AAfCW - Fourth of July/Fireworks Coverage and Milford Point Closed

Fourth of July weekend is one of the busiest beach weekends/weeks of the year. Our Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Least and Common Terns have nests, young chicks, and fledged young across Connecticut. 

Milford Point and the Coastal Center parking lot will be closed around 4:00pm today through Tuesday morning. This is to help limit traffic on the property, and staff will be present for the fireworks display and throughout the weekend on the beach and at the building. Volunteers should not visit Milford Point until next Tuesday and no one will have access. Stratford beaches are a great place to visit instead.

However, we need all the help we can get to monitor our other beaches and speak to beachgoers. Bluff Point, West Beach at Hammonasset State Park, Long Beach, Sandy/Morse Points, and all our other regularly monitored beaches are very important to visit. DEEP is particularly interested in chick counts (# of chicks you see when monitoring). Chick survival during the holiday weekend is problematic given all the beach parties and crowds. 

If you have your monitoring ID and your beach is closed to residents only, you can use the ID to enter if you explain you are there to monitor the shorebirds for CT DEEP. You do not have to schedule extra Fourth of July monitoring in advance. Your additional presence on the beach educating people about the birds and collecting information on chick survival during the busy weekend would be wonderful. Thank you all so much in advance! We are having a good year, and hopefully it will continue.

AAfCW 2022 Field Update #7

This is the seventh field update for the AAfCW in 2022 with data through June 17. We have birds of all four focal species at various points of nesting and young all over Connecticut. Some are re-nesting after losing their nest due to weather, predation, or human disturbance, while others have young that are nearly ready to fledge. We do not have fledgling birds yet, but some are very close. Hatchlings grow up quickly, but until they are capable of sustained flight and can be independent of their parents, they are not yet considered fledged. Don't forget to review aging young birds in this CT DEEP PDF brochure: http://www.scottkruitbosch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DEEP-PloverTern-Aging.pdf

And in the YouTube new monitor training session, too: https://youtu.be/E0putp6rFn4

Please remember that our birds move around a lot. Apart from flying all over their beaches and marshes in search of food or to find a safe spot to rest, the young hatchlings can cover a lot of distance walking and running with their parents, too. Additionally, pairs of birds that have lost a nest may move to a new beach or island, something we have seen multiple times already this season. 

Exclosures are not always taken down immediately after Piping Plover nests hatch. They are not used by the birds after hatching, and only serve as protection for eggs. However, apart from our limited time and resources, it can be dangerous to disturb birds or other nests/young in order to take down exclosures immediately, and some remain until they can be removed safely later in the summer.

Please continue to maintain a safe distance from fenced areas and be mindful of birds alarmed by our presence and/or attempting to move us. Your education efforts help so much, especially for people who may not be watching for tiny birds running around in open areas, or may be approaching fencing, nests, and adults too closely. Thank you as always!

