Report Southbound Flagged Plovers

While we are on the beaches monitoring waterbirds this August please be on the lookout for Piping Plovers bearing bands and flags. Migratory periods have the most potential for marked birds to be found in 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
    Condition of legs

Please report flag colors and band combinations as follows:

• 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 with two alphanumeric characters:  Please report to wgolder@audubon.org with a cc vt.plover@gmail.com.
• 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 with a cc to vt.plover@gmail.com.

Although the current U.S. Atlantic banders (who are extremely vigilant about this issue) confirm that they are not observing injuries nor hearing injury reports from resighters, please copy anne_hecht@fws.gov on any report that includes information about a leg injury on a Piping Plover carrying bands or other colored flags.  They also appreciate reports of "okay" banded/flagged legs if the observer was able to make a careful assessment of leg condition.

Thank you!

Visit Pleasure Beach

Have you visited Bridgeport's Pleasure Beach yet? If you are a birder, butterfly lover, or all-around naturalist, we encourage you to stop by soon via the water taxi! Getting to Pleasure Beach is easy with free parking at the water taxi pier lot, 91 Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport. The water taxi will bring visitors to and from Pleasure Beach, and is also free.

 

While there you can enjoy our WildLife Guards program, which trains, mentors, and employs ten local high schools students and two crew leaders to monitor nesting birds and engage visitors, families, and friends about Pleasure Beach and its wildlife. The WildLife Guards are at Pleasure Beach every Tuesday through Saturday, approximately 9:30 to 3:30, and offer the following walks and outreach events each week.

 

Wednesday
11:00am Coastal Ecology Walk
1:00pm Touch Tank

Friday
10:30am Bird Walk
12:00pm Pleasure Beach Trail Walk
1:30pm Plant Identification Walk

Saturday
10:30am Coastal Ecology Walk
11:30am Pleasure Beach Trail Walk
12:30pm Piping Plover Activity
1:30am Pleasure Beach Trail Walk
2:00pm Seine netting

Coastal Ecology Walk
On this walk along the shore, participants will learn about Long Island Sound, its barrier beaches, and wildlife, from Piping Plovers to Prickly Pear Cactus.  Barrier Beaches are a rare habitat is Connecticut.  They provide habitat for many state threatened species, protect shoreline communities from coastal storms, and offers a place for visitors to learn about nature.  This is a 1 mile walk along the beach.  Bring water and sunscreen and appropriate footwear.

Touch Tank
Want to learn about the marine creatures that call Pleasure Beach home?  Stop by the Touch Tank at the Info Depot to see and touch crabs, snails, mussels and more.  Bridgeport’s WildLife Guards will be on hand to share their knowledge about these intertidal inhabitants.

Bird Walk
Pleasure Beach provides nesting habitat for piping plovers and terns.  It is also serves as migratory stopover habitat for shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors.  Join the Bridgeport WildLife Guards for a 1 hour bird walk.  Binocular are available on a first come first serve basis.

Pleasure Beach Trail Walk
Did you know Pleasure Beach used to have an amusement Park?  Want to learn more?  Join the Bridgeport WildLife Guards for a tour of Pleasure Beach.  We will explore the history of this amazing place and see some wildlife too.

Plant Identification Walk
Pleasure Beach hosts a variety of flora, from the state listed Prickly Pear Cactus, to Northern Bayberry – a favorite of the Myrtle Warbler, to invasive plants like Oriental Bittersweet.  Some of these plants provide food for wildlife, while others are less nutritious and tend to take over.  Learn what you can plant in your own yard to benefit birds and other wildlife.

Piping Plover Activity
The Piping Plover, a federally threatened bird species, nests right on the shore of Pleasure Beach.   Because their nests and young are very camouflage, visitors might walk right up to them and not realize it.  During this kid-friendly program, we will learn about the little things people can do to help these birds nest successfully.  We will make marshmallow piping plover chicks and signs to increase awareness about these birds.

Seine-netting
Want to learn about the marine creatures that call Long Island Sound home?  Meet the Bridgeport Wildlife Guards on the beach at 2pm.  We will use a seine net to catch fish, shrimp and other animals that live in the water off shore of Pleasure Beach. 

