Falkner Island volunteers needed ASAP

Wildlife Biologist Kristina Vagos of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service asked us to send out a request for volunteers for Falkner Island this week - either Wednesday (May 2nd) or Thursday (May 3rd) - to finish building their productivity plots and do some other work. She would love to have 2-3 volunteers come out with her and thought our readers and volunteers may be interested.

Here are some details:

• Volunteer must be able to navigate tricky surfaces as much of the island is rocky (very rocky) and be physically able to get onto a boat, walk long distances, and work outdoors doing manual labor - digging, moving things, lifting buckets of gravel.
• Work will happen from 9am until about 3pm.
• Volunteers must bring lunch, water, wear sturdy boots, and be willing to work in an environment where they might encounter poison ivy (more often than not).

This is a great opportunity to see Falkner Island and visit the second oldest lighthouse in Connecticut. She will bring the lighthouse keys so that volunteers can climb to the top. The group will be leaving from Guilford, CT.

Anyone who is interested should contact Kris at (860)399-2513 or by email at Kristina_Vagos@fws.gov by Tuesday (May 1st) at 4pm.


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds Update #7

This is the seventh update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2012 season. It includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher received from 12:00 p.m. on April 23 through 12:00 p.m. on April 30 with sightings of birds spanning April 22 through April 29 by our staff and volunteers.

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
Volunteer and staff surveys:
1 adult at a private beach in East Haven on 4/22
1 pair, 1 adult at Milford Point on 4/24
3 pairs at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/24
4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
4 pairs on Long Beach with one 4-egg nest on 4/25
1 adult on Pleasure Beach on 4/25 (FIRST OF SEASON)
5 pairs at Bluff Point with one 4-egg nest on 4/25
3 pairs, 1 adult at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/25
1 pair, 3 adults and 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
2 pairs, 2 adults at Milford Point on 4/26
6 pairs, 1 adult, 4 nests but 2 washed out at Bluff Point on 4/26
2 pairs, 1 adult, one 3-egg nest at Long Beach on 4/28
1 pair, 1 adult, apparent nest at Milford Point on 4/29
1 adult, one 4-egg nest at Long Beach on 4/29
1 pair, one 4-egg nest at East Broadway Milford on 4/29
3 pairs, 1 adult, one 3-egg nest and three 4-egg nests at Long Beach on 4/29 after one was predated earlier in the week


American Oystercatcher
Volunteer and staff surveys:
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/24
3 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/24
1 pair, 3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/25
1 pair, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/25
2 pairs at Bluff Point on 4/25
1 pair at Bluff Point on 4/25
1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points with two nests noted on 4/26
2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/26
2 pairs at Bluff Point with one 3-egg nest on 4/26
2 pairs, 2 adults at Milford Point with one 3-egg nest on 4/28
2 pairs at Milford Point with one 2-egg nest on 4/29


There have been no reports of Least Tern or Common Tern though this will very likely change by the next update. Please be on the lookout for these two typical species as well as other tern species now! There have been no reports of Black Skimmer in 2012, but they should be spotted in the next week or two. They have been recorded in New York in the last week. Great Egret and Snowy Egret are common in expected areas, and a few dozen consisting primarily of the former species were seen from shore on Charles Island this past weekend. Green Heron were observed in a few locations both inland and along the coast.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover are now becoming irregular sightings across the state. Numbers have been slow to increase thus far, though they should rise rapidly in the next week. Short-billed Dowitcher was reported in Stratford. Spotted Sandpiper and Solitary Sandpiper have been reported uncommonly from a handful of locations but they should also been seen more frequently by the next update. Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin and Sanderling are common and abundant in expected areas, with hundreds being a common sight in staging areas such as the mouth of the Housatonic River and associated marshes.

There should be a tremendous push of birds of all species into Connecticut from Tuesday onward with a warm front entering the region. Great numbers have been “backed up” to the south, and some of the larger accumulations of birds of species present in Connecticut now will move out to the north as these new species enter New England. The forecast beyond Tuesday is highly uncertain and tremendously complex, but the strong chance of occasional showers on many days may mean fallouts of some shorebirds at times as well.

This concludes update #7 through 4/30/12 as of 4:00 p.m


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

American Oystercatchers at Bluff Point

Here are some recent photos of American Oystercatchers at Bluff Point courtesy of Timothy L. Thompson. Our thanks to him once again for providing us with these beautiful shots.

