2024 String Fencing Dates

The 2024 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds training sessions will be held next week on Zoom for both new (Tuesday, March 26th) and returning (Thursday, March 28th) volunteer monitors. In the meantime, we wanted to provide spring string fencing dates as this fencing, along with signage, is erected to help allow beachgoers to share the shore with our nesting waterbirds. Fencing will be explained in full during new monitor training for those new to the program. 

We would greatly appreciate anyone who can come out to help us put up posts, add string, and install signs. These dates can double as a good time to drop off a CT DEEP liability form, pick up a badge/lanyard, and speak with staff about monitoring.

• Long Beach, Stratford, beaches #0-3 (East) - Tuesday, April 2nd, 10:00am (rain date Thursday, April 4th, 10:00am)
• Sandy/Morse Points, West Haven - Tuesday, April 9th, 10:00am (rain date Wednesday, April 10th, 10:00am)
• Bluff Point State Park, Groton - Thursday, April 11th, 10:00am (rain date Friday, April 12th, 10:00am)

CT DEEP will make the final decision if there is forecasted rain, and we will let you know ASAP if a date is moved to the rain date. Griswold Point's fencing date will be provided soon, too. Fencing has been/will be placed at Milford Point, Silver Sands, 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 regular trained AAfCW 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!

Continuing Preparation & Birds Arriving

Good afternoon, all! 

Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers are returning to Connecticut right now with sightings in the past week at several locations. These birds may be passing through and continuing north, or finding their home - and their partner - here on our beaches. They will be slowly setting up territory over the next few weeks, and more should arrive with warm weather and southerly winds in the next several days. 

Our other two focal species - Least Terns and Common Terns - come back to the state around May 1st. Our field season officially starts on April 1st, running through August 31st, after our training sessions on March 26th and 28th. Please RSVP to ctwaterbirds@gmail.com if you have not already! 

For now, returning monitors can schedule their season of monitoring at their selected beach(es), and anyone interested in visiting Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven can please submit their license plate and vehicle information to be put on the whitelist for the electronic system in the parking lot. Please let me know the date, and/or days of the week you're looking to monitor with at least AM/PM if not specific times. Please also remember tides affect some sites and safe monitoring. 

The AAfCW will be dropping off lanyards, brochures, and tee shirts at various locations across the state. Tee shirts are available while supplies last. They are free for those who do not already have one. If you received a tee shirt last year, a $10 donation is suggested. We will share a list of locations during the training.

Thanks and best,
Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator

AAfCW Monitoring 2024

Good evening!

I wanted to check in with everyone once again to remind you to RSVP for the 2024 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds season. We are happy to say that a few dozen volunteers have already decided to join us again, and others are planning to attend our new volunteer training session. We need as many as possible to help cover our state's nesting beaches from dawn to dusk!

West Haven is planning to have the street and parking area paved and open by early April (depending on weather and freeze dates). If for some reason it is not complete by then, we will be able to park at Morse Park and walk over to the beach again. West Haven will be taking license plates for us to submit to them and then be whitelisted by their electronic plate-scanning system. There will be no passes mailed this year. So, if you will be monitoring Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven, please submit your vehicle and license plate information to me at this email address.

We can also begin scheduling if you are a past volunteer monitor as sites will be the same as previous years with potentially one addition. Please let me know the date, and/or days of the week you're looking to monitor with at least AM/PM if not specific times. Please also remember tides affect some sites and safe monitoring. 

The AAfCW will be dropping off lanyards, brochures, and tee shirts at various locations across the state. Tee shirts are available while supplies last. They are free for those who do not already have one. If you received a tee shirt last year, a $10 donation is suggested. We will share a list of locations during the training. 

Thanks again and best,
Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator 

Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Monitoring 2024

Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Monitoring 2024

The thirteenth season of the incredibly successful Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds invites new and returning volunteers to make a big impact in 2024

The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) and the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division, invite you to make a difference for threatened birds at the beach as an official volunteer monitor. This stewardship effort is focused on Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Least Terns, and Common Terns at beaches statewide from April through August.

Atlantic Coast populations of beach-nesting birds return to the Connecticut coast beginning 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 washouts. To enhance the survival and productivity of Connecticut’s beach-nesting birds, volunteers monitor at locations across the state to observe shorebirds, record and report nesting data, and spread a “share the shore” philosophy encouraging positive actions everyone can take to help these birds successfully raise their young. 

Training and orientation sessions will be held via Zoom webinars for new volunteers on March 26th from 6:30-8:00 pm and returning volunteers on March 28th from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.  During the sessions, volunteers will learn about the 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. Virtual attendance by everyone planning to join us for the 2024 season is important to discuss the birds. For more information on the training sessions, please email the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. 

This training session is co-sponsored by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (Audubon Connecticut, the Connecticut Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy), and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division.

New Year, Past Birds

Happy new year, all!

If we can look back to 2023 for a moment, I'd ask you to please share any eBird checklists that include shorebirds, terns, herons, or egrets with the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com. We have requested this help in previous years, and please keep them coming from 2023.

There is a button on eBird to share in the upper left when viewing checklists, and if you click that, enter ctwaterbirds@gmail.com, then “share checklist”, we'll be all set. This helps us record the staging, foraging, and nesting areas for other species - those that we do not monitor every pair in Connecticut as we do for Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers. 

These checklists should contain your time spent in the field to help track level of effort. Your assistance is greatly appreciated! If you are not an “official” monitor, we still would love your time and data. And if you would like to join us in 2024, you can email ctwaterbirds@gmail.com anytime as well as training will take place in March.

Thanks and best,

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator