Field Trip to Hammonasset

Nina Levenduski led a morning trip to Hammonasset Beach State Park this morning.

Sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, and dunlin were feeding along the beach below the east pavilion. Common and red-throated loons were numerous off-shore with a couple coming within 20 feet of the beach. Off the breakwater were four common goldeneye. Meigs Point gave good looks at a female common eider. Along the moraine trail more loons were sighted and two common mergansers were seen in Clinton Harbor. Four black-bellied plovers were on the rocks off the end of the moraine trail and a harbor seal was bobbing in the water. Back at the Nature Center parking lot was a flock of horned larks.

Bird list:

American Black Duck

Mallard

Common Eider

Common Goldeneye

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-throated Loon

Common Loon

Black-bellied Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Purple Sandpiper

Dunlin

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

American Crow

Horned Lark

Black-capped Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Northern Mockingbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Hammonasset Fall Planting

Twelve volunteers spent the morning of November 6 planting 210 native trees and shrubs at Hammonasset Beach State Park. An Audubon Collaborative Grant supplemented with money from the Friends of Hammonasset Unilever Grant were used to purchase the plants and the mulch that was put around the plants.

Project Limulus Update

Here is the final data for the 2010 horseshoe crab spawning season:

We surveyed 2 beaches in Indian Cove, Guilford, CT. We did the survey a total of 27 times during April, May, June, and July. We counted a total of 151 crabs.

Indian Cove Public Beach:

Single males- 4

Single females-1

Pairs- 30

Female with 2 males- 2

Female with 3 males- 0

Total crabs- 71

Indian Cove Private Beach:

Single males- 13

Single females- 4

Pairs- 19

Female with 2 males- 3

Female with 3 males- 4

Total crabs- 80

We counted the most crabs on the night of May 25th. during the full moon. The peak of the spawning season was May 25th. through May 29th.

Our volunteer group tagged a total of 370 crabs. 130 crabs were tagged in Indian Cove and the rest were tagged at Great Harbor, Jacobs Beach, Grass Island, Tuttles Point,Chaffinch Island, and Chittenden Park.

We reported 26 recaptures ( crabs which have been previously tagged ). One of the most interesting ones was found by Nina Ellison. It was a male which had been tagged in VA in 1999.

Thanks again to all of the Project Limulus volunteers. I will contact everyone in the spring. Now that we have such a dedicated and well-trained team, I'm looking forward to tagging even more crabs next year. I would like to try adding some extra sessions which would be just for tagging crabs at other Guilford beaches.

Project Limulus Update

Another horseshoe crab spawning season has come to an end. You may still see an occasional crab cruising around at the beach, but the crab " love fests " of May and June are now just a memory.

Survey period number five began on June 24th. On a glorious morning full of sun and sea, we were joined by a girl scout troop, and Camden and Justin Blumberg, ages 8 and 6, respectively. They are the youngest members of our team. The kids quickly learned the survey protocol, manning the ropes and recording the data like old pros. We didn't find any crabs during the survey but I had found one earlier, a large female. They all got to hold her and I got to share all of the wonderful things I have learned about horseshoe crabs. Shane Gallimore, a high school student, who was also doing the survey for the first time, got to tag and release her back into the Cove.

No crabs were counted during the June 26th. surveys. However, thanks to a suggestion from Project Limulus team members Stephanie Donaldson and Mary Heffernan, we did take part in an environmentally important event called " Hands Across the Sands". It was an international peaceful gathering to oppose off-shore drilling and support clean energy. Most of the Indian Cove beach-goers joined us in this show of support. Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer for the Guilford Courier, wrote an article for the July 8th, edition. She included a photo by by Stephanie Donaldson. It was just one of many cool things which have happened as a result of my involvement with Project Limulus and Audubon. ( To access the article, go to zip06.com/guilford ).

That night, Lesley Orlowski,Lauren Orlowski, and Tom Kelly took over the 11:30 p.m. survey so I could have a night off. They tagged 4 crabs. Thanks guys!

No crabs were seen during the daytime survey on June 28th. and the 12:30 a.m. survey was cancelled due to the weather, the late hour, and the lack of crabs.

We did the survey two more times, on July 9th. at night and July 11th. in the morning. As we expected, there were no crabs. This officially ended our 2010 survey. I got busy sending data to Mark Beekey at Sacred Heart University. I want to congratulate my taggers; Jim Murtaugh, Lorrie and Terry Shaw, Melanie Tolley, Tom Kelly, Ann Delaney, and Katie Day for promptly returning their data and extra tags. Mark Beekey said we were the first team to have all of our tagging data in and tags accounted for.

In my next blog I will present a breakdown of the data for the year. Thank you so much to all the volunteers for your time and dedication. It has truly been a pleasure working with you and getting to know you.

Baby Willets Rescued

Menunkatuck member John Pfitzner was at the right place at the right time to rescue a pair of baby willets last week. Greg Hanisek chronicled the event:

The baby Willets were about to become a meal if they didn’t get squashed first. But John Pfitzner had other ideas. John was driving on Route 1 near Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison when he saw the small chicks out in the open, exposed and eyed up by some hungry crows. They were trying to cross Route 1, which presented its own perils, but John was able to collect them in a bucket, as shown in his photograph here. He saw their parents land in a field at the former Griswold Airport Property next to Hammo, so he deposited the little ones near the place where the adult birds landed.

Project Limulus Update

Our fourth crab census began on June 10th., during the new moon. No horseshoe crabs were seen during the morning survey. At the 10:00 p.m. survey we counted only one crab. The crabs began to appear after the survey, which is often the case. We were able to tag 8 and we had two recaptures. Recaptures are crabs which have been previously tagged.

On Saturday, June 12th., Project Limulus volunteer, Nina Ellison graciously agreed to be in charge of the morning survey. She and the rest of the very competent team conducted the survey and again found no crabs. That night we only counted one pair, and tagged 4. It seems that we are now past the peak time for spawning.

On Monday, June 14th., the a.m. survey yielded nothing, as usual. The crabs in Indian Cove are definitely creatures of the night! Amy Hopkins took charge of the 1:10 a.m. survey, giving Vaughn and me the night off to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Thank you Amy, Leigh, Katie, and Nina for coming out to count crabs in middle of the night. That is true dedication! They had success, counting 10 crabs, tagging 6, and finding 3 recaptures.

Live Raptors at King/Robinson

Horizon Wings Raptor Rehabilitation and Education visited King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven on June 18. Mary-Beth Kaeser and Jeanne Wadsworth brought an American kestrel, a broad-winged hawk, a peregrine falcon, and a great-horned owl to show the school's students.

American Kestrel

Broad-winged hawk

Peregrine falcon

Great-horned owl

Highlights of the presentation:

Project Limulus

Jim Murtagh's photos of horseshoe crab tagging.

Project Limulus Update

It has been a busy week for the counters and taggers of Indian Cove! We began our third survey session on May 25th. We didn't see any crabs during the day but that night they were everywhere. The water was murky, with zero visibility, but we could feel the crabs with our feet as we walked through the water, surveying the beach. We would then reach into the water to touch the crabs to determine whether they were singles or pairs. We even found females who had two mates. It was like a treasure hunt and everyone was pretty excited. We counted a grand total of 89 crabs! We also tagged 13 crabs, which doesn't seem like very many but we have a rule that we don't disturb any pairs which are buried in the sand. That's an indication that they are busy laying and fertilizing their eggs. We found 4 crabs which had been previously tagged elsewhere. We call these recaptures. It's a very important part of the study to report any recaptures. It gives the researchers information about where the crab has been and about it's condition and longevity. If you find a crab with a tag you should call the phone number on the tag and report the tag i.d. number, the date , and the location where you found it.

On Thursday morning, May 27th, we again found no crabs. On Thursday night I was all set to head out with the group when I received a request from Menunkatuck to join fellow board members, Shannon Schiesser and Jim Murtaugh for a filming of Scott Tucker's cable access program, Expedition New England. My husband, Vaughn, said he would fill in for me at the Cove survey, so I met the others at Circle Beach in Madison at 11:45 p.m. I met Scott, his daughter Daphne, his friend Ron, and Ron's son Jerome. We found plenty of crabs, tagged a few, had fun looking for them, and enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous full moon. I'll let you know when the show is supposed to air. The Indian Cove group did beautifully without me, counting 28 crabs, tagging 16, and recording 1 recapture.