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Stevie Gee

Stevie Gee- He's English, and does art I like. Enjoy it, as I'm doing a last minute mission out of town so posts will be light to non-existent for a couple of weeks

Aging and sexing Piping Plovers

Below is an entry from AAfCW technician Sean Graesser, an expert on molt and appearance:

This Piping Plover female, that we built an exclosure for already, has managed to lay four eggs.  The four eggs were actually already a hint that she was on the younger side. Typically, younger birds lay four eggs in their first or second attempt at breeding.  As the birds get older, they usually lay fewer eggs. This is most likely due to the fact that through experience they have learned that it is difficult to look after that many chicks. The amount of energy expended vs. resulting fledging success does not equal out, so they adjust as they get older and wiser.

Piping Plover have a Northern Hemisphere molting strategy that I will go into more detail in future postings, but we can look at the different feathers and know what type of generations the bird is currently sporting.  When the birds arrive here, they have most recently gone through an alternate plumage molt on their wintering grounds. An alternate molt is what the birds go through to get ready for breeding because this brings them into the breeding plumage. For birds to attract mates, they usually have to have intricate and glamorous patterns to entice the opposite sex. For Piping Plovers this means that they need to molt body plumage in the crown, nape, and breast.

We can examine these features in the photos provided and I will note some things I look at to come to my determination of the age of this female plover. First, let’s take a look at the crown. Females usually show a shorter and less thick forehead band than males. In second-year females, we usually see a short, thin band with a mix of white worn juvenile feathers. Here we see this female has a pretty thick band, but also a few white feathers in it, leading me to believe that she has had PA1 and PA2 (prealternate) molt and came back with a DPA (definitive prealternate) molt, but still has a few feathers left over from one of the other PA molts. When we see her next year, she will have no worn feathers, just a complete black forehead, making her very difficult to tell apart from males until she is lying on a nest.

Next, let’s look at the breast. On younger females the band on the breast doesn’t meet, but has a gap. This female’s band almost meets, but is not quite there yet especially when she moves as you can see there are white feathers making a minute gap.  Now taking all of these criteria together I would age her as a third year bird meaning that she is in her third calendar year. When we use the term calendar year it means when it turns to January 1st the bird goes to the next age class. So a bird born in June we classify as a HY (hatch year) and a soon as January 1st comes its becomes a SY (second year) bird. In conclusion, you need a to look at a multitude of variables to try to sex and age these tricky birds. I will be putting together a more in depth explanation of how to sex and age Piping Plovers in the future.

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Tidal chart

We made a basic tidal chart spreadsheet with the predicted tides from stations relatively near each of our monitoring sites. You can find it right here. Thank you to Timothy Thompson for reminding us about it as he mentioned the upcoming high tides.

If you are looking for a specific tide to complete your monitoring or your International Shorebird Survey it may be of use to you. The top 10% of high tides are highlighted for each station so you can be aware of when tides may come in to play as an obstacle for some of the birds and their nests.

Please remember these are only estimates, and that weather conditions such as wind and rain can change them drastically. They are also not exact to the sites and what you see may be timed slightly differently as well.

We are still looking for volunteers to complete some International Shorebird Surveys, and the time to begin them is right now. If you have signed up but have yet to complete a survey and share it with us or are looking to get involved please do so soon.


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds update #6

This is the sixth update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2012 season. It includes reports of Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher received from 12:00 p.m. on April 16 through 12:00 p.m. on April 23 with sightings of birds spanning April 15 through April 22 by our staff and volunteers. 

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover

Volunteer and staff surveys:

2 pairs, 4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/15

2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/15

3 pairs, 2 adults at Griswold Point on 4/15

3 pairs at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/16

3 pairs at Bluff Point on 4/16

One 1-egg nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/16

4 pairs, 3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/17

3 pairs, 2 adults at Milford Point on 4/17

3 pairs at Long Beach on 4/17

3 pairs at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/17

1 pair at East Broadway Milford on 4/18

1 pair, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/18

4 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/18

7 pairs, one 4-egg nest and one 3-egg nest at Long Beach on 4/19

2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/19

2 or 3 pairs at Milford Point on 4/19

5 pairs at Griswold Point on 4/19

3 adults at Bluff Point on 4/20

4 pairs at Bluff Point on 4/20

1 pair at Walnut Beach Milford on 4/21

4 pairs, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/21

1 pair at East Broadway Milford on 4/21

6 pairs, 1 adult at Long Beach on 4/21

3 pairs at Harkness Memorial State Park on 4/21

8 pairs, two 3-egg nests and one 2-egg nest at Bluff Point State Park on 4/21

American Oystercatcher

Volunteer and staff surveys:

3 pairs at Chimon Island on 4/16

2 pairs, 3 adults at Cockenoe Island on 4/16

2 adults at Calf Pasture Island on 4/16

2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/17

4 pairs at Cockenoe Island on 4/17

1 pair at Long Beach Island on 4/17

1 pair at Shea Island on 4/17

2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/17

1 pair with 1 nest (first for CT in 2012) at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/18

