AAfCW 2018 Volunteer Update #6

This is the sixth regular weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2018 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from June 4 through 7:00pm on June 12 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning the period.

Informational updates:

Piping Plover hatchlings are being found across much of the state with some beaches filled with young birds. Once again we ask that you please monitor as much as you can in this critical time. Also continue to exercise caution around the little ones on the beach and advise any beachgoers the same in a positive, educational and polite way. We want to always be engaging in a productive and kind manner which also gets the best results.

Fireworks events will be happening in a few weeks. If you are interested in helping out in monitoring the birds prior to and potentially during the event in West Haven or Stratford on July 3, or potentially other beaches/nights, please email us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.

There will not be weekly email updates until the beginning of July, but all of your data is being received and read. Please keep all of the information coming in as soon as possible after you monitor and let us know if we can help you. Thank you all for your hard work!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
7 pairs, 1 adult, 2 nests, 8 hatchlings at Milford Point on 6/4
1 pair, 1 nest at Grass Island on 6/4
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 6/5
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/5
4 pairs, 6 adults, 10 nests at Long Beach on 6/5
13 adults, 7 nests, 2 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
2 pairs, 4 adults, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
6 pairs, 3 nests, 8 hatchlings at Milford Point on 6/5
1 pair, 1 nest at Short Beach on 6/5
12 pairs, 11 nests at Long Beach on 6/5
6 pairs, 6 nests, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
3 pairs, 14 adults, 12 nests at Long Beach on 6/5
3 pairs, 3 adults, 4 nests, 4 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 6/5
8 pairs, 4 adults, 8 nests at Long Beach on 6/5
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/6
4 pairs, 7 adults, 2 nests, 14 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 6/6
2 pairs, 15 adults, 12 nests, 3 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/6
19 adults, 7 nests, 2 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/7
7 adults, 5 nests, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
4 pairs, 2 nests, 4 hatchlings at Milford Point on 6/7
20 adults, 11 nests, 5 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/7
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/7
2 pairs, 3 adults, 8 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
2 pairs, 6 adults, 7 nests, 2 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/7
5 pairs, 1 adult, 4 nests, 9 hatchlings at Milford Point on 6/7
1 adult at Short Beach on 6/7
6 pairs, 3 adults, 1 nest, 7 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 6/8
10 adults, 1 nest, 1 hatchling at Long Beach on 6/8
7 adults, 9 nests at Long Beach on 6/8
2 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9
1 pair, 4 hatchlings at Peck Ave. West Haven on 6/9
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/9
2 pairs, 2 adults, 2 nests, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9
2 pairs, 5 adults, 1 nest, 1 hatchling at Milford Point on 6/10
1 adult, 1 nest at Silver Sands State Park on 6/10
16 adults, 8 nests, 2 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/10
3 pairs, 2 adults, 2 nests, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/10
1 pair, 1 nest, 2 hatchlings at East Broadway Milford on 6/11
4 pairs, 7 adults, 6 nests, 4 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/12
1 adult, 1 nest at Silver Sands State Park on 6/12
4 pairs, 5 adults, 5 nests, 7 hatchlings at Long Beach on 6/12

American Oystercatcher
4 pairs at Milford Point on 6/4
1 adult at Grass Island on 6/4
1 pair, 1 nest at East White Top on 6/5
2 pairs, 1 nest at Betts Island on 6/5
1 pair at Long Beach on 6/5
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
1 pair, 1 nest at Long Beach on 6/5
1 pair, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
2 pairs, 1 nest at Long Beach on 6/5
1 pair, 1 adult at Hammonasset on 6/5
1 pair at Short Beach on 6/5
2 pairs at Long Beach on 6/5
3 pairs at Milford Point on 6/5
1 pair at Grassy Island on 6/5
1 pair at Goose Island on 6/5
2 pairs, 2 nests at Tuxis and Gull Rocks on 6/6
2 pairs at Long Beach on 6/6
2 pairs at Bluff Point on 6/6
2 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Great Captain's Island on 6/6
1 pair at Island Beach on 6/6
1 pair at Shell Island on 6/6
1 pair, 1 nest at Calf Island on 6/6
5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
2 pairs, 1 adult at Long Beach on 6/7
1 adult at Long Beach on 6/7
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
1 pair, 1 nest at Ram Island on 6/7
3 pairs, 5 adults, 1 nest at Milford Point on 6/7
2 pairs, 2 nests at Long Beach on 6/7
2 pairs at Bluff Point on 6/8
1 pair, 1 nest at Long Beach on 6/8
14 pairs, 2 nests, 2 hatchlings at Cockenoe Island on 6/8
2 pairs, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9
1 pair, 4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/10
2 pairs at Long Beach on 6/10
1 pair, 1 adult at Milford Point on 6/10
1 adult at Long Beach on 6/12
4 adults at Long Beach on 6/12

