AAfCW 2015 Volunteer Update #17

This is the seventeenth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2015 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from July 20 through 4:00 p.m. on July 27 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

It is going to be a hot week with temperatures expected to be in the 90s tomorrow and likely through at least Thursday, with the dew point rising each day. This means it will be dangerous for you and the birds to be out monitoring during the peak heat of the day, so please watch the weather, take the proper precautions and monitor very early or very late if you plan on going out. We feel it is best to skip a monitoring session if the temperature is over 90.

Thank you to everyone who has been picking up bags of trash from our beaches throughout the season. Please keep letting us know how much you collect and remove from your monitoring trips, and tell us about any particularly problematic situations that require additional assistance in terms of cleaning up. As a staff and volunteer group we have removed dozens and dozens of bags of garbage this year from our beaches.

Lastly, as we enter August we still have nests that require our attention, hatchlings, fledglings and juveniles. There will be adults on the move more frequently. We still need your help and monitoring not only for the young birds but to track migratory staging areas, in getting counts of birds on the move, finding banded or flagged individuals that may suddenly appear, and educating beachgoers in a very beach-friendly time of the year. We will look to keep monitoring throughout all of August. Thank you!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/20
2 pairs, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling, 2 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/20
1 adult, 1 fledgling at Pleasure Beach on 7/20
2 pairs, 2 adults, 10 fledglings at Hammonasset on 7/21
3 juveniles at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/21
4 pairs, 1 adult, 6 hatchlings, 3 fledglings, 2 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/21
2 pairs, 1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/21
2 pairs, 6 adults, 4 hatchlings, 16 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/21
2 adults, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling at Long Beach on 7/21
1 pair, 3 adults, 2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 adult, 1 hatchling, 3 juveniles at Long Beach on 7/22
6 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 adult, 3 hatchlings, 4 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
2 adults, 2 hatchlings, 1 fledgling at Long Beach on 7/22
1 adult, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/23
3 adults, 3 hatchlings, 11 juveniles at Milford Point on 7/23
1 adult, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/25
8 adults, 3 fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 adult, 3 fledglings at Bluff Point on 7/25
6 adults, 2 hatchlings, 2 fledglings, 5 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/26
2 juveniles at Bluff Point on 7/26
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/27
1 fledgling at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

American Oystercatcher
1 pair at Long Rock off Griswold Island on 7/20
1 pair at Long Beach on 7/20
9 pairs, 1 adult, 13 juveniles at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Hammonasset on 7/21
1 adult at Tuxis Island on 7/21
1 pair, 1 adult at Griswold Point on 7/21
1 pair, 3 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/21
3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/21
3 adults at Long Beach on 7/21
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Lewis Island, Thimbles on 7/23
2 adults at Thimble Islands on 7/23
1 pair, 5 adults, 1 nest at Milford Point on 7/23
2 pairs, 5 adults, 1 fledgling at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
1 pair, 2 juveniles at Channel Marker on 7/24
1 adult, 1 juvenile at Umbrella Island on 7/24
1 pair, 2 juveniles at Kelsey Island on 7/24
1 pair at Darrow Rocks on 7/24
1 pair at Great Captain's Island on 7/24
1 adult Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 pair at Griswold Point on 7/26
3 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

Least Tern
15 pairs, 30 adults, 6 hatchlings, 3 fledglings, 1 nest at Griswold Point on 7/21
5 pairs, 16 adults, 1 hatchling, 3 nests at Bluff Point on 7/21
1 pair, 11 adults at Bluff Point on 7/21
100 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
26 pairs, 18 adults, 20 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/22
1 adult at Long Beach on 7/22
60 adults at Milford Point on 7/23
9 pairs, 3 adults, 3 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
6 adults at Pleasure Beach on 7/25
40 adults/fledglings at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/25
1 pair, 8 adults, 2 hatchlings at Bluff Point on 7/25
20 adults, 2 fledglings at Griswold Point on 7/26
1 pair, 6 adults, 1 hatchling at Bluff Point on 7/26
50 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/27

Common Tern
5 adults, 7 fledglings at Griswold Island on 7/20
9 adults at Sandy Point Island on 7/21
9 adults, 13 fledglings at Hammonasset on 7/21
40 adults, 10 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/21
2 adults, 1 fledgling at Bluff Point on 7/21
42 adults at Milford Point on 7/23
2 pairs, 1 adult at Sandy/Morse Points on 7/23
5 adults at Kelsey Island on 7/24
1 pair, 1 adult at Great Captain's Island on 7/24
2 adults at Shell Avenue Milford on 7/25
15 adults at Pleasure Beach on 7/25
105 adults, 15 juveniles at Griswold Point on 7/26

This concludes update #17 through 7/27/15 as of 5:00 p.m.

Posted by Unknown

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