 

This is education, conservation and advocacy in action, all in one wonderful program, reaching thousands of visitors over the summer and making a difference for rare or endangered plants and wildlife on Pleasure Beach. We hope you take the opportunity to visit and enjoy it!

Long Beach Trash

Another day, another pile of trash removed from the beaches by one of us. This time CT DEEP's Rebecca Foster snapped this shot of all the garbage, especially balloons, that she took off Stratford's Long Beach during one walk! As she noted you could probably do this multiple times a day at this point of the year and come up with the same sort of pile. Summer brings all sorts of parties and events and very little thought applied to where those balloons, or the rest of the trash that can blow away or is tossed aside, end up. Those of you reading this are already very environmentally conscious, but for others who may innocently not imagine where their trash goes or others who do not seem to care, please keep encouraging them to change their ways.

AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #17

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

Informational updates:

It is going to be a hot week with temperatures expected to be in the 90s tomorrow and likely through at least Thursday, with the dew point rising each day. This means it will be dangerous for you and the birds to be out monitoring during the peak heat of the day, so please watch the weather, take the proper precautions and monitor very early or very late if you plan on going out. We feel it is best to skip a monitoring session if the temperature is over 90.

Thank you to everyone who has been picking up bags of trash from our beaches throughout the season. Please keep letting us know how much you collect and remove from your monitoring trips, and tell us about any particularly problematic situations that require additional assistance in terms of cleaning up. As a staff and volunteer group we have removed dozens and dozens of bags of garbage this year from our beaches.

Lastly, as we enter August we still have nests that require our attention, hatchlings, fledglings and juveniles. There will be adults on the move more frequently. We still need your help and monitoring not only for the young birds but to track migratory staging areas, in getting counts of birds on the move, finding banded or flagged individuals that may suddenly appear, and educating beachgoers in a very beach-friendly time of the year. We will look to keep monitoring throughout all of August. Thank you!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/20
2 pairs, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling, 2 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/20
1 adult, 1 fledgling at Pleasure Beach on 7/20
2 pairs, 2 adults, 10 fledglings at Hammonasset on 7/21
3 juveniles at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/21
4 pairs, 1 adult, 6 hatchlings, 3 fledglings, 2 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/21
2 pairs, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/21
2 pairs, 6 adults, 4 hatchlings, 16 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/21
2 adults, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling at Long Beach on 7/21
1 pair, 3 adults, 2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 adult, 1 hatchling, 3 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/22
6 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 4 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
2 adults, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling at Long Beach on 7/22
1 adult, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/23
3 adults, 3 hatchlings, 11 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/23
1 adult, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/25
8 adults, 3 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 adult, 3 fledglings at Bluff Point on 7/25
6 adults, 2 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 5 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/26
2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/26
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/27
1 fledgling at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

American Oystercatcher
1 pair at Long Rock off Griswold Island on 7/20
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/20
9 pairs, 1 adult, 13 juveniles at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/21
1 adult at Tuxis Island on 7/21
1 pair, 1 adult at Griswold Point on 7/21
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/21
3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/21
3 adults at Long Beach on 7/21
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Lewis Island, Thimbles on 7/23
2 adults at Thimble Islands on 7/23
1 pair, 5 adults, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/23
2 pairs, 5 adults, 1 fledgling at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
1 pair, 2 juveniles at Channel Marker on 7/24
1 adult, 1 juvenile at Umbrella Island on 7/24
1 pair, 2 juveniles at Kelsey Island on 7/24
1 pair at Darrow Rocks on 7/24
1 pair at Great Captain's Island on 7/24
1 adult Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 pair at Griswold Point on 7/26
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

Least Tern
15 pairs, 30 adults, 6 hatchlings, 3 fledglings, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 7/21
5 pairs, 16 adults, 1 hatchling, 3 nests at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 pair, 11 adults at Bluff Point on 7/21
100 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
26 pairs, 18 adults, 20 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 adult at Long Beach on 7/22
60 adults at Milford Point on 7/23
9 pairs, 3 adults, 3 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
6 adults at Pleasure Beach on 7/25
40 adults/fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 pair, 8 adults, 2 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/25
20 adults, 2 fledglings at Griswold Point on 7/26
1 pair, 6 adults, 1 hatchling at Bluff Point on 7/26
50 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