Saturday, May 29th was the final day of the full moon session. Still no crabs during the day. They really do like the nighttime better and who can blame them; a quiet beach, moonlight reflecting on the water, it's pretty romantic! We had a large group on Sat. afternoon, including a number of kids, which was great. We were sad to find a dead female crab but she did make it possible for us to have tagging practice. Everyone who wanted to try tagging a crab was able to do it. All of the kids got a chance to tag and to hold her and I got to tell them all of the "cool stuff" about horseshoe crabs. That night we met at 12:40 a.m. Kudos to all of the volunteers who were able to stay awake until then! We only found 6 crabs during the survey but we tagged 26 afterwards. That's the most we've tagged at the Cove so far. There were 6 recaptures.

Some of our team members are tagging on their own as well. Jim Murtaugh and his daughter, Eryn, Lorrie Shaw,and Sue Coale have tagged over 100 crabs at Trolley Rd. beach. Melanie Tolley has tagged 25 or more at Grass Island and Ann Delaney has tagged as many at Indian Cove.

Our team has grown to over 40 members. It's a wonderful group of dedicated and interesting people. I'm delighted to see how smoothly they can now do the survey and tagging with out me. Maybe I should take a vacation....

Project Limulus Update

Since my last blog post, so much has transpired. Thanks to the article in the Guilford Courier and a most enjoyable and informative presentation about Project Limulus by Professor Mark Beekey of Sacred Heart University, our team now has 34 new members!

We conducted our survey on Guilford's Indian Cove beaches, twice a day on May 11th, May 13th, and May 15th. This survey period coincided with the new moon. We met just before the high tide; during the day and again at night. Although we didn't see any crabs on the first two days, the volunteers were wonderfully enthusiastic, and interested in learning the survey protocol.

On the third day, Saturday, May 15th, we met at 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day at the beach but there were still no crabs to be seen! Then on Saturday night, at about 1:00 a.m., a group of 9 "night owls" gathered on the dark, moonless beach, and there were the crabs! They were serenely doing what nature had programed them to do every spring for over 400 million years. We tagged 7 crabs and counted 16 altogether.

Our next survey session begins on May 25th, during the full moon. We're hoping for good weather and many more close encounters of the "crabby" kind.

Purple Martins at Hammonasset Beach State Park

Menunkatuck's Purple Martin Project at Hammonasset Beach State Park is the subject of John Picard's article in the Spring 2010 Edition of Purple Martin Update, the publication of the Purple Martin Conservation Association. The four-page lead article describes the progress made since the old wooden houses were replaced in 2005.

Well done, John.

Judy Knowles in Guilford Courier

Here's the link to the article about Judy Knowles and Project Limulus.

Project Limulus Update

This was a good week for the Menunkatuck Project Limulus team. Ned, Melanie, Vaughn, and I managed to get out on the beach to do the survey twice. We didn't expect to find any crabs yet because it's still very early in the season, so we were surprised when we spotted a horseshoe crab at the water's edge. We made note of him on our data sheet and then took him further out into the water to release him. ( We would have tagged him also, but we didn't have our tags yet. ) Unfortunately, he didn't seem well because he couldn't unfold his shell, couldn't walk, and he kept tipping over onto his back. Among the other mollusks which were living on his shell, were some good sized blue mussels. We wondered if he was an elderly crab, coming into the beach to die.

On Wednesday, April 28, Melanie, Ned, Vaughn, and I went to a planning meeting for Project Limulus at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. Jennifer Mattei and Mark Beekey ( Sacred Heart professors in charge of the study ) spoke with us about the data they have collected so far and the plan for the study this year. There were 11,000 crabs tagged in 2009, many by volunteers like us!

The best thing that happened for the horseshoe crabs this week was that Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer for the Guilford Courier, wrote a wonderful article about Project Limulus. The timing was perfect to publicize our need for more volunteers and also the upcoming presentation all about horseshoe crabs and Project Limulus. For info. on the May 7th program, please refer to Menunkauck's Home Page. If you would like to read the article from the Guilford Courier, go to www.zip06.com, then select Guilford.

My team members and I are looking forward to the next survey period which will be May 11th through May 15th. We're delighted that we'll have 3 new volunteers joining us at that time. I have also just received several inquiries as a result of the newspaper article. Yay! The more the merrier!

Project Limulus Update

It's Spring again! The time when one's thoughts turn to .... horseshoe crabs! Beginning on April 26th we will again be counting and tagging spawning horseshoe crabs on the Guilford beaches. This is part of an ongoing study being conducted by Sacred Heart University to assess the health and stability of the horseshoe crab population in Long Island Sound.

