2023 String Fencing Dates

The 2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds spring string fencing dates are below, and we would greatly appreciate anyone who can come out to help us! These dates can double as a good time to drop off a liability form, pick up a badge/lanyard, and speak with staff about monitoring.

• Sandy/Morse Points, West Haven - Wednesday, April 12th, 10:00am (rain date Thursday, April 13th, 10:00am)
• Long Beach, Stratford, beaches #0-3 (East) - Monday, April 17th, 10:00am (rain date Tuesday, April 18th, 10:00am)
• Bluff Point State Park, Groton - Wednesday, April 26th, 10:00am (rain date Thursday, April 27th, 10:00am)

Fencing will be placed at Long Beach West/Pleasure Beach and all other locations by staff only. Remember that any and all volunteers are welcome including those who are not monitors. Volunteers should bring: work gloves, water, a snack, appropriate footwear, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats and whatever else you may need to avoid too much sun. These locations can either be quite cool or very warm depending on the day so dress for any weather. 

A pocket knife or multi-tool can be handy and a sledge hammer or mallet can be helpful to bring. Plan for heavy lifting and toting, but be mindful of your safety. Less intensive work needed includes stringing posts and putting up signs. Please RSVP to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you can make it to for any of these dates, and thank you!

2023 Program Documents & More

A continued enormous thanks to all our 2023 AAfCW volunteer shorebird monitors. Here is where we are now and our next steps...

1) Here is a copy of the 2023 monitoring program documents as a PDF. It includes the monitoring packet, liability waiver, and time sheets for CT DEEP. Please review all of the documents. It will help you greatly in monitoring and answer a lot of questions. It also includes an Incident Report form if the need arises, contact information for staff and municipalities, and much more. 

Please sign the liability form with two witness signatures. If you choose to return the form in person at new volunteer field training on April 15th from 10am-12pm at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven then staff can take it directly from you and even provide witness signatures. You can do the same at Milford Point in Milford or the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in Old Lyme when you pick up your badge, lanyard, brochures, and/or t-shirts. You're more than welcome to come by even as a returning volunteer. Otherwise, the forms can be scanned as an image and emailed directly to Laura (Laura.Saucier@ct.gov). 

The time sheet can be returned to Laura and CT DEEP at the end of the season once you are finished with your monitoring for 2023.

2) Badges and lanyards are not at all pick up locations yet. When they are ready, we will let you know. When ready, you can plan to pick up badges, lanyards, and brochures at:

• Milford Point – 1 Milford Point Road, Milford - Tues-Fri, 9a-4p, Sat 10a-3:30p, Sun 12p-4p
• Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center - 100 Lyme St., Old Lyme - Tues-Sat, 8-4pm, but flexible

Or as mentioned...

3) Volunteers can also hand in waiver forms and collect materials (badges, lanyards, t-shirts) at the recommended new volunteer field training on April 15th from 10am-12pm at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven. We will take care of free parking in the lot. Please plan to attend if you are a new volunteer and able to do so. Please RSVP if you will be attending to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. 

You do not have to RSVP and do not have to stay the whole time if you are only dropping off waivers and/or picking up materials. Please attend only if you are intending to be an official 2023 AAfCW monitor. Returning monitors are more than welcome to attend, too, but please bear in mind the instruction is targeted to new monitors.

4) Please continue to send in your desired monitoring schedule of beach, dates, and AM or PM times to this email address at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.

The list of available beaches include (priorities with many birds/visitors in bold):

• Sherwood Island State Park in Westport
• Compo Beach in Westport
• Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport (accessible 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
• Hammonasset in Madison (public beach only)
• Griswold Point in Old Lyme
• Bluff Park State Park in Groton
• Waterford Town Beach in Waterford

5) If you are looking to visit Sandy/Morse Points or Griswold Point, please plan to provide your vehicle information (make/model) and license plate information, including state if other than CT, and your mailing address. Unless you are a resident with a sticker, do not visit West Haven until you receive a parking pass as you will be ticketed if you do not pay for parking. We cannot reimburse tickets. The City of West Haven enforces these parking requirements and will mail you a parking pass they create. This is done on their schedule, and we have already submitted the information. We can and will submit more pass information when we receive it for additional monitors. The Nature Conservancy staff will contact you directly about Griswold Point policies and procedures.

6) Don't forget to check out the data submission form before the season starts so that you know all that you need to collect when in the field.

For everyone who has already completed the above, you're set for now. Formal monitoring will commence on April 1, but you can start whenever you'd like based on your schedule - even late April or May once you are all set and the weather keeps improving. You are certainly more than welcome to visit your beach on your own time before then to get a feel for bird observations and stewardship.

Thanks again and best,

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

New Volunteer Field Training 4/15

If you are a new volunteer monitor for the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, please try to attend new volunteer field training on April 15th from 10-12pm at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven. The beach is located at the end of 1st Ave./Beach St. in West Haven. We will take care of free parking for the lot with the City of West Haven. We will see Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, and more.

Please RSVP to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you will be attending. Returning monitors may attend, too, but please bear in mind the instruction is targeted to new monitors. This is also a great time to pick up a badge, lanyard, drop off waiver forms (documents will be emailed soon once CT DEEP has them ready), and an AAfCW t-shirt.

Please continue scheduling and submitting information, and refer to the YouTube training sessions if needed.