Common Tern
5 adults, 7 fledglings at Griswold Island on 7/20
9 adults at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
9 adults, 13 fledglings at Hammonasset on 7/21
40 adults, 10 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/21
2 adults, 1 fledgling at Bluff Point on 7/21
42 adults at Milford Point on 7/23
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
5 adults at Kelsey Island on 7/24
1 pair, 1 adult at Great Captain's Island on 7/24
2 adults at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/25
15 adults at Pleasure Beach on 7/25
105 adults, 15 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/26

This concludes update #17 through 7/27/15 as of 5:00 p.m.

Beach Trash

This photo and information via one of our colleagues, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Shorebird Technician Audrey Wiese: “PLEASE dispose of your trash properly! This is the amount of trash I collected on ONE beach after only 3 hours! If you bring trash in take it out, if you buy plastic water bottles or balloons dispose of them PROPERLY! Loose trash on a beach does nothing for us and has a lasting effect on OUR environment and the animals that live in it.” That doesn’t seem like a very happy birthday…and congratulations to the grad as you help pollute the world they’re about to enter? Let’s change it for the better, please!

AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #16

This is the sixteenth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2015 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from July 13 through 4:00 p.m. on July 20 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

After a chance of thunderstorms to start this week there should be average temperatures and sunny weather until the weekend. Please remember to avoid monitoring in particularly hot conditions where the temperature is near or above 90 for your safety and that of the young birds and vulnerable nests. Amazingly we had more Piping Plovers hatch in the last week, and we should have another nest hatch this week! Therefore there are still young and older chicks, fledglings, juveniles and adults living on many of our beaches and beginning to disperse and migrate. Least Terns have had a difficult year on the mainland for reasons mostly beyond our control, but locations like Milford Point and Griswold Point are now seeing a handful of chicks hatching. American Oystercatchers are also still attempting to nest in some areas, with a range of ages for their species as well. Please keep your data and all observations coming, and thank you for your monitoring and efforts in educating the public when you are at the beach!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
4 adults, 4 juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
20 adults, 10 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
1 pair, 2 adults, 3 hatchlings, 1 juvenile at Hammonasset on 7/13
2 pairs, 6 adults, 4 hatchlings, 4 fledglings, 8 juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/14
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/15
20 adults/fledglings/juveniles, 2 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/15
2 pairs, 3 adults, 3 hatchlings, 1 fledgling, 4 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/15
1 adult, 11 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/15
1 adult, 1 hatchling at Pleasure Beach on 7/15
4 pairs, 7 fledglings, 4 juveniles at Hammonasset on 7/16
1 adult, 4 fledglings at Cedar Island on 7/16
1 pair, 3 hatchlings, 1 juvenile at Long Beach on 7/16
5 adults, 4 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/16
7 adults, 2 hatchlings, 3 fledglings at Milford Point on 7/16
4 adults, 4 hatchlings, 7 fledglings/juveniles at Milford Point on 7/16
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/16
2 pairs, 1 adult, 4 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 4 juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/16
4 pairs, 5 adults, 7 hatchlings, 4 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/16
1 pair, 5 adults, 2 hatchlings, 9 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/16
3 pairs, 2 adults, 6 hatchlings, 10 fledglings at Griswold Point on 7/16
8 adults, 10 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/17
1 pair, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 12 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/17
1 pair, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 1 fledgling, 1 juvenile at Long Beach on 7/17
1 adult, 1 fledgling at Pleasure Beach on 7/17
2 pairs, 1 adult, 4 hatchlings, 4 fledglings, 4 juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
3 pairs, 1 adult, 10 fledglings at Hammonasset on 7/18
1 adult, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/18
24 adults/juveniles, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
6 adults, 5 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/19
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/19

American Oystercatcher
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/13
4 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/13
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/13
1 pair at Short Beach on 7/13
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/14
1 adult at Seal Rocks Mystic on 7/14
2 adults, 2 fledglings at Trumbull Avenue Milford on 7/15
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/15
1 pair, 1 fledgling at Quinnipeag Rock on 7/15
2 pairs, 2 fledglings, 2 juveniles at Shore Rock on 7/15
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/15
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
1 adult at Pleasure Beach on 7/15
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/16
1 pair at Cedar Island on 7/16
1 adult at Long Beach on 7/16
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/16
3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/16
2 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/16
1 pairat Sandy/Morse Points on 7/16
1 pair at Griswold Point on 7/16
3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/17
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/17
1 pair at Lewis Island Thimbles on 7/17
1 pair, 1 adult at Thimble Islands on 7/17
1 pair, 2 fledglings at Channel Marker on 7/17
1 pair, 1 fledgling at Umbrella Island on 7/17
1 pair, 2 fledglings at Pages Cove on 7/17
1 pair, 1 nest at Darrow Rocks on 7/17
3 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
1 pair, 7 adults, 3 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/18
3 pairs, 1 adult at Menunketesuck Island on 7/18
3 adults at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/18
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/17
1 adult at Great Captain's Island on 7/17
1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/19

Least Tern
30 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
30 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/13
31 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/15
2 adults at Long Beach on 7/15
12 pairs, 1 hatchling, 10 nests at Milford Point on 7/16
11 adults at Hammonasset on 7/16
1 pair, 15 adults, 1 hatchling, 1 nest at Bluff Point on 7/16
40 adults at Milford Point on 7/16
50 adults at Milford Point on 7/16
20 adults, 3 hatchlings at Griswold Point on 7/16
24 pairs, 12 adults, 20 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/16
23 pairs, 28 adults, 2 hatchlings, 2 juveniles, 13 nests at Milford Point on 7/17
1 adult at Long Beach on 7/17
15 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/17
22 adults, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/17
50 adults/juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
30 pairs, 10 adults, 22 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
2 pairs at Hammonasset on 7/18
120 adults, 14 hatchlings, 12 fledglings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/18
7 adults at Long Beach on 7/19

Common Tern
3 adults at Long Beach on 7/16
1 adult at Milford Point on 7/16
12 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/16
6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/17
1 pair at Great Captain's Island on 7/17
7 adults, 2 juveniles at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/18
23 adults, 2 juveniles at Hammonasset on 7/18
50 adults at Menunketesuck Island on 7/18

This concludes update #16 through 7/20/15 as of 5:00 p.m.

AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #15

This is the fifteenth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2015 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from July 6 through 4:00 p.m. on July 13 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

Typical hot summer beach weather has certainly arrived, and we still have young of many ages, from juveniles to fledglings, older chicks and young chicks plus nests, on our beaches. Please keep monitoring as much as you can, especially when it seems as if it will be a busy beach day. We may have thunderstorms once again this week so please keep an eye on the radar before you head out. Thank you to everyone for all their hard work and the constant updates on disturbances and threats to the birds as well. We log them all and every bit of the information you provide is valuable both now and years down the road.

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
5 adults, 3 hatchlings, 5 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6
2 pairs, 3 adults, 3 hatchlings, 3 fledglings, 1 nest at Long Beach on 7/7
4 pairs, 5 adults, 9 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/7
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Ave on 7/8
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 7/8
21 adults/juveniles/fledglings, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/8
14 adults, 1 hatchling, 8 fledglings, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/9
5 adults, 8 juveniles, 1 nest at Long Beach on 7/9
1 pair, 1 adult at Hammonasset on 7/9
1 pair, 3 adults, 1 nest at Sandy Point Island on 7/9
2 pairs, 3 adults, 4 hatchlings, 3 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/9
9 pairs, 9 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/9
1 pair, 8 adults/juveniles, 6 hatchlings at Long Beach on 7/10
1 pair, 3 adults, 3 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/10
23 adults/juveniles, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/11
1 pair, 7 adults, 1 hatchling, 2 fledglings, 1 nest at Long Beach on 7/12
2 pairs, 7 adults, 3 hatchlings, 7 fledglings, 4 juveniles, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 7/12
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 7/13

