Chicks are here!
Thank you to everybody who took time out of their gloomy Memorial Day Weekend to check on the birds during gaps in the rain! The poor weather kept many of the large beach crowds at bay, and during that time, nests began hatching across the shoreline! Now, there are Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher chicks on several beaches. As these chicks grow over the upcoming weeks and months, our presence on the beach will help ensure that they can grow and fledge successfully.
As temperatures continue to warm, please remember to cancel your monitoring shift if temperatures are above 90°F. This is not only for the birds, but for your safety as well! Remember to wear sunscreen and bring plenty of water when you go out to monitor.
Audubon Alliance Field Staff Spotlight: Johann Heupel
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| Johann with a Diamondback Terrapin hatchling. Photo: Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point Staff |
When did you begin working for the Connecticut Audubon Society?
I began working for the Connecticut Audubon Society in April of 2023, at the start of the shorebird season that year.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
A typical workday involves a morning survey at Milford Point before the heat of the day, between eight and nine in the morning, which continues for several hours. The priority for that first survey is to check all the incubating nests, count all brooding chicks, and speak with as many photographers, birders, and beachgoers as possible about the target species. After that, I continue walking the property to answer people’s questions and strike up conversations about the shorebird work, survey specific areas of the sandbar to check on potential new pairs and take care of any maintenance work that needs to be done. Lately, this has also included maintaining the trail cameras used to monitor American Oystercatcher nests for predation and downloading footage of foxes, coyotes, and other predators on the sandbar. The outreach part of my job has lately included leading weekly bird walks for guests at the Coastal Center, checking in with our Audubon Alliance partners on ongoing procedures and monitoring, and helping educate interns about the conservation work happening at CT Audubon.
What is the coolest or most interesting thing that you’ve observed during this work?
I have been fortunate enough to work in shorebird biology for the past four spring-fall seasons, and every single season I can watch a Piping Plover nest as it hatches. The incubating adults become uncomfortable on their eggs inside the exclosures, seemingly shifting constantly as one of the eggs begins to hatch. Next, you might see tiny legs or a small head pop out from the safety of their parent’s feathers, but every single time I witness it, it is a magical sight to observe them first emerging into the world. Equally cool is when I get to observe young Diamondback terrapins emerge from their nests, running to the water at the size of a quarter.
How did you get here? What would you like to do next?
I grew up in a household where science was constantly talked about, after my Dad started going back to school for Oceanography at UCONN. My mother homeschooled me, taking the opportunity to teach more science than the standard curriculum would, which encouraged me to attend a Marine Science high school. I dove headfirst into history and science, earning a presidential scholarship and going to UCONN to learn about both the ecology of New England and its crucial habitats, as well as the environmental history of our country and the ways to restore some of our crucial habitats. As part of my Marine Science degree, I started with a research lab doing fieldwork in the local Mystic River Estuary, taking underwater photographs of seaweed and seagrass beds alongside sediment samples. After graduating, I briefly worked for the CT DEEP Sturgeon Survey as a field technician, operating the trailered boats up and down the Connecticut River to find and tag endangered sturgeon.
My hope in the next part of my career is to focus more full-time on the education and outreach portion of the shorebird monitoring, going back to school to get a Master’s degree in Environmental Communication, to make an impact on public awareness and opinion on conservation topics.
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| Johann holding an American Oystercatcher (all birds handled with federal permits and training). Photo: Beth Amendola |
Who was the biggest influence that led to your career working with wildlife?
I think the biggest influence on my desire to work with nature in the future was David Attenborough – all of the amazing documentaries that he narrated. The beautiful visuals of far away natural places stuck with me. I would also have to say my parents however, my father went back to school for oceanography when I was a kid, and my mother homeschooled me and took me to the forest, the beach, and the marsh to learn about different birds and plants. Since that age, when I was around seven or eight years old, I knew that eventually I wanted to work with wildlife in some capacity.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I have played stringed instruments for almost twenty years, particularly guitar and mandolin! I love folk music, traditional and modern, and play whenever I can. I also give presentations to the public on the history of sea music, after I used to work at the Mystic Seaport Museum as a performer and interpreter. I love fantasy books and games, such as Lord of the Rings and the Witcher, and love attending Renaissance Faires. When I am not on the beach and doing field work with piping plovers, I love birding and doing nature photography as well!
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| Field staff installing signage at Milford Point. Photo: Stefan Martin |
Volunteer Monitoring Data
Here is a summary of all volunteer-collected data submitted between May 15th and May 29th.
- Number of volunteer reports submitted: 101
- Total volunteer monitoring hours: 161
- Number of beachgoers engaged in conversations about birds/conservation: 157
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| Piping Plover. Photo: William Pully/Audubon Photography Awards |
Piping Plover individual Adult Observations
There were Piping Plover adults observed at Sherwood Island, Long Beach, Milford Point, Silver Sands, Sandy Point, Hammonasset, Griswold Point, Waterford Town Beach, and Bluff Point between May 15th and May 29th, 2026.
Piping Plover nest counts:
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| American Oystercatcher. Photo: Lorraine Minns/Audubon Photography Awards |
American Oystercatcher Data Summary:
American Oystercatcher Individual Adult Observations
American Oystercatcher nest counts:
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| Least Terns. Photo: Robert Blanchard/Audubon Photography Awards |
Least Tern Adult Observations
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| Common Tern. Photo: Robert Cook/Audubon Photography Awards |
Common Tern Adult Observations
There were Common Tern adults observed at Long Beach, Milford Point, Silver Sands, Sandy Point, Griswold Point, and Bluff Point between May 15th and May 29th, 2026.
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Thank you to our volunteers for all that you do to help us protect our nesting shorebirds!
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