Least Tern
16 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
2 pairs at Long Beach on 6/5
8 adults at Long Beach on 6/5
28 adults, 9 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/5
3 pairs at Long Beach on 6/5
4 adults at Bluff Point on 6/6
1 pair, 3 adults, 3 nests at Long Beach on 6/6
6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
2 adults at Milford Point on 6/7
8 adults, 2 nests at Long Beach on 6/7
15 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/7
2 pairs at Long Beach on 6/7
6 adults at Long Beach on 6/8
2 adults at Bluff Point on 6/8
6 adults, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9
15 adults, 3 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9
6 pairs, 10 adults, 6 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/10
2 pairs, 5 adults at Long Beach on 6/12
2 adults at Long Beach on 6/12

Common Tern
1 adult at Salt Island on 6/6
1 adult at Milford Point on 6/7
150 pairs, 150 nests at Cockenoe Island on 6/8
2 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/9

This concludes update #6 through 6/12/18 as of 8:30 p.m.

Black Skimmers at the Beach

We have had a few sightings of small groups of Black Skimmers recently by our staff and volunteers. These uncommon to rare birds are certainly a unique sight to see at the shore.

Once you see them over water and skimming as intended their bill makes a lot more sense. Have you had the pleasure of spotting them before?

WildLife Guards Crew Leader Job Opening

Related to RTPI’s work with Audubon Connecticut in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is our partnership on the Bridgeport WildLife Guards project: http://rtpi.org/education/wildlife-guards/

RTPI is once again teaming up with Audubon Connecticut to run the 2018 WildLife Guards program, which trains, mentors, and employs 16 local high schools students and four crew leaders who monitor nesting birds and engage visitors, families, and friends about two of Connecticut’s most important beaches and their wildlife. The WildLife Guards offer unique activities for children like making their own Piping Plover, coastal ecology walks and trail hikes, seine netting and plant identification. The program features education, conservation and advocacy in action five days a week, reaching thousands of visitors over the summer and making a difference for rare or endangered plants and wildlife while creating the next generation of environmentalists.

If you know a talented, responsible and eager college-aged person who would love to do some education, conservation and outreach this summer please encourage them to apply!

WildLife Guards Crew Leader Positions

Overview:
In 2014, Bridgeport’s Pleasure Beach reopened to the public after nearly 20 years. This barrier beach is a nesting site for the federally threatened Piping Plover and the state threatened Least Tern and hosts four state listed plant species. Sandy Point Important Bird Area in West Haven is also one of the most significant nesting areas in Connecticut for the Piping Plover and Least Tern plus the state threatened American Oystercatcher. It is a popular amongst fisherman and local residents looking for a beautiful walk along the shore. To ensure that these birds have the opportunity to nest successfully and to maintain the barrier beaches, a rare habitat in Connecticut, Audubon Connecticut created the WildLife Guards Program. The program trains, mentors, and employs 16 local high schools students and four crew leaders to monitor nesting birds and engage visitors, families, and friends about the beaches and their wildlife.

Position Summary:
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, in partnership with Audubon Connecticut, the City of Bridgeport, and the City of West Haven, is seeking four qualified individuals to serve as Crew Leaders – two in Bridgeport, two in West Haven. The Crew Leaders would supervise and train the 16 WildLife Guards (high school students) in their daily activities – eight Guards in Bridgeport, and eight Guards in West Haven. The Crew Leaders would receive a week of paid training (Mon. June 25th – Fri. June 29th), and their first week with the WildLife Guards will start on Tues. July 3rd through Sat. July 7th after which they will begin working with the crew regularly Tues. – Sat. from July 10th through Aug. 18th.

The Bridgeport Crew Leaders will work 40 hours each week, and the West Haven Crew Leader will work 30 hours per week – 35 during the training week, and 25 with the Guards during week one. Crew Leaders will be paid $15/hr. Bridgeport hours with the Guards are from 10:30am-4:30pm and West Haven hours with the Guards are from 9:00am-1:00pm with Thursday being 10:00am-4:00pm for all to accommodate offsite field trips. Extra time is built into the Crew Leader’s schedules for planning, additional outreach, logistics, etc.

Essential Functions:
• Mentor, motivate, and inspire youth serving as WildLife Guards.
• Facility team building and help the Guards work through challenging situations.
• Develop and model public outreach programs (Ex. walks, seine netting, touch tank, scavenger hunt, arts and crafts, etc.) to the WildLife Guards. WildLife are expected to take on running these programs after their first week or two.
• Create a schedule of activities (outreach programs, bird monitoring, and habitat restoration work) to be performed weekly by the WildLife Guards.
• Help in developing and teaching lessons to the WildLife Guards. Create and give weekly quizzes.
• Become familiar with program goals and a crew leader’s role in attaining them.
• Track metrics (# people engaged, # materials distributed, # pledges to protect birds signed, # hours spend monitoring birds, etc.)
• Work with the WildLife Guards to update and enhance the program website and Facebook page.
• Bridgeport Crew Leaders will also need to assist the WildLife Guards in planning and implementing three events (Ex. beach clean-up, native vegetation planting, etc.)

Qualifications and Experience:
• Crew Leaders must be responsible, mature, and able to serve as mentors to the WildLife Guards.
• Good communication skills required. Crew leaders should be comfortable interacting with the WildLife Guards, their families, the public, and project partners.
• Must be punctual and respond to emails, text messages, etc. in a timely manner.
• Good planning skills desired. In the event of poor weather, Pleasure Beach may not open on a given day (it is only accessible by water taxi). When this occurs the WildLife Guards will meet at an alternate location. Crew Leaders need check the weather daily, keep the Guards informed, and bring materials stored at Pleasure Beach off the island if it is likely the crew will be working from the alternate location. The West Haven Crew Leader will need to keep their Guards informed and plan to meet at an alternate location during inclement weather as well.
• Fluency in Spanish a plus.
• Knowledge of invasive plant species found in CT is also desirable.
• Crew Leaders are required to successfully complete a day long Basic First Aid/CPR certification course.

How to Apply: Send a cover letter and resume to Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation & Outreach Coordinator, Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, at skruitbosch AT rtpi.org.

Scott Kruitbosch
RTPI Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

AAfCW 2018 Volunteer Update #5

This is the fifth regular weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2018 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from May 28 through 12:00pm on June 4 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning the period.

Informational updates:

We now have our first Piping Plover hatchlings of 2018! This will pick up very rapidly now with many young emerging in the next couple of weeks across all of Connecticut. Please monitor as much as you can in this critical time. There is no more important point of the year as this is when the young birds are the most vulnerable. Please exercise caution around the little ones on the beach and advise any beachgoers the same in a positive, educational and polite way.

While we will not see young terns for a few weeks, we do have some beginning to nest. Please remember that we do not need data such as egg counts or even nest or pair counts on these birds. We would prefer caution and care, staying by the water, and watching them from afar, not flushing them off nests. If they are calling and dive bombing you then you are too close and should move out of the area. If you see groups feeding in the Sound or a marsh, or flying around the beach from afar, counting them off quickly by fives and tens can get you a good estimate. These birds are disturbed and flushed so often by everything from predators to people that it is difficult for them to be successful, so ensuring we do not do that will help them tremendously.

