Hello everyone,
The Staff at the Bent would like to open an invitation to all the volunteers from our Centers and Programs to participate in a birding workshop this Thursday morning, 9:30-11:00am. The Zoom info is below. It’s okay to email it, but please don’t post it online.
Birding Your Backyards
Ken Elkins, Community Conservation Manager, and a couple of other Auduboners will be sharing our birding tips and tricks with everyone, including some tips for birding by ear. While we’re all getting comfortable delivering and watching webinars, we’re looking forward to trying a few more interactive elements of the workshops, so I hope people will tune in and give them a try.
Kenneth Elkins is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Birding Your Backyards birding workshop for volunteers
Time: Apr 2, 2020 09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://audubon.zoom.us/j/571825588
Meeting ID: 571 825 588
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Meeting ID: 571 825 588
PIPL
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Birding Your Backyards - Zoom Program, April 2
Monday, March 30, 2020
**Postponement of volunteer shorebird monitoring**
Dear Volunteers,
We hope that you and your families are well and are weathering the COVID 19 precautions.
To comply with Governor Lamont’s Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order, the DEEP Wildlife Division will postpone shorebird monitoring by volunteers through May 1st, 2020. Given all of the uncertainties of the trajectory of the virus, this date may be revised. We will keep you apprised of changes moving forward.
Best regards,
Laura
Laura Saucier
Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife Diversity Program
Wildlife Division-Bureau of Natural Resources
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Laura Saucier
Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife Diversity Program
Wildlife Division-Bureau of Natural Resources
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds: New Volunteer Training 2020
This is the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds' new volunteer training webinar for 2020, recorded on March 14, 2020.
If you are a new volunteer or a previous monitor looking to refresh your training, please watch the entire video. Contact us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com with any questions or to sign up as a monitor, complete your schedule, or see how else you can help waterbird species across Connecticut.
This training session is co-sponsored by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the Connecticut Audubon Society) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division.
If you are a new volunteer or a previous monitor looking to refresh your training, please watch the entire video. Contact us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com with any questions or to sign up as a monitor, complete your schedule, or see how else you can help waterbird species across Connecticut.
This training session is co-sponsored by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the Connecticut Audubon Society) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division.
Training Sessions Completed - Please Provide Schedule/Mailing Addresses
A huge thank you to everyone joining us as a volunteer shorebird monitor in 2020. Here are our next steps for the season...
1) First, if you missed our training sessions last week - especially potential new monitors and volunteers - please watch the new monitor training from March 14 here on YouTube. It is just over 90 minutes and can be a great refresher for previous monitors, too.
2) Please provide us with your physical mailing address so we can provide you with a new identification badge for 2020 and necessary paperwork if you did not already receive it. Please indicate if you have already filled out the paperwork, or can download it via our blog and print instead (once it is online). Please also let us know if you have a lanyard already from previous seasons, and if you only require the paper ID for 2020. We will ask that you submit this paperwork to CT DEEP either via snail mail or electronically if you can scan the documents and email them to laura.saucier@ct.gov. The mailing address to send paperwork back will be: Laura Saucier, PO Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013
3) We have a very high number of monitors this year which is wonderful! It will help to ensure widespread beach coverage. It makes the scheduling process a bit slower, and please continue to send in your desired beaches, dates, AM or PM times, here to this email address at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.
The list of available beaches include:
4) If you are looking to visit Sandy/Morse Points, please provide your vehicle information (make/model) and license plate information, including state, as well as your mailing address above, to receive a necessary parking pass from West Haven. Do not visit until you have this as you will be ticketed.
5) Please note that CT DEEP Wildlife Division has been told that we cannot have volunteers assist in setting up string fencing and signage this year. CT DEEP and AAfCW staff will be handling this slowly but surely as the next few weeks progress. We are sorry to those who had been planning to help, and we will greatly appreciate your patience as this will be a slower than usual process.
When a decision is made pertaining to field training of new volunteers with CT DEEP and AAfCW staff, we will let you know. We will work within the confines of what is permissible as the season progresses. If certain beaches are closed, we will adapt as we go. This is a dynamic societal situation, though we all appreciate the fact spending time outdoors alone with our birds may be a terrific activity for all involved. Thank you again!