American Oystercatcher
1 pair, 2 juveniles at Salt Island on 7/5
1 pair, 1 nest at Long Rock off Griswold Island on 7/6
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/7
1 adult at Quinnipeag Rock on 7/7
2 pairs, 4 fledglings at Shore Rock on 7/7
1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/8
6 pairs, 4 adults, 3 fledglings, 1 hatchling at Menunketesuck Island on 7/8
1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/9
9 pairs, 1 adult, 13 fledglings, 1 nest at Sandy Point Island on 7/9
8 adults at Milford Point on 7/9
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/9
1 pair, 2 fledglings at Tuxis Island on 7/9
1 pair at Hammonasset on 7/9
1 pair, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/10
4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/11
1 pair, 1 nest at Lewis Island, Thimbles on 7/10
1 pair at Davis Island, Thimbles on 7/10

Least Tern
24 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6
92 adults, 29 nests, 23 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/8
19 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/8
25 adults at Milford Point on 7/9
3 adults at Long Beach on 7/9
4 adults at Meigs Point on 7/9
8 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/9
3 pairs, 9 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/9
9 adults at Bluff Point on 7/10
40 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/11
2 adults at Sasco Hill Beach on 7/12
50 adults at Griswold Point on 7/12

Common Tern
34 adults, 6 nests, 2 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/8
1 adult at Milford Point on 7/9
2 adults at Long Beach on 7/9
19 adults at Sandy Point Island on 7/9
30 adults at Griswold Point on 7/12

This concludes update #15 through 7/13/15 as of 5:30 p.m.

AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #14

This is the fourteenth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2015 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from June 29 through 4:00 p.m. on July 6 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for extra monitoring, fireworks coverage, or the Pleasure Beach trail creation and clean-up efforts this weekend. We were able to get a lot of tremendous work done and educate so many beachgoers. Please get out if you can this week to check on the young on your beach. We will be looking for counts of chicks, especially those that may have just hatched or birds hopefully still on nests. Watch out for thunderstorms in the next couple of days as well - please be safe and good luck!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
3 pairs, 1 adult, 7 hatchlings, 1 fledgling at Hammonasset on 6/29
1 pair, 4 hatchlings at Cedar Island on 6/29
21 adults, 10 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/29
3 pairs, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 6 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 6/30
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 6/30
13 adults, 3 hatchlings, 16 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
1 pair, 6 adults, 9 fledglings at Long Beach on 6/30
31 adults/juveniles/fledglings, 3 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/1
1 adult, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 7/2
16 adults, 5 hatchlings, 6 fledglings at Milford Point on 7/2
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/2
2 pairs, 4 adults, 2 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 1 nest at Bluff Point on 7/2
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 7/3
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/3
4 pairs, 2 adults, 8 fledglings at Griswold Point on 7/4
12 adults, 7 hatchlings, 3 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/4
26 adults/juveniles/fledglings, 3 hatchlings, 3 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/4
4 pairs, 6 adults/juveniles at Long Beach on 7/4
4 pairs, 2 adults, 2 hatchlings, 9 fledglings, 1 nest at Long Beach on 7/5
1 adult at Menunketesuck Island on 7/5
2 pairs, 2 adults, 5 fledglings at Long Beach on 7/5
1 adult, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 7/6
5 adults, 3 hatchlings, 5 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6

