Osprey Chicks Banded at Hammonasset

John Picard describes banding six osprey chicks at Hammonasset:

When Julie Victoria, Wildlife Biologist, CT DEP Wildlife Division, asked who would like to hold the first osprey chick for banding, Ed Localio didn’t hesitate even for a moment. He took two steps forward and held out his hands. And why wouldn’t he. Ed had been looking forward to this moment for months. Nearly every day since March 7, he had been monitoring the four new osprey platforms at Hammonasset Beach State Park and reporting his findings back to the Meigs Point Nature Center. 

9am: 2 osprey sitting on platform #1, one is eating a fish, looks like a flounder

10:15am: 3 osprey are flying around platform #2, not sure what is happening here, maybe a love triangle...?

Despite the ability to easily see adult osprey when they are on the platforms, it is difficult to assess from a distance how many chicks there are until they are old enough to stand up and make their presence known. Most often they stay hunkered down and try to blend in with the nest material to avoid calling attention to themselves.

So, on the morning of July 10 when Julie and Ed, accompanied by Menunkatuck Board member Shannon Scheisser, Menunkatuck Friend and volunteer Cate Nyary and I struck out into the salt marsh with a pocket full of aluminum bands and a ladder we were in eager anticipation of what we would find. The goal was to return with an empty pocket a muddy ladder and memories to last a lifetime.

Platform #1, located on Meigs Point, contained one chick which was nearly large enough to fly. Julie stated that this one could probably fly if it tried to but she wasn’t going to offer this information to the chick. Ed had his hands full with this bird. 

Platform #2, located to the east of the entrance road, midway between the entrance gate and the rotary, held three osprey chicks. All three were much smaller than the chick on Platform #1. However, they all appeared to be in good health and were just as surprised to see us as we were of them. Providing food for three chicks is a demanding task which would explain why there was a freshly caught flounder tucked in the corner of the nest, possibly set aside for a late lunch. There was also an added bonus of a barn swallow nest with four young birds in it, neatly tucked into the supporting members immediately below the platform and just above the predator baffle. The clever swallows had found a place to build a nest that would not only stay dry but is raccoon proof!

Platform #3, located behind the Camp Store, had two more osprey chicks. These two birds were sharing their nest not with a flounder, but with a assortment of braided rope, ribbons, fishing line and deflated balloons. Osprey have a habit of picking up trash to place in their nest and the results can be disastrous as the birds can sometimes become hopelessly entangled. This is yet another reason to remember to dispose of fishing line, kite string, balloons…responsibly. (In the Fall, after the osprey have fledged, we will once again visit the platforms to remove any and all trash that remains in the nest.) 

Platform #4, located near the Meigs Point Nature Center, was installed on June 13, too late for osprey nesting activity for this year. The osprey have been using this platform to perch, preen and eat their fish along with the willets that seem to like taking advantage of the platform as well. We are confident that this platform will be used by the osprey next year. Ed will be sure to keep us updated.

SWEP Grant for King/Robinson School

Nina Levenduski reports:

Menunkatuck Audubon Society has been awarded a $900 grant from the Connecticut chapter of the Society of Women Environmental Professionals (SWEP). The SWEP grant program works to provide community-based groups with funding for local projects that benefit the environment. The SWEP grant, combined with matching grants from The Audubon Shop in Madison and the Menunkatuck Birdathon, will help to support the study of science and the natural world at King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven. The seventh and eighth grade science classroom will be provided with a spotting scope and tripod, 15 pairs of binoculars, and a digital camera compatible with the scope. The students will share their pictures and discoveries with Menunkatuck on the website and blog.

We hope the equipment will help foster a greater appreciation of science, nature and the environment among the students.

The Connecticut Society for Women Environmental Professionals is a national non-profit professional association of individuals involved or interested in environmental law, science, business and policy. Its members are attorneys, consultants, regulators, in-house environmental personnel, and academics. Membership is open to all regardless of gender.

Project Limulus Update

On Sunday night, June 7th, at 11:30 p.m., our team, consisting of myself, Ned Macomb, and my ever-willing-to-help husband, Vaughn Knowles, assembled at the Indian Cove Beaches in Guilford to count and tag spawning horseshoe crabs.  Apparently, love was in the air because we counted 44 horseshoe crabs and tagged 22 before running out of tags.  When we headed home to our beds at 1:15 a.m., wet, sandy, and elated, we agreed that a good time was had by all!

If you are interested in joining our survey team or starting your own at a different beach, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053. 

Project Limulus Training

Cindi Kobak writes:

Project Limulus has come to Guilford! Two Sacred Heart University students joined Menunkatuck volunteers on a Guilford beach at high tide one evening to train us on the proper way to tag a horseshoe crab. In the span of less than an hour, five horseshoe crabs appeared in the surf and were collected for tagging. Two were large, egg-laden females, one of which already had a smaller male clasping her. Volunteers were given tags and data sheets and will be visiting beaches over the summer months to tag and document the presence of these living fossils. For more information on Project Limulus, visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/13692_project_limulus.cfm.

If you are interested in volunteering to tag horseshoe crabs in Guilford this summer, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053 or covelovers2@aol.co

Greetings

Menunkatuck is now using Blogger. Board members will be posting news about recent activities. Other Menunkatuck members and Friends who would like to contribute to the blog should e-mail webmaster@menunkatuck.org.