1) First, if you missed our training sessions last week - especially potential new monitors and volunteers - please watch the new monitor training from March 14 here on YouTube. It is just over 90 minutes and can be a great refresher for previous monitors, too.
2) Please provide us with your physical mailing address so we can provide you with a new identification badge for 2020 and necessary paperwork if you did not already receive it. Please indicate if you have already filled out the paperwork, or can download it via our blog and print instead (once it is online). Please also let us know if you have a lanyard already from previous seasons, and if you only require the paper ID for 2020. We will ask that you submit this paperwork to CT DEEP either via snail mail or electronically if you can scan the documents and email them to laura.saucier@ct.gov. The mailing address to send paperwork back will be: Laura Saucier, PO Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013
3) We have a very high number of monitors this year which is wonderful! It will help to ensure widespread beach coverage. It makes the scheduling process a bit slower, and please continue to send in your desired beaches, dates, AM or PM times, here to this email address at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.
The list of available beaches include:
- Sherwood Island State Park in Westport
- Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport - accessible via seasonal free Bridgeport water taxi at 1 Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport, or by walking approximately one mile from Long Beach in Stratford
- Long Beach in Stratford
- Russian Beach in Stratford
- Short Beach in Stratford
- Milford Point in Milford
- Silver Sands State Park in Milford
- Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven
- Bluff Park State Park in Groton
- Waterford Town Beach in Waterford
4) If you are looking to visit Sandy/Morse Points, please provide your vehicle information (make/model) and license plate information, including state, as well as your mailing address above, to receive a necessary parking pass from West Haven. Do not visit until you have this as you will be ticketed.
5) Please note that CT DEEP Wildlife Division has been told that we cannot have volunteers assist in setting up string fencing and signage this year. CT DEEP and AAfCW staff will be handling this slowly but surely as the next few weeks progress. We are sorry to those who had been planning to help, and we will greatly appreciate your patience as this will be a slower than usual process.
When a decision is made pertaining to field training of new volunteers with CT DEEP and AAfCW staff, we will let you know. We will work within the confines of what is permissible as the season progresses. If certain beaches are closed, we will adapt as we go. This is a dynamic societal situation, though we all appreciate the fact spending time outdoors alone with our birds may be a terrific activity for all involved. Thank you again!
Friday, March 13, 2020
Tomorrow's Training Stratford - Webinar/Phone Only!
Good afternoon!
In response to the ongoing situation with regard to CORVID-19, we have decided to switch both Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird training sessions on Saturday, March 14th to webinar/phone. Please see the details here in our blog: http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/2020/03/aafcw-march-14-training-change-to.html
There will be no in-person meeting at Stratford Point. It will entirely be on the phone and/or computer. The returning monitor session will be approximately 9:00-10:00am and the new volunteer session will be 10:30am-12:00pm. Please join us for the appropriate session for you.
Thank you!
In response to the ongoing situation with regard to CORVID-19, we have decided to switch both Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird training sessions on Saturday, March 14th to webinar/phone. Please see the details here in our blog: http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/2020/03/aafcw-march-14-training-change-to.html
There will be no in-person meeting at Stratford Point. It will entirely be on the phone and/or computer. The returning monitor session will be approximately 9:00-10:00am and the new volunteer session will be 10:30am-12:00pm. Please join us for the appropriate session for you.
Thank you!
Thursday, March 12, 2020
AAfCW March 14 training CHANGE to ENTIRELY on webinar/phone
Hello volunteers!
In response to the ongoing situation with regard to CORVID-19, we have decided to switch both training sessions on Saturday, March 14th to webinar/phone. There will be no in-person meeting at Stratford Point. It will entirely be on the phone and/or computer. The returning monitor session will be approximately 9:00-10:00am and the new volunteer session will be 10:30am-12:00pm. Please join us for the appropriate session for you.
Here is how to join these sessions:
1) Five to ten minutes before the training begins, click on the following link: https://audubon.zoom.us/j/9508221410. A window will pop up that says Launch Application, click on “open link”.
2) When the application opens, you can select to join by computer audio or by phone. To join by phone, call 1-646-876-9923, then enter 950-822-1410#.
3) At the bottom of the application, you will see the chat symbol. Click on the chat symbol and type your name so that we know who is participating via webinar. You will be muted during the presentation but can ask questions via the chat box which we will be monitoring and at the end of the presentation.
We will be emailing out the required forms to everyone, and if you provide your mailing address, we can have badges mailed to you. We will provide brochures and other educational outreach materials at locations such as Stratford Point and Milford Point in the future.
Expect subsequent emails in the next week regarding scheduling and beach selection, more information on the mailings, forms, and so forth. We will get this all ready in the next couple of weeks while anticipating a formal start to waterbird monitoring on April 1. Thank you!
In response to the ongoing situation with regard to CORVID-19, we have decided to switch both training sessions on Saturday, March 14th to webinar/phone. There will be no in-person meeting at Stratford Point. It will entirely be on the phone and/or computer. The returning monitor session will be approximately 9:00-10:00am and the new volunteer session will be 10:30am-12:00pm. Please join us for the appropriate session for you.
Here is how to join these sessions:
1) Five to ten minutes before the training begins, click on the following link: https://audubon.zoom.us/j/9508221410. A window will pop up that says Launch Application, click on “open link”.
2) When the application opens, you can select to join by computer audio or by phone. To join by phone, call 1-646-876-9923, then enter 950-822-1410#.
3) At the bottom of the application, you will see the chat symbol. Click on the chat symbol and type your name so that we know who is participating via webinar. You will be muted during the presentation but can ask questions via the chat box which we will be monitoring and at the end of the presentation.
We will be emailing out the required forms to everyone, and if you provide your mailing address, we can have badges mailed to you. We will provide brochures and other educational outreach materials at locations such as Stratford Point and Milford Point in the future.
Expect subsequent emails in the next week regarding scheduling and beach selection, more information on the mailings, forms, and so forth. We will get this all ready in the next couple of weeks while anticipating a formal start to waterbird monitoring on April 1. Thank you!
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Online webinar and call-in options for training
Dear volunteers,
We are looking forward to talking with you at the beach-nesting bird volunteer trainings on March 11th and 14th. American Oystercatchers arrived in CT last week, and the first Piping Plover was observed on Monday! We can definitely use your help stewarding these awesome birds this summer. At the same time we recognize and understand that some folks may be nervous about attending an event given growing concerns about COVID-19. For that reason, we will be presenting tomorrow night and on Saturday both in person and via webinar.
If you would prefer to participate from home, here is how to do it:
1) Five to ten minutes before the training begins, click on the following link: https://audubon.zoom.us/j/9508221410. A window will pop up that says Launch Application, click on “open link”.
2) When the application opens, you can select to join by computer audio or by phone. To join by phone, call 1-646-876-9923, then enter 950-822-1410#.
3) At the bottom of the application, you will see the chat symbol. Click on the chat symbol and type your name so that we know who is participating via webinar. You will be muted during the presentation but can ask questions via the chat box which we will be monitoring and at the end of the presentation.
We will be emailing out the required forms to everyone, and if you provide your mailing address, we can have lanyards with badges mailed to you.
Please note, if you are feeling at all under the weather, we would ask that you participate via the webinar.
Thank you!
We are looking forward to talking with you at the beach-nesting bird volunteer trainings on March 11th and 14th. American Oystercatchers arrived in CT last week, and the first Piping Plover was observed on Monday! We can definitely use your help stewarding these awesome birds this summer. At the same time we recognize and understand that some folks may be nervous about attending an event given growing concerns about COVID-19. For that reason, we will be presenting tomorrow night and on Saturday both in person and via webinar.
If you would prefer to participate from home, here is how to do it:
1) Five to ten minutes before the training begins, click on the following link: https://audubon.zoom.us/j/9508221410. A window will pop up that says Launch Application, click on “open link”.