2 pairs, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/19

2 pairs at Milford Point on 4/19

2 pairs at Griswold Point on 4/19

1 pair at Bluff Point on 4/20

1 pair at Pleasure Beach on 4/21

2 pairs at Griswold Point, 1 pair with one individual banded with a yellow “W8” band seen flying west with mate on 4/22

4 pairs at Menunketesuck Island on 4/22

4 pairs at Duck Island on 4/22

There have been no reports of Least Tern or Common Tern though this may change by the next update. A Caspian Tern was noted by a trusted observer at Sandy/Morse Points on April 21. A passive and cautious distant survey of some of the Norwalk Islands yielded (in lower than actual numbers) at least 160 Great Egret, most in two colonies on Cockenoe Island, and about 20 Snowy Egret. At least several dozen of both species are also on Charles Island. Several Black-crowned Night-Heron were spotted on the Norwalk Islands and many more are being seen in and around Charles Island. At least 16 were noted on Duck Island along with numbers of Great Egret on both Duck and Menunketesuck Islands. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron have been reported more frequently from Fairfield through New Haven with many nesting reports.

Little Blue Heron sightings dropped in the last week, though Glossy Ibis were almost common in expected areas, with groups numbering from several to over 20 seen repeatedly. A White-faced Ibis, which may have been in Stratford on 4/18 based on a photograph, was a found in Guilford on 4/19.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover have both been spotted a few more times in Milford and now Stratford. Black-bellied Plover are becoming common along the coastline as Dunlin and Sanderling are increasing. Two Purple Sandpiper were seen around the Norwalk Islands on 4/17. Willet are now common in expected areas in low to moderate numbers. The significant coastal low and heavy rainfall in the early week may lead to more shorebirds having been “downed” by the conditions or rarities and vagrants brought to Connecticut, and all observers should keep an open mind.

This concludes update #6 through 4/23/12 as of 4:00 p.m.

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Foss Waterway

Tacoma, the City of Destiny, was destined to be built on the hills that rise above the western edge of the Puyallup Delta. The Foss probably began as a tidal slough along this edge, fed by the creeks that emerged from the hills to the south and west. In some ways, this is still what it is, albeit straightened, deepened, and devegetated.  The streams enter through storm drains - two very large ones at the head end, in particular -- cascading across rocks at low tide and into the Sound.

It's hard to define what a natural shoreline is along such an artificial body of water, but the current banks are probably higher and steeper than they were before the waterway was dredged and the adjacent land was filled. In recent years, there have been some efforts to soften the edges a little bit - for habitat, for recreation, for aesthetic variety.

Beaches have been built near the mouth of the Foss where wave action is higher -- without waves, beaches become something else.  These include the tightly constrained gravel pocket beach at Thea's Park and the north-facing beach along the Olympic View shoreline to the east.

On the west side of the Foss, where most of the recent redevelopment has occurred, there have been attempts to build narrow benches into the steep bank, often just below the seawall at the edge of the promenade.  These benches become narrow strips of marsh, perched atop walls made from rows of logs and large boulders.  I can't speak to how much biological value these features add, but they certainly appear more diverse and more interesting than the uniformly rocked banks typically found in such situations.

Figuring out how to do this offers some interesting possibilities for enhancing the inside edges of marinas (which for all practical purposes, the southern part of the Foss Waterway is), but some design issues need be worked on.  For example, perching boulders atop the steep slopes looks like a challenge, since in several places they have toppled, leaving a ragged sheet of geotextile.

More pictures at hshipman: Tacoma

Compsand Surfboards

Errands took me south, and that is always a good excuse to visit Jeff Beck and see what he's got cooking. Foam compsand this time, layers of dense foam core vac bagged around EPS to make an insanely light and apparently very lively feeling blank. Jeff's done a couple of wider single bump shapes and says his pretty happy with them. The bonzer is the more traditional wood skin on EPS and is for sale. It's 6'2" x 19 3/4" x 2 1/8". Jeff said it works great, he's surfed it for a while (it looks brand new though- these boards are seriously bulletproof) and now it's going to fund new experiments. $450 which is a good deal. Inquiries or interest can go to Jeff via his site here or via me at info @ foamandfunction.com.

Long Beach/Pleasure Beach fencing

Yet another huge thank you to all of the volunteers who came out to help us erect string fencing on Long Beach in Stratford and Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport Thursday morning and early afternoon. We really needed all the extra help on this mile-long barrier beach, and Larry Flynn taking his boat up the coast to help us haul the equipment was a tremendous addition as well - thanks Larry!

Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation Technician for Connecticut Audubon Society and the coordinator of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds project, and Dr. Twan Leenders, CAS Conservation Biologist, snapped these shots during the widespread work party.

