Stratford Point in September
Here is the end of summer at Stratford Point, looking west towards the lighthouse and out into Long Island Sound near sunset. It was a hot, dry and extremely busy season, and a very successful one for some of our waterbirds including the Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher as the former may have neared the all-time record for fledged birds that we set only last year at 116! Our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds undoubtedly did help an all-time record number of Piping Plover pairs attempt to nest in 2015. We will have more information on the results of our spectacularly...
Read More“Warming Oceans Putting Marine Life ‘In a Blender’ “
The title of this article is very well put! But “[a]ccording to a 2013 study, marine species are pushing their range boundaries poleward, away from the Equator, at an average speed of 4.5 miles a year,” which is beyond mind blowing when one considers the history of the Earth and its evolution in hundreds of millions or billions of years. They are moving at the speed of light. The climate has always shifted, but it happens slowly over thousands upon thousands of years instead of decades as it is now due to humans. Even then it often meant extinction for those who had flourished...
Read MoreTrash in Flight
Yes, welcome home indeed! What a sendoff. Where do you think this trash is going to land? Tie those balloons down properly and don’t let them go.
Read MoreCoastal Adventure
The other week I had the opportunity to adventure out to Connecticut and Rhode Island for a week of learning. As you all know, we have a number of projects running in coastal Connecticut monitoring shorebirds and educating the public about the many federally and state listed species that reside there, and we have some wonderful RTPI staff stationed there as well. On my trip I was able to spend some time with Scott Kruitbosch, our Conservation and Outreach Coordinator, looking at several of the sites where projects for shorebirds, migrating raptors and coastal remediation are taking place. It...
Read MoreUSCGC Juniper (WLB 201)
This is the United States Coast Guard Cutter Juniper off Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut on Thursday, August 20 near 14:30. There are often many great sightings from this point sticking out into Long Island Sound, birds to boats, but this 225-foot vessel was a terrific find and good example of the unappreciated work that helps preserve and protect our waters in a multitude of ways. The U.S. Coast Guard says, “USCGC JUNIPER (WLB 201) is the lead ship of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Seagoing Buoy Tenders. She is outfitted with some of the most advanced technological and navigational...
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