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 MoreSanderling
Here we have a Sanderling (Calidris alba), a bird that spends its winter on our sandy beaches before heading to the High Arctic for the nesting season. They are often misidentified as Piping Plovers during migratory periods as both small, white shorebirds (in nonbreeding plumage for the Sanderling anyway) feed along the water like this. A rufous breeding plumage pattern takes over where the gray is, and by May these birds look unique and spectacular. So much change in so little time…and so much flight distance covered before they nest and head back to us later in the summer. If that...
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...
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)...
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