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Thursday, June 30, 2022

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.

Saturday, June 18, 2022

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