High Tide Troubles

This is a phone photo at high tide at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven earlier this summer. You can get a sense of the trouble our birds have when the tide is high on some of our narrow beaches and sand spits as people come up against or enter string fenced areas. Fencing is typically erected as an absolute bare minimum - for example, any lower and the tides would routinely destroy it. 

Unlike other states, Connecticut does not close its beaches for nesting birds. The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division, work hard so that we can share the shore. However, we all have to do our best - especially as conservationists and environmental enthusiasts - to minimize disturbances and negative impacts. This includes giving as much space as possible to our birds, viewing them from afar with binoculars and spotting scopes, photographing outside of the nesting season, and visiting beaches at lower tides.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator