Good afternoon, all!
As you know, the time surrounding the Fourth of July is one of the busiest beach periods of the year. Our Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Least and Common Terns have nests, hatchlings, and fledged young across Connecticut.
Milford Point and the Coastal Center parking lot will be closed around 10:00am tomorrow, July 2nd, through sunrise on the morning of Friday, July 5th. This annual closure is to help limit what would be otherwise extreme traffic on the property. Staff will be present on the beach throughout the week and for the fireworks display as well as at the center. Volunteers should not visit Milford Point Tuesday through Thursday, and no one other than staff or law enforcement will have access. Stratford beaches are a great place to visit instead.
We always need all the help we can get to monitor our other beaches and speak to beachgoers. Long Beach, Sandy/Morse Points, Bluff Point, and all our other regularly monitored beaches are very important to visit. DEEP is particularly interested in chick counts (the number of chicks you see when monitoring). Chick survival during the holidays 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 presence on the beach educating people about the birds and collecting information on our birds is much appreciated. Thank you all so much! We are having a great year despite all the obstacles, and hopefully it will continue.
Best,
Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
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