New monitor training: https://youtu.be/qJTW2WsyUYE
Returning monitor training: https://youtu.be/8qd1ObK0Fo4

Thanks so much!

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

AAfCW t-shirts

The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is excited to offer volunteer t-shirts!

We are able to supply all returning monitors with a free t-shirt thanks to a generous donation in recognition of our many dedicated volunteers. New monitors are able to purchase a t-shirt for a discounted price of $10.00. Additional t-shirts are available for purchase at $30.00. 

T-shirts can be picked up and purchased in April at the Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center in Milford, Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in Old Lyme, and during the volunteer field training on April 15 in West Haven. Any proceeds from t-shirt sales will help us cover some of the additional cost of their printing and shipping.

Thank you for supporting the AAfCW and our birds, and we hope you enjoy being able to stand out on the beach during monitoring all the more.

Note: Please be prepared to pay with cash as we are unable to accept credit cards or checks. Exact change will be appreciated. Thanks!

2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds New Monitor Training

Here is a YouTube video of the complete 2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds new monitor training.

If you are a new monitor and could not attend training live this past Saturday, please watch this session in full. Rewatching sessions can help as well. We know this is a lot of information, and you may find your questions answered during the programs.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds Returning Monitor Training

Here is a YouTube video of the complete 2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds returning monitor training.

If you are a returning monitor and could not attend training live this past Wednesday, please watch this session in full. Rewatching sessions can help as well. We know this is a lot of information, and you may find your questions answered during the programs.

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

Volunteer Training Videos & Next Steps

A huge thank you to all our 2023 volunteer shorebird monitors. Here are our next steps...

1) YouTube links...

New monitor training: https://youtu.be/qJTW2WsyUYE
Returning monitor training: https://youtu.be/8qd1ObK0Fo4

If you could not attend your training live on Zoom, please watch your respective session in full. Rewatching training can help as well. We know this is a lot of information, and you may find your questions answered during the programs. If you want to see the results of our 2022 season, it is in Laura's portion of the returning monitor session.

2) In the next couple of weeks, or before your first monitoring session in the spring, plan to pick up badges, lanyards, and brochures at one of these locations:

• Milford Point – 1 Milford Point Road, Milford - Tues-Fri, 9a-4p, Sat 10a-3:30p, Sun 12p-4p
• Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center - 100 Lyme St., Old Lyme - Tues-Sat, 8-4pm, but flexible

They are not ready yet, but we will let you know once they are available. Or...

3) Volunteers can also hand in waiver forms and collect materials at the recommended new volunteer field training on April 15th from 10-12pm at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven. We will take care of free parking in the lot. Please try to attend if you are a new volunteer and able to do so. Please RSVP if you will be attending to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. 

Please attend only if you are intending to be an official 2023 AAfCW monitor. Returning monitors may attend, too, but please bear in mind the instruction is targeted to new monitors. If you cannot pick up a badge/lanyard in person, CT DEEP can arrange to have it mailed to you.

4) Please continue to send in your desired monitoring schedule of beach, dates, and AM or PM times to this email address at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com.

The list of available beaches (priorities with many birds/visitors in bold) include:

• Sherwood Island State Park in Westport
• Compo Beach in Westport
• Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport (accessible 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
• Hammonasset in Madison (limited portions only)
• Griswold Point in Old Lyme
• Bluff Park State Park in Groton
• Waterford Town Beach in Waterford

5) If you are looking to visit Sandy/Morse Points or Griswold Point, please also email ctwaterbirds@gmail.com your vehicle information (make/model) and license plate information, including state if other than CT, and your mailing address. I will be submitting the information to West Haven ASAP so they can produce, print, and mail passes to you. This is a requirement to monitor in West Haven unless you are a resident with a sticker. Please do not visit West Haven until you receive a parking pass (or unless you have a resident sticker) as you may be ticketed if you do not pay for parking. We cannot reimburse tickets.

For everyone who has already completed the above, you're set for now. Formal monitoring will commence on April 1, but you can start whenever you'd like based on your schedule - even late April or May. You are certainly more than welcome to visit your beach on your own time before then to get a feel for bird observations and stewardship.

Thanks again and best,

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

AAfCW - Birds Returned! 2023 Training Sessions

American Oystercatchers have returned across Connecticut, and the first Piping Plovers have been seen in our state this week. This is a reminder to please let us know if you will be joining us as a volunteer monitor for the 2023 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds season by emailing ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. Thank you to all who have signed up already.

• New Volunteer Monitor Training – March 11, 2023 from 10:00-11:30am
• Returning Monitor Training – March 15, 2023 from 7:00–8:00pm

For those who cannot make the dates, the Zoom session will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube so that it can be viewed throughout the season for helpful information.

The AAfCW will be dropping off badges, lanyards, and brochures at Milford Point in Milford and the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in Old Lyme. New volunteer field training on April 15th at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven will be another place where volunteer forms can be dropped off and materials picked up.

You can also let us know what beach/schedule you would like if you already have it set from previous years, or you know what change you'd like to make. Specific dates, days of the week, and AM/PM slots or times all work well.

If you will be monitoring Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven, please provide your vehicle (make, model) and license plate information along with your mailing address so we can submit the information to the City for a free parking pass that will be mailed to you.

Thanks again and best to all,
Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator