Starting 2020 AAfCW Volunteer Monitoring!

Good afternoon all,

Our friends in the CT DEEP Wildlife Division got the go-ahead to engage all of you wonderful shorebird volunteer monitors in the 2020 season. There are some necessary steps to complete first, and some important information to remember! 

1. Above all else, you should protect yourself at all times against COVID-19 through the established precautions of social distancing, wearing a mask when appropriate, etc. We will ask you to only monitor the birds and not necessarily engage the public unless people ask questions or require redirection. All of these interactions should be completed following social distancing and mask protocols that are now standard in Connecticut.

2. We ask that everyone please confirm to this email (ctwaterbirds AT gmail.com) that you are still interested and able to monitor for us this summer. We realize circumstances of many types may have changed in the last few months, and want to ensure you're still going to head out to our beaches.

3. If you will be a 2020 AAfCW monitor, please confirm also so that CT DEEP knows whom it must still mail badges, lanyards and paperwork to - if you already requested it and submitted your mailing information, all we need to know is that you're still a "go" with us for 2020. CT DEEP will then mail this out, so it will not be an instantaneous start up to monitoring.

4. If you already have your badge and lanyard, and have completed paperwork, as one of the smaller number of monitors who did attend the first in-person training, you'll be able to start sooner. However, we must all schedule now knowing that things have changed in all regards. Please let us know your desired schedule as you did in March. If nothing changed, great, simply please confirm this. If it has, submit your new schedule. Once again, this comes with a caveat...

5. We need to confirm that as we start in June we have all beaches available and open. Some locations, such as The Nature Conservancy owned Griswold Point, may not be open to us now. Others, such as Stratford's Long and Short Beaches, are accessible to residents only. Last week we spoke with the Town of Stratford and they should now admit you with a current 2020 badge if you are there to monitor the birds. Otherwise, you will be turned away. This must be done for all beaches. West Haven's list has been submitted, but we have yet to hear back from the City.

Later this week we will email you all again with an update on our nesting waterbirds in Connecticut from CT DEEP and AAfCW field staff along with any updates to this email. 

We will get there, slowly but surely! We're thrilled to have you getting out to the beaches soon, and hope you are, too.

Once again, please email to confirm your interest in 2020 monitoring, your desired schedule, and anything else we need to know.

Thanks for all and we'll speak soon.

Best,

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Manager of Connecticut Programs