Going to the Beach? Watch for Rare Birds and Say Hello to Audubon Alliance Monitors

Piping Plover on a Long Island Sound beach. Photo by Sean Graesser for Connecticut Audubon Society

The rare and vulnerable birds that nest on the Long Island Sound shore are beginning to fledge this week, and volunteers are heading to many local beaches to educate the public about how they can help these threatened species survive.

The volunteers will be protecting nests and newly-hatched birds, especially the tiny, threatened Piping Plover, telling visitors why it’s important that they and their dogs stay clear of the nesting areas and explaining the federal laws designed to protect the birds.

The volunteers are working on a statewide effort by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbird Conservation to protect not only Piping Plovers but Least Terns, Common Terns, American Oystercatchers and other species that nest along the heavily-used beaches and islands of the Sound.

Among other places, beach monitors will be at Bluff Point State Park in Groton; Sandy Point in West Haven; Long Beach/Pleasure Beach in Stratford and Bridgeport; and a cluster of beaches near Connecticut Audubon Society’s Milford Point Coastal Center, including Cedar, Silver Sands State Park, Myrtle, Walnut, Laurel and East Broadway. Read more …