American Oystercatcher
1 pair, 1 nest at Hammonasset on 6/29
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/29
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
5 pairs, 3 fledglings, 1 hatchling at Menunketesuck Island on 6/30
1 adult at Rocks North of Channel Marker on 6/30
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Channel Marker on 6/30
1 pairat Rocks SE of Channel Marker on 6/30
1 pair, 1 fledgling at Democrat Rock on 6/30
1 pair, 2 fledglings at Rock at Mouth of Farm River Gut on 6/30
1 pair, 1 nest at Darrow Rocks on 6/30
5 pairs, 1 hatchling, 3 fledglings at Menunketesuck Island on 6/30
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
4 adults at Long Beach on 6/30
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
2 pairs, 2 adults, 2 hatchlings at Falkner Island on 6/30
2 pairs at Goose Island on 7/1
11 pairs, 3 adults, 4 hatchlings, 7 fledglings, 3 juveniles, 2 nests at Cockenoe Island on 7/1
1 pair, 2 fledglings at East White Rock on 7/1
1 pair at Grassy Island on 7/1
1 pair at Crow Island on 7/1
1 pair at Shea Island on 7/1
1 pair at Long Beach Norwalk on 7/1
1 pair at Sheffield Island on 7/1
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/1
1 pair at Lewis Island, Thimbles on 7/2
1 pair at Governor Island, Thimbles on 7/2
1 adult at Davis Island, Thimbles on 7/2
4 pairs, 3 adults, 3 fledglings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/2
2 pairs, 2 juveniles at Salt Island on 7/2
1 pair, 9 adults on Duck Island on 7/2
1 adult at Bluff Point on 7/2
4 pairs, 4 adults, 3 fledglings, 1 juvenile at Menunketesuck Island on 7/3
1 pair at Ram Island on 7/3
3 adults at Milford Point on 7/3
1 adult at Griswold Point on 7/4
2 pairs, 2 nests at Milford Point on 7/4
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/4
7 pairs, 3 adults, 3 fledglings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/5
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6

Least Tern
1 pair at Hammonasset on 6/29
23 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/29
25 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
111 adults, 76 nests, 11 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 6/30
35 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/30
25 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/1
1 pair, 1 hatchling at Sasco Hill Beach on 7/2
2 pairs, 2 adults, 2 nests at Bluff Point on 7/2
100 adults, 29 nests, 11 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/3
35 adults at Griswold Point on 7/4
54 adults, 19 nests at Milford Point on 7/4
50 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/4
87 adults, 14 nests, 23 hatchlings at Menunketesuck Island on 7/5
24 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/6

Common Tern
1 adult at Cedar Island on 6/29
2,969 adults at Falkner Island on 6/29
2 pairs, 2 nests at Green Island on 6/30
1 pair, 1 nest at Darrow Rocks on 6/30
27 adults, 12 nests at Menunketesuck Island on 6/30
27 adults, 13 nests at Menunketesuck Island on 7/3
22 adults, 10 nests at Menunketesuck Island on 7/5

This concludes update #14 through 7/6/15 as of 5:00 p.m.

Volunteers Needed This Weekend!

We could use your help this weekend in covering events! We are requesting volunteers for specific help at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven for the fireworks display on the evening of Friday, July 3, with a rain date of Sunday, July 5. CT DEEP's Rebecca Foster will be on site to coordinate. We would love to have several volunteers join us. Volunteers should aim to be at the Sandy Point parking lot by 6:30. Volunteer roles would be to educate the public and be an extra set of eyes and ears for the police officer who should be enforcing the closure of Sandy Point to protect the birds. AAfCW staff will also be on hand. The area should be cordoned off as it usually is. The event will begin at 9:15. Even if you can only join us until then that would be a terrific help. Please email ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you can make it.

Please join the Bridgeport WildLife Guards (https://www.facebook.com/BridgeportWildlifeGuards/) and the City of Bridgeport for a Pleasure Beach trail clean-up on Sunday, July 5, from 9am-2pm at Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport! You will be helping to build the first nature trail on Pleasure Beach, allowing thousands of visitors to better enjoy the bountiful wildlife and beautiful plants the unique habitat holds. Many of the species on Pleasure Beach are rare or threatened, including Piping Plovers. Getting to Pleasure Beach is easy with free parking at the water taxi pier, 91 Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport. The water taxi will bring visitors to and from Pleasure Beach, and is also free. Please bring work gloves, sunscreen, a hat, and a water bottle.  For more information or to rsvp, contact Corrie Folsom-O'Keefe (cfolsom-okeefe@audubon.org). Thank you to everyone who can join us at Pleasure Beach for the trail clean-up!

Overall this holiday weekend we could use some extra help monitoring at plover and tern beaches, especially Bluff Point, Milford beaches, Long Beach, Pleasure Beach and Sandy/Morse Points. CT DEEP is particularly interested in chick counts as chick survival during the holiday weekend is problematic given all the beach parties and crowds. Any additional presence on the beach educating people about the birds and getting us information on chick survival would be wonderful.

Thank you so much!