place for at least a few weeks.

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
4 pairs, 3 adults, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/21
1 pair at Short Beach on 4/21
6 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21
1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21
8 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
5 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
1 pair at Milford Point on 4/23
5 pairs, 5 adults at Griswold Point on 4/23
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/23
5 pairs, 8 adults, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 4/24
3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/24
8 pairs, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/24
2 pairs, 5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
9 adults at Milford Point on 4/25
1 pair at Short Beach on 4/26
1 adult at Long Beach on 4/26
4 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/26
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/26
4 adults at Bluff Point on 4/26
1 pair, 2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/26
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/27

American Oystercatcher
2 pairs at Falkner Island on 4/21
1 pair, 1 nest at Quinnipeag Rock on 4/21
3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/21
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/21
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
2 adults at Stratford Point on 4/22
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/22
3 adults at Milford Point on 4/23
3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/24
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/24
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
2 adults at Milford Point on 4/25
2 adults at Russian Beach on 4/26
3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/26
1 pair at Long Beach on 4/26
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/26
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/27

This concludes update #4 through 4/27/15 as of 5:00 p.m.