Piping Plover Feeding
I photographed this likely female Piping Plover while she was feeding along the surf recently on another chilly day. The nesting season looked as if it was going to start early for us this year, but the April cold snap that followed the warmth of March has delayed everything for two or three weeks, if not more! That makes both their jobs and ours more difficult as a slower beginning means more people will be around more nests and young birds when the “beach season” starts around Memorial Day with a negative impact on their overall success. It also narrows their available nesting...
Read MoreConnecting with Our Forests
While old man winter seemed to have taken a break this past season, we certainly did not as there was much work to be done! As you likely saw, we spent much of this past winter season getting into the field to survey for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae), an invasive insect threatening our local hemlock trees (Tsuga canandensis) and forests. Throughout the course of our field work and educational outreach programs, we not only had the opportunity to spread the word about this pest in attempts to slow the spread of it into our area, but also had the opportunity to learn a lot more about...
Read MoreRusty Blackbird Blitz Continues
Citizen scientists – the 2016 Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz is ongoing across North America! Have you been reporting your sightings? I am the statewide Connecticut coordinator for the Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz, running from March through mid-June across the continent and focused in Connecticut from mid-March through April. This effort to save the one of the fastest declining once-common landbirds in North America needs your help. You can see more about the species in the below two-page informational document about the Rusty Blackbird (PDF downloadable here) and on...
Read MorePiping Plover Activity
The Piping Plover nesting season is now off to a slow start in Connecticut as sub-freezing temperatures and snow, sleet and freezing rain have all been seen recently…with more to come! That puts a pause on our operations and the beginning of the breeding activities of our birds. More often than not they have been seen only foraging or sticking close together in small groups. However, we will still need volunteer help for erecting string fencing and signage around these soon to be nesting areas on the following dates at these locations: Monday, April 11th, 10:00 – Sandy/Morse...
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...
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