Beach Umbrellas

It can be very difficult for our beach nesting birds to find the right beach umbrella to buy for the family. All too often their habitats have been stripped of vegetation for one reason or another, from too much human traffic in sensitive areas to impacts from severe weather or climate change. Beaches are also frequently cleaned by hand and/or machine for our recreation, leaving little besides sand, removing the wrack line and anything else that washes ashore.

I was surveying one of our focal sites with a colleague this summer when we could not find two American Oystercatcher hatchlings. Their parents were around, though we were not very close to them. No birds were interacting with us, which is as it should be. After a few minutes we noticed one hatchling, finally...

That type of cover is very important when it comes to finding a safe spot to hide from predators (including humans, dogs, and cats), and to stay cool on particularly sunny and hot summer days. While we were happy to see this bird, where was the other little one? Look closer! 

In real life, we kept walking down the shoreline, and a couple minutes later we spotted the second hatchling foraging with its sibling and parents. Given the bright conditions in the field, I did not even notice it hunkered down completely in the shade against the driftwood until editing photos that evening. Cover and camouflage made it essentially invisible even with trained staff searching for it, providing a superb demonstration of why habitat quality is so important for our endangered waterbirds.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Manager of Connecticut Programs

Holidays at the Beach

Yesterday was Labor Day, and we have hit the unofficial end of the beach season in Connecticut. Our Piping Plovers have finished nesting, and there are only a handful left in the state that will soon depart. Even during this year's COVID-19 pandemic the shoreline was filled with people for most of the summer. 

Can you spot the Piping Plover sitting on a nest in the first photo? These images are from July 4, 2020 in Milford. That bird actually incubated through the activity, but the nest was lost a day or two later. This is not to assign any blame to anyone specific or groups of people visiting the shore in general, or to assess whether or not this was in line with best practices for public health and safety with people packed together so tightly including many visitors from neighboring states...it is what it is, and discussions like this go far beyond a blog or Facebook post.

The point is this is what the birds have to cope with annually, made all the more difficult in 2020 with fewer staff, less fencing and signage, and more people flocking to the outdoors than ever, often neglecting the environment by trespassing, harassing wildlife, littering, and so forth. This is all part of why our efforts by volunteers and staff are so vital to protecting endangered species and habitats.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Manager of Connecticut Programs

Shorebirds Sharing the Shore

We spread the philosophy of sharing the shore with our shorebirds and terns, but sometimes they have to share that same shore with one another. Connecticut's nesting areas are very small - tiny offshore islands, a slice of tidal marsh, patches of sandy beach and dune surrounded by homes or beachgoers. Even when a pair has some space, there are other individuals or pairs to compete with on that territory. Once that is settled, you realize other species are all around you as well. These neighbors may have kids of their own, and then they wander into your yard and your house...

That Piping Plover parent did not appreciate the two young American Oystercatchers entering its exclosure. After some flapping and some yelling, the little ones were run out of the area and pushed back towards the waterline with mom and dad. It was a cute interaction for us to see from afar, but these squabbles expend yet more energy, similar to when visitors push them off their nests or birders and photographers pursue them on the beach. They can even turn dangerous or deadly at times. It's not an easy world out there, and it's all the more reason we must give them every advantage possible each spring, remembering that even with the best of intentions we are a threat as well.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Manager of Connecticut Programs

Field Season Concludes

Today is September 1, and we are now at the end of the 2020 field season for the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. This has been a complicated season, and I want to thank all of you very much for dealing with the ups and downs of a confusing, ever-changing, and extremely busy year. It was tough on birds and people, with restrictions on an already reduced staff and our volunteer core, but we had a lot of success stories mixed into the difficult days.

To contribute more as we move into the fall, you can always share your eBird checklists containing shorebirds, terns, and waders with us via the share function and ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. If you have young children in your family, perhaps you'd like to have them spend some time learning about our birds and drawing one of our focal species with a message about conservation. We use this art on string fenced areas, as you may have seen, beachgoers are much more receptive to this than traditional signage. Email us if you have a little artist who'd like to submit their work! Also keep up with our blog to see photos, videos, and more information and sightings of our birds all year long. Make sure you like our Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds Facebook page, too: https://www.facebook.com/AudubonAlliance

If you have yet to submit any of your data and information please do so as soon as possible. We thank you all once again for the tremendous and invaluable work you have done all spring and summer long. We will email numbers on focal species nesting totals for the season later in the autumn once they are finalized by CT DEEP.

Be well, stay safe, and we hope you will join us in 2021.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator