Slow Piping Plovers
This year has been rather cold – talk about news you did not need to know, huh? Even though temperatures have been much closer to average in recent days there is still not a lot of action on the breeding birds front, with these distant looks at Piping Plovers feeding in the middle of a marsh on a chilly, windy morning yesterday showing they are not nesting yet. Nights with lows near freezing will keep eggs at bay for the moment, but we at the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds continue to be extremely busy putting up fencing and signage, reporting migrants, recording pairs and...
Read MoreGreat Egrets in Ashville
Although Great Egrets are not uncommon in some of the coastal sites we work in, they are pretty rare inland. The Jamestown area usually does not see many of these stately birds, but they show up occasionally suitable wetlands during migration. Yesterday afternoon I ran into former RTPI Facility Manager Miley Miller, who mentioned seeing a Great Egret foraging in a wetland in Ashville. Since that wetland was on my way home I decided to check it out and was happily surprised to see not one but four Great Egrets foraging there! Of course I was not prepared for this encountered and only managed...
Read MoreFencing Dates & Monitoring Begins
String fencing and signage erection dates for Connecticut beaches in spring 2015 are as follows and we need all the volunteers we can get! April 8th, 11:00 Long Beach, Stratford Meet at the far west parking area. April 10th, 11:00 Sandy Point, West Haven Meet in the parking lot. April 13th, 9:30 Griswold Point, Old Lyme We recommend carpooling if possible which can be done at the park and ride commuter lot off exit 70 of Interstate 95 on Neck Road. The nearby businesses also have the only available restrooms. The group will meet up at the end of the private Griswold Point Lane for a 9:30AM...
Read MoreStake Delivery!
The stakes have arrived! Here’s our Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds crew, with Patrick Comins and Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe of Audubon Connecticut, doing some heavy lifting yesterday morning, unloading a delivery of stakes used for string fencing on beaches across Connecticut this spring. We will be needing your help to put them up throughout April, so please stay tuned for fencing and signage dates!
Read MoreSpring Migration Time!
Spring is finally here and new birds are arriving each day. One species that has already returned from their wintering grounds is the Osprey. They rejoin us each March after a very long journey as their winter quarters can be as far away as southern sections of South America. Audubon volunteers from the Menunkatuck Audubon Society have been hard at work for many years to ensure that their homes are sound and waiting for them when they arrive. The return of the Osprey highlights one of the great conservation success stories of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the 1940’s there...
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