AAfCW thank you party
Here are some of our guests arriving as we set up earlier this evening at the beautiful Short Beach Park in Stratford, Connecticut to celebrate and thank all of the tremendous volunteers at the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds for their work in helping Audubon Connecticut, CT DEEP, USFWS and RTPI all spring and summer. We had at least 379 volunteers assist us in surveying, monitoring, outreach and education thus far in CT in 2014! It was a great evening with a lot of good friends and stories. Thank you again to all who have helped AAfCW in our first three years and thanks to the Town...
Read MoreGreat success with Connecticut waterbirds
Today I sent out the final 2014 Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) weekly update email to all of our shorebird monitors and volunteers. Waterbird nesting season has come to a close and all of the juvenile and adult birds are on the way south for the year. Despite having a reduced staff the third AAfCW year may be the most successful yet in terms of breeding productivity for critical species like the federally threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), habitat monitoring, conservation efforts, volunteer engagement, outreach and education. Here is a brief rundown of some of...
Read MoreEastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera)
We’re still finding time to monitor the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) with our SUNY interns whenever possible. Right now they are moving around a lot and the weather has not been favorable for our work but here are a few of the 11 that I recorded today.
Read MoreBeach birds and volunteer monitoring
Yesterday I was a part of beach training for the new volunteer monitors of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW). This session, to help those entering the AAfCW program with how to safely monitor and survey Piping Plovers and Least Terns, was conducted by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection with staff from Audubon Connecticut and myself from RTPI on hand. AAfCW and our collective staff act as a bridge to aid the State of Connecticut and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, regulatory agencies for these state and, in the case of the Piping Plover,...
Read More