2) When the application opens, you can select to join by computer audio or by phone. To join by phone, call 1-646-876-9923, then enter 950-822-1410#.
3) At the bottom of the application, you will see the chat symbol. Click on the chat symbol and type your name so that we know who is participating via webinar. You will be muted during the presentation but can ask questions via the chat box which we will be monitoring and at the end of the presentation.
We will be emailing out the required forms to everyone, and if you provide your mailing address, we can have lanyards with badges mailed to you.
Please note, if you are feeling at all under the weather, we would ask that you participate via the webinar.
Thank you!
Request for returning volunteers attending training
We would like to ask our returning volunteers who plan to attend the in-person training sessions on March 11 or March 14 to please bring your lanyards with you from monitoring in previous years - thank you!
Also, please see the below seasonal employment opportunities for our program, and feel free to pass them on to anyone who may be interested:
American Oystercatcher Technician/Boat Operator
https://careers-audubon.icims.com/jobs/4374/american-oystercatcher-technician-boat-operator—-seasonal/job
Coastal Waterbird Technician
https://careers-audubon.icims.com/jobs/4375/coastal-waterbird-technician—-seasonal—-ct/job
https://careers-audubon.icims.com/jobs/4374/american-oystercatcher-technician-boat-operator—-seasonal/job
Coastal Waterbird Technician
https://careers-audubon.icims.com/jobs/4375/coastal-waterbird-technician—-seasonal—-ct/job
Thanks again, and we'll see you soon!
Monday, March 2, 2020
Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Monitoring 2020
Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Monitoring 2020
Nearly 100 volunteers helped make 2019 a record-breaking year for shorebird conservation. The Audubon Alliance invites new and returning volunteers to make a big impact in 2020.
The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds and the CT Department of Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division invite you to make a difference for threatened bird species at the beach as an official summer volunteer. Volunteers will help monitor Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers and Least Terns at beaches statewide from early April through August.
Atlantic Coast populations of beach-nesting birds return to the Connecticut coast in March from their wintering grounds, as far as the Caribbean. The cryptic nests of these birds are extremely susceptible to human disturbance, predation, and tidal wash outs. To enhance the survival and productivity of Connecticut’s beach-nesting birds, volunteers work at locations from Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport to Bluff Point in Groton to observe the shorebirds, record and report nesting data, and educate the beach-going public about actions they can take to help these birds raise their young.
Volunteers work from April until the end of the breeding season (usually in August) and must donate a minimum of 4 hours per month. The work can be very rewarding, as volunteers will have the opportunity to positively affect the nesting success of threatened shorebirds across the state. With the help of volunteers, 2019 was a record-breaking year with 98 Piping Plover chicks and 64 American Oystercatchers chicks fledged!
Training and orientation sessions for new and returning volunteers will review the following: biology of the Piping Plover, Least Tern, and American Oystercatcher, how to monitor breeding pairs and chicks, volunteer organization and logistics, and law enforcement information. While there are only a few changes to the process this year, attendance by everyone planning to join us for the 2020 season is important.
Volunteer Training Session Held At: Audubon Connecticut Office at Stratford Point
1207 Prospect Drive, Stratford, CT 06615
Returning Volunteer Monitor Training Session – March 14th 2020, 9:00 – 10:00am
New Volunteer Monitor Training Session – March 14th 2020, 10:30 – 12:00pm
Volunteer Training Session Held At: Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center
90 Halls Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371
(in the shopping plaza)
Returning Volunteer Monitor Training Session – March 11th 2020, 5:30 – 6:30pm
New Volunteer Monitor Training Session – March 11th 2020, 7:00 – 8:30pm
For more information on the training session or for directions, please email the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. Reservations are not required; but an e-mail letting us know you will be attending (please include a training session location and time) is appreciated.
Don’t think you can commit to being a volunteer shorebird monitor? Don’t worry; there are many other ways you can help the birds have a successful season! Visit ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com for a list of all volunteer opportunities. “Every little bit adds up to big benefits for the birds”
This training session is co-sponsored by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the Connecticut Audubon Society) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division.
This training session is co-sponsored by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the Connecticut Audubon Society) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division.
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