We are looking for volunteers, also known as citizen scientists, to help with this study. You don't have to make a commitment; it doesn't have to involve a lot of time. It's easy! We'll show you what to do. All ages are welcome. Come have fun with us on the beach and get up close and personal with a living fossil; the horseshoe crab.

If you would like to volunteer or if you have any questions, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053 or e-mail me at judy@menunkatuck.org. For more information about Project Limulus go to www.projectlimulus.org

Helping Connecticut's Bats

Updated.

White-nose Syndrome continues to ravage bat populations. The Hartford Courant reports today:

It's the grim news that wildlife biologists have dreaded all winter: Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection will confirm this morning that population counts of hibernating bats show that they continue to be decimated by the disease known as white-nose syndrome, and that some species might even be threatened with extinction.
"The numbers are devastating for Connecticut bats," said one DEP official. "The onslaught of white-nose just won't stop."

Since White Nose Syndrome was discovered in a New York cave in February 2006, bat populations throughout the northeast and several mid Atlantic states have been devastated with more than one million bats dying from what researchers believe is linked to this fungus.

The fungus found on the bats has been identified as Geomyces destructans and typically appears on the faces and wings of hibernating bats, but is virtually never seen on the bats once they leave the caves. It is not known how the fungus adversely affects the bats or if it truly is the cause of their deaths. Hibernating bats commonly awaken during the winter to hydrate themselves with moisture that condenses on their fur. However, affected bats awaken more frequently which uses up much of their fat reserves.

Consequently, in mid-winter the bats become hungry and awaken to hunt for food. Of course, there are no insects flying in January or February and the bats generally die from starvation or freeze to death.
WNS has affected all five of our cave bat species here in Connecticut. Since these cave bats are long-lived animals (some can live 20 years or more) and their reproductive rate is slow – usually one pup per year, to recover from the more than one million bats that have already succumbed to WNS, will take many years. Until researchers understand the disease better, little can be done to mitigate it.

Researchers are hard at work, however, and you can help. The Connecticut DEP Wildlife Division biologists are interested in the location of summer bat maternity roosts where female bats gather together to give birth and raise their young. By conducting at least two bat surveys, your data can be added to that of other citizen scientists and provide researchers with more information than they could gather on their own. Wildlife Division biologists may want to conduct extended research at selected roost sites. The time that it will take to find the roost exits, count the bats and record your findings should only take a few short hours for the entire process. You do not need to be able to identify which species of bat you are counting.

The bat roost surveys consist of at least two counts of bats leaving the roost for a night's hunting. One count should be done between the last week of May and the third week of June before pups begin to fly. This count will help determine the number of females in the roost. The second count should be done between July 4 and July 31 after most pups begin to fly. This count will help determine the reproductive rate of the roost.

If you want to help researchers with summer bat counts, the complete protocol for the surveys and the survey forms can be found here.

For more information contact licensed bat rehabilitator Linda E. Bowen at linda@cmsincorporated.net or CT DEP Wildlife Division biologist Christina Kocer, christina.kocer@ct.gov.

Updated

The Connecticut DEP reported today on the winter bat hibernacula surveys:

Jenny Dickson, DEP Supervising Wildlife Biologist, said, "White Nose Syndrome continues to have a catastrophic effect on bats. Just three short years ago, one of Connecticut’s largest hibernacula had over 3,300 wintering bats. This year fewer than a dozen remain—all but one showed active signs of WNS. The outlook for their survival is grim.”

The DEP says visits to other winter hibernacula – caves and mines where bats hibernate– revealed similar mortality rates. Another large site showed a 95% decline in bat numbers since a winter count in 2007. The only positive note from the 2010 surveys was that only three of the remaining bats at that site showed visible signs of the fungus....

Dickson said the DEP is asking the public to report any known summer bat colonies by calling (860)675-8130 or via email to Wildlife Technician, Christina Kocer at christina.kocer@ct.gov . As bats continue to return to maternity sites and summer roosts, the agency would like to hear from people about changes in the number of bats they are seeing or even about bat colonies that once existed and do not return to their previous homes. [Emphasis added.]

Image: Little Brown Bat with White-nose Syndrome by Marvin Moriarty/USFWS

Earth Hour 2010

From Earth Hour:

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people, organizations, corporations and governments around the world will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. In the U.S. where we are already feeling the impacts of climate change, Earth Hour sends a clear message that Americans care about this issue and want to turn the lights out on dirty air, dangerous dependency on foreign oil and costly climate change impacts, and make the switch to cleaner air, a strong economic future and a more secure nation. Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America.

Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination and became a global phenomenon. Nearly one billion people turned out for Earth Hour 2009 – involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents.

Last year, 80 million Americans and 318 U.S. cities officially voted for action with their light switch, joining iconic landmarks from around the world that went dark for Earth Hour.

Shorebird Data Needed from 2008

Jennifer Mattei and Mark Beekey, researchers at Sacred Heart University, are studying predation on horseshoe crab eggs at Milford Point and Sandy Point (New Haven Harbor). They set out artificial horseshoe crab nests to test what types of predators will eat them for five days at the end of May and the middle of June 2008. We would like to know what species of shorebirds were observed during May 15th through June 30th, 2008 by experienced birders. If anyone has any lists of shorebird species from that time period that they would like to share, please send the information to:

Jennifer H. Mattei, Ph.D. matteij@sacredheart.edu
Associate Professor,Department of Biology
Sacred Heart University,Fairfield, CT 06825
203-365-7577
www.projectlimulus.org

(Reposted from February Newsletter - Audubon Connecticut)

Bald Eagle Visits King/Robinson

When I visited King/Robinson the other day, Cliff gave me copies of the videos he and Anizya took of a Bald Eagle that visited the school on January 13. The eagle was in a tree about 150 m from Mrs Sullivan's science classroom. As the students watched and recorded, the eagle plucked and ate a gull that it had flown in with.

Hawk with Breakfast

Back in December, early in the morning, we were walking to school and saw a Red-tailed Hawk eating a gull right in front of our school. So Mrs Sullivan said to get the scope and take pictures before it left. Here they are!

Cliff

grade: 8th

Volunteers Needed for the Wood Duck Nest Box Cleaning

The Wildlife Division of the Connecticut DEP will be maintaining wood duck nest boxes during the next several weeks and would appreciate assistance with this project. Generally, the nest boxes are located on frozen water bodies. Assistants work with Division staff and hike through the woodlands to the wetland, walk on the ice to the box, and clean old nesting material from the box. The project needs to be completed in time for the return of the wood ducks and the new nesting season. If you are available during the workweek and would like to offer your assistance with this project, please contact Koert Riley at james.k.riley@ct.gov. or Stephanie at 860-675-8130 (Sessions Woods).

Duck-Eagle Hop

A few Menunkatuck members and friends birded the Connecticut River from Saybrook Point to Haddam on Saturday, January 23. A chilly breeze at Saybrook Point was bearable due to the number of ducks in the river. Close side-by-side looks at Common Loon and Red-throated Loon made the field mark comparison very clear. Long-tailed Ducks were numerous.
Across the river at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, we saw four deer "walking on water" as they attempted to use a sandbar to go from Nott Island to the mainland. When the water got too deep for them, they returned to the island.
Deep River Landing gave us good looks at Common Goldeneye and Great Cormorant. And at Haddam we finally got a look at a Bald Eagle soaring above the Goodspeed Opera House. As it turned in the sky, the sun shone on its white head and tail, and its yellow talons glistened.
The list for the day was:

Mute Swan, Canada Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Downy Woodpecker, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, European Starling, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, fSong Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco

Free Willy 3

This morning, over 100 volunteers spent two chilly hours cutting invasive shrubs and vines from Willards Island at Hammonasset Beach State Park. 
When the work time was complete, volunteers went to the Meigs Point Nature Center for lunch and Christine and Todd Secki showed some of the raptors they rehabilitate at A Place Called Hope.
Thanks to the following local businesses for their supplying the food:

• Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale,  Madison - Clam Chowder
• Friends and Company, Madison - Vegetarian Chili and Fresh-baked Bread
• Grand Pizza, Clinton - Stuffed Italian Breads
• Cohen's Bagel Shop, Madison - Fresh-baked Bagels
• Coffee Break Restaurant, Clinton - Fresh-brewed Coffee
• Savvy Tea, Madison - Fresh-brewed Tea
• Bishop's Orchards, Guilford - Apple Cider
• Madison Chocolates, Madison - Assorted Desserts

Photos by Shannon and Kelley Scheisser.