Species	Date	Location	Pairs	Adults	Nests	Hatchlings
AMOY	June 7	Compo Beach	0	1	0	0
AMOY	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	1	1	1	0
AMOY	June 8	Griswold Point	1		0
AMOY	June 8	Long Beach	2	0	0	2
AMOY	June 8	Milford Point	4		4	0
AMOY	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	2	2	1	0
AMOY	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	1	0	0	0
AMOY	June 9	Sandy/Morse Points	1	2	1
AMOY	June 9	Milford Point	3	4	2	0
AMOY	June 10	Milford Point	3
AMOY	June 10	Sandy/Morse Points	0	1	1	0
AMOY	June 10	Bluff Point	1	0	0	0
AMOY	June 11	Milford Point	1
AMOY	June 11	Long Beach	2	1		3
AMOY	June 14	Long Beach	2			2
AMOY	June 14	Milford Point	2	6	2	0
AMOY	June 14	Long Beach	1	1	0	0
AMOY	June 14	Compo Beach	1
AMOY	June 14	Long Beach	3
AMOY	June 15	Milford Point	0	6	0	0
AMOY	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	1	1	1	2
AMOY	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	1	0	0	0
AMOY	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	1	3	0	0
AMOY	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	2	1	1	0
AMOY	June 15	Milford Point		3	1
AMOY	June 16	Milford Point	3	6	1	0
AMOY	June 16	Bluff Point	0	3	0	0
AMOY	June 17	Sandy/Morse Points	2	5	1	0
AMOY	June 17	Griswold Point	1	0	0	0
AMOY	June 17	Bluff Point	2	1
AMOY	June 18	Long Beach	0	1	0	0
COTE	June 7	Compo Beach	0	1	0	0
COTE	June 8	Milford Point	2	5	2	0
COTE	June 9	Milford Point	3	6	2	0
COTE	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	0	2	0	0
COTE	June 15	Milford Point		1	1
COTE	June 16	Milford Point	0	4	0	0
LETE	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	5	100	25	0
LETE	June 8	Milford Point	0	2	0	0
LETE	June 8	Milford Point		5	0	0
LETE	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	0	50	0	0
LETE	June 9	Sandy/Morse Points		65	3
LETE	June 9	Sandy/Morse Points	1	55	5	0
LETE	June 10	Milford Point		5
LETE	June 10	Sandy/Morse Points	4	56		11
LETE	June 10	Griswold Point	0	1	0	0
LETE	June 10	Bluff Point		1	0	0
LETE	June 10	Bluff Point		5
LETE	June 10	Milford Point	3	2	0	0
LETE	June 14	Milford Point	0	2	0	0
LETE	June 14	Bluff Point		1	0
LETE	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points		30
LETE	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points		150
LETE	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	0	75	28	0
LETE	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	9	108	76	0
LETE	June 15	Milford Point		1	1
LETE	June 16	Milford Point	0	4	0	0
LETE	June 16	Bluff Point	0	2	0	0
LETE	June 17	Sandy/Morse Points	2	38		7
LETE	June 17	Bluff Point	1	1
PIPL	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	4	4	3	9
PIPL	June 8	Milford Point	0	9	0	7
PIPL	June 8	Griswold Point		3	2	0
PIPL	June 8	Long Beach	3	1	1	8
PIPL	June 8	Milford Point	5	12	2	12
PIPL	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	12	9	0	5
PIPL	June 8	Sandy/Morse Points	3	15	0	11
PIPL	June 9	Sandy/Morse Points		12	4	3
PIPL	June 9	Milford Point	6	3	2	10
PIPL	June 10	Milford Point		13	8	11
PIPL	June 10	Sandy/Morse Points	1	9	1	5
PIPL	June 10	Hammonassett State Park	1		1	0
PIPL	June 10	Griswold Point	0	2	2	0
PIPL	June 10	Bluff Point	2	5	7	3
PIPL	June 10	Bluff Point	1	1		1
PIPL	June 10	Bluff Point	2	3		4
PIPL	June 11	Milford Point	5			5
PIPL	June 11	Long Beach	2	1	1	2
PIPL	June 12	Bluff Point	0	2		2
PIPL	June 13	Hammonassett State Park	1	2	1	0
PIPL	June 13	Milford Point	4	3	1	10
PIPL	June 14	Long Beach	3	2	0	4
PIPL	June 14	Bluff Point	0	7	2	5
PIPL	June 14	Milford Point	2	6	0	8
PIPL	June 14	Long Beach	0	4	0	5
PIPL	June 14	Hammonassett State Park	1	0	1	0
PIPL	June 14	Long Beach	2	3		2
PIPL	June 15	Milford Point	2	8	1	7
PIPL	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points		21	2	10
PIPL	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	7	15	0	11
PIPL	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	0	25	3	9
PIPL	June 15	Sandy/Morse Points	6	12	2	16
PIPL	June 15	Milford Point		21	3	12
PIPL	June 16	Milford Point	5	6	2	16
PIPL	June 16	Bluff Point	3	2	7	5
PIPL	June 17	Sandy/Morse Points	2	18	1	6
PIPL	June 17	Griswold Point	0	1	0	0
PIPL	June 17	Sandy/Morse Points	2	9	1	3
PIPL	June 17	Bluff Point	2	9		3
PIPL	June 18	Long Beach	0	1	0	4