Thank you all for your efforts!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
5 pairs, 4 adults, 6 nests at Bluff Point on 5/28
4 pairs, 4 nests at Mumford Cove on 5/28
1 pair, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 5/28
6 pairs, 1 adult, 5 nests at Bluff Point on 5/28
6 pairs, 5 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/28
9 pairs, 2 adults, 9 nests at Long Beach on 5/29
2 pairs, 2 nests at Griswold Point on 5/29
9 pairs, 5 adults, 10 nests at Long Beach on 5/29
2 pairs, 1 adult, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 5/29
10 pairs, 3 adults, 7 nests at Long Beach on 5/29
1 adult, 1 nest at Waterford Town Beach on 5/30
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 5/30
7 adults, 3 nests at Milford Point on 5/30
1 pair, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 5/30
14 pairs, 13 nests at Long Beach on 5/30
7 adults, 6 nests at Milford Point on 5/30
3 pairs, 8 adults, 8 nests at Long Beach on 5/30
2 pairs, 4 adults, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 5/30
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 5/31
6 pairs, 6 nests at Milford Point on 5/31
20 adults, 12 nests at Long Beach on 5/31
2 pairs, 8 adults, 5 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/31
25 adults, 8 nests at Long Beach on 5/31
1 pair, 1 nest at Peck Ave. West Haven on 6/1
4 pairs, 8 adults, 8 nests at Long Beach on 6/1
2 pairs, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/1
2 adults, 2 nests at Silver Sands State Park on 6/3
2 adults, 1 nest at Silver Sands State Park on 6/3
7 pairs, 6 nests, 4 hatchlings at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/3
5 pairs, 1 adult, 4 nests, 6 hatchlings at Milford Point on 6/3
5 pairs, 5 adults, 10 nests at Long Beach on 6/3
1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 6/3

American Oystercatcher
2 pairs, 1 nest at Bluff Point on 5/28
1 pair at Griswold Point on 5/28
3 adults at Bluff Point on 5/28
2 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/28
1 pair at Long Beach on 5/29
1 pair, 1 nest at Branford Harbor on 5/29
1 pair, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/29
1 pair at Griswold Point on 5/29
1 pair at Green Island on 5/29
1 pair at Farm River on 5/29
1 adult at Kelsey Island on 5/29
1 pair, 4 adults at Darrow Rocks on 5/29
1 pair at Long Beach on 5/29
1 pair, 1 adult, 1 nest at Umbrella Island on 5/29
5 adults, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/29
1 pair at Pleasure Beach on 5/29
1 pair at Quinnipeag Rocks on 5/30
4 pairs, 3 nests at Waterford Town Beach on 5/30
1 pair at Lewis Island on 5/30
1 pair at House Chimney Island on 5/30
1 adult at Governor Island on 5/30
1 pair at East Stooping Bush Island on 5/30
1 pair at Smith Island on 5/30
3 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Milford Point on 5/30
1 pair, 1 nest at Long Beach on 5/30
1 pair, 1 nest at Milford Point on 5/30
2 adults at Long Beach on 5/30
2 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/31
3 pairs, 2 adults, 2 nests at Milford Point on 5/31
2 pairs, 1 nest at Long Beach on 5/31
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 5/31
1 pair, 1 nest at Long Beach on 6/1
1 pair at Long Beach Island on 6/3
2 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 6/3
2 pairs, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/3
2 pairs, 11 adults, 1 nest at Milford Point on 6/3
1 pair at Long Beach on 6/3

Least Tern
24 adults, 9 nests at Bluff Point on 5/28
10 adults, 1 nest at Mumford Cove on 5/28
6 pairs, 8 adults at Bluff Point on 5/28
6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/28
6 adults at Long Beach on 5/29
2 pairs, 3 adults at Long Beach on 5/29
1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/29
6 pairs at Griswold Point on 5/30
1 adult at Milford Point on 5/30
8 pairs, 2 nests at Long Beach on 5/30
12 adults, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/31
2 pairs, 5 adults at Long Beach on 5/31
6 adults at Long Beach on 6/1
10 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 6/3
2 adults at Milford Point on 6/3
14 adults at Long Beach on 6/3

Common Tern
4 adults at Umbrella Island on 5/29
32 pairs, 16 nests at Green Island on 5/29
4 adults at Kelsey Island on 5/29
2 pairs at Darrow Rocks on 5/29
8 adults at Thimble Islands on 5/30
1 adult at Silver Sands State Park on 5/30

This concludes update #5 through 6/4/18 as of 7:30 p.m.

Piping Plover Swim

As promised, here are some photos of this week's bathing Piping Plover "swimming" during bath time and cleaning up after. Way too cute!

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Conservation & Outreach Coordinator

Volunteer help needed!

Volunteer help needed!

June 1 through June 9 is the Piping Plover Census Window in Connecticut.  During this window, we try to check typical non-breeding beaches just in case we have missed a piping plover pair or two!  Volunteers, if you have the ability to walk any of these beaches listed below and email laura.saucier@ct.gov the following information, we would be grateful for the help:

1.       beach name (include town),

2.       date visited,

3.       amount of time spent walking beach looking for piping plovers,

4.       # of piping plovers observed (#adults, #chicks and # of nests),

5.       behavior (foraging, acting territorial, etc.)


You likely will have to ask permission to access some of these areas; DEEP does not have any regular established contact with these sites.  Showing your DEEP piping plover volunteer monitor badge and explaining that you will only be on-site for a short period of time to scout the beach for nesting shorebirds, will usually get you allowance into most sites.

If there are questions, please let me know.

Thanks,

Laura

Below is the list we have compiled over the years of sites that may have potential:

Piping Plover Census Areas (typically non-breeding sites)



·         Sand Island, Greenwich

·         Greenwich Point Park, Greenwich

·         St. Vincent Island (Stamford Land Trust), Stamford

·         Calf Pasture Beach, Norwalk

·         Sasco Hill Beach (Fairfield Country Club), Fairfield

·         Fairfield Town Beach

·         Jennings Beach, Fairfield

·         Penfield Beach, Fairfield

·         Compo Beach State Park, Westport

·         Driftwood Point, Westport

·         Sherwood Island State Park, Westport

·         Seaside Park, Bridgeport

·         St. Mary’s by the Sea, Bridgeport

·         Lordship/Russian Beach, Stratford

·         Stratford Point, Stratford

·         Laurel Beach, Milford

·         Fort Trumbull Beach, Milford

·         Walnut Beach, Milford

·         Silver Sands State Park, Milford

·         Savin Rock, W. Haven

·         Nathan Hale Park Beach, New Haven

·         E. Shore Park, E. Haven

·         Lighthouse Point Park, E. Haven

·         Cosey Beach, E. Haven

·         Kelsey Island, Branford

·         Whalers Point Rd?

·         Guilford Town Beach, Guilford

·         Jacobs Beach, Guilford

·         Grass Island, Guilford

·         Chaffinch Is. Rd., Guilford

·         Madison Town Beach, Madison

·         Clinton Town Beach, Clinton

·         Hammonasset SP swimming beaches, Clinton

·         Grove Beach, Clinton

·         Small Beach, Clinton

·         West Beach, Westbrook

·         Grass Island, Westbrook

·         Salt Island, Westbrook

·         Westbrook private beaches, Westbrook

·         Old Saybrook Town Beach, Old Saybrook

·         Fenwick Point, Old Saybrook

·         Mile Creek Beach, Old Lyme

·         White Sands Beach, Old Lyme

·         Millstone Beach, Waterford

·         Pleasure Beach, Waterford

·         Jordan Cove, Waterford (2 or 3 new spits forming here)

·         Rocky Neck State Park, Niantic

·         Old Black Point Beach, Niantic

·         Attawan Beach, Niantic

·         Niantic Bay Beach, Niantic

·         Eastern Point, New London

·         Pine Island, New London

·         Esker Point, Groton (small; not likely that birds would nest here)

·         Latimer Point Beach, Stonington

·         Mason’s Island Beach, Stonington

·         Ram Island Beach, Stonington