The party gathers

Rebecca Foster, CT DEEP Piping Plover Research Assistant hard at work as always

 Getting instructions before heading out

Another group would fill Larry's boat with equipment and head down to Pleasure Beach

 AAfCW waterbird technician Sean Graesser

AAfCW coordinator Scott Kruitbosch

The march down Long Beach

 We're off in the boat

 Ospreys nest all over the barrier beach on artificial towers and other structures

 Hammering in the hundreds of stakes...

 ...all over the place

Putting plenty of signs up as well

 Looking at the border of Long Beach/Pleasure Beach or Stratford/Bridgeport from the latter

Irene improved the real estate for Piping Plovers and Least Terns

Quite a view

Where the road to Long Beach West was during cottage removal

 We had so many volunteers this year!

Nearing the completion of a successful day

We even found new nests as CT DEEP spotted one with four eggs. A wire exclosure was set up not long after fencing was completed to help protect them from predation. Thanks again to everyone who has assisted us set up fencing this season!


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

USFWS technician opening

The United States Fish & Wildlife Service asked us if we could pass along the following job opening: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/313972200

The position would be for the lead technician on Falkner Island this year, an exciting job to say the least. The open date is today and the vacancy will close on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. The job will start May 21, 2012 and go until the middle or end of August. Please pass it on to anyone whom you know that may be interested. The FWS crew in Westbrook is a fantastic one to work for!


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Stoke (Tomo & Fins & Today)

Mark Thomson, one of the single most surf stoked people I know, charging a couple of nice little peelers with some new camera mount he's apparently got grafted to his fin or embedded in his foot. Brilliant stuff, and I love the trippy fogged out shot. Not only is he up for a surf any time, he's a bit of a wave magnet. On the trip north to the Santa Cruz Sacred Craft we drove unhappily past crappy waist high Rincon and grumbled at each other for the rest of the way, only to see Tomo and Dan the next morning and find out a couple of hours later they'd caught it on a better tide and building swell and had a nice session in chest to head high stuff, Mark catching a screamer in the cove. The fins belong to Chris in Hawaii, who's equally stoked. He's a serious experimenter and has owned an incredible array of sleds- some he keeps, some he moves on to facilitate the next experiment. He's also got this fin quiver to play with and actually manages to rotate through them it seems. I'd be useless with that much choice, but it's great to hear his opinion on what's good- I'm getting enthused on some new fins. Better yet, I managed a surf today after weeks of bad timing, crap waves and ugly winds. It was by no means pretty but I caught a few waves and even managed a turn or two through the bump. It's a weirdly joyous thing, an hour or so sliding around a bit awkwardly in cold water, and I'm a far more contented person. It doesn't take much, one halfway decent bottom turn or a little speed run around a mushy section and you're reminded of why you persist in this folly.

West Haven fencing party

A big thank you to all of the volunteers who came out to help us erect fencing on Morse Point in West Haven this morning and early afternoon. Their help was greatly appreciated and made our work that much faster and easier. We hope to see more volunteers helping us out at Long Beach and Pleasure Beach in Stratford and Bridgeport tomorrow! Check here for more information. Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation Technician for Connecticut Audubon Society and the coordinator of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds project, took these photos during the effort.

 Part of the group getting ready

 A lot of stakes and signs

Tools of the trade - gloves, hammers/mallets, string, tape

 Rebecca Foster, CT DEEP Piping Plover Research Assistant who led the operation

 Audubon Connecticut's IBA Coordinator Corrie Folsom-O'Keefe

 Volunteers hard at work

 Covering both sides of the spit

 Against the city

 A Piping Plover nest was found in this area by Rebecca on Monday

 AAfCW waterbird technician Sean Graesser

 American Oystercatchers - a nest was found near them today, the first for Connecticut in 2012!

 Piping Plover pair - do they have a nest?

 We watched them from afar looking to see if the female was on a nest

 They seemed protective but not overly defensive or vocal

 Rebecca went in for a closer look after our observations and binocular viewing to see if she could find a nest. She is one of the few people authorized to do this stressful but necessary task. Monitors should never enter the string fencing. Even our staff will only observe from afar with binoculars, scopes, and long-zoom camera's like Scott's. There was no nest this time - not yet! Do you see the Piping Plover in front of Rebecca?

 This male Piping Plover seemed very comfortable around people

 He was almost too comfortable, not moving much as beachgoers walked close to him

Showing off that big and bold neck band

Thanks again to everyone for their time and energy today! Please remember that we all (and this includes AAfCW staff) must respect the string fencing and give the Piping Plovers their space, and let CT DEEP and their experts handling the close-up viewings and work. We can use our field equipment and big zoom cameras to get the closer views we all want. This is a critical juncture as nests and eggs are on the way across the state.


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.