Gull Problems
High on the list of things I simply do not have time for in the spring is spending hours picking apart a gull identification problem. Even if I did then I would likely leave the gulls to the pros! With that said, I took a little time to see this bird last week. This individual was discovered at Long Beach in Stratford, Connecticut by Patrick Comins, Audubon Connecticut’s Director of Bird Conservation. He thought it could be a first cycle Thayer’s Gull upon initial discovery as it stood out among the Herring Gulls for several reasons. However, this was in putrid light and very...
Read MoreAAfCW Weekly Update #1
Below is an update from this past Monday on our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds which you can find each week in the AAfCW blog or via our email list if you are a monitor or volunteer – check out the blog here! http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/ This is the first weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2016 season. Today’s update includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher through 1:00 p.m. on March 28 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff. Informational updates: Monitoring for the 2016 officially...
Read MoreNoble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016
Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016 Please join family, friends, colleagues and students for a celebration of Noble Proctor’s life in the form of a BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 8AM to sunset. Our headquarters for the BioBlitz will be at the pavilion near Willard’s Island. A BioBlitz is a race to find every species of life possible – birds, mammals, plants, insects, and more. We will form teams to search the park and record all the species we can discover. At 1:00 PM, we will come together...
Read MoreAmerican Oystercatcher
The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is one of our focal species in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. Many are now pairing off across Connecticut, finding the right place to start a nest next month. Last year our work helped the species make history! The 2015 population, consisting of 161 individuals that included 52 breeding pairs and 57 non-breeding individuals, was spread out over 31 different sites including barrier beaches and offshore islands. The breeding pairs successfully fledged an astronomical total of 64 chicks resulting in 1.23 (chicks/breeding pair)...
Read MorePiping Plovers Return
They’re backkkkk! The Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) have returned to Connecticut in the past couple of weeks. This individual was resting at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven yesterday. Many of our sandy beaches have them dashing around after insects and aquatic invertebrate food along the water as they begin to claim territories and form pairs. There are more birds yet to arrive this spring, but our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds is well underway seven days a week right now. Please email ctwaterbirds@gmail.com for instructions on how you can become a U.S....
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