It was a great year for Connecticut's shorebirds, according to the Connecticut Audubon Society. WSHU's Sabrina Garone spoke with Joyce Leiz, the group's executive director, about their annual year in review.
WSHU: I want to start by asking about the number of piping plovers at Milford Point. Could you tell us about the threats those birds were facing down there, and how the team was able to help them out?
JL: We manage that beach, which is probably the most intensive in Connecticut. We have two full-time rangers who go out and talk with the public. They secure and fence off the nesting areas. They monitor for predators and human disturbance, as well as dogs off-leash. These birds are vulnerable, they're very tiny, they nest on the sand on the beach — the same beach that the public uses. It's very difficult to see their nests. They're just iconic for shorebird-beaching areas, iconic for the state of Connecticut, and we really hate to see us lose anything.
Milford Point has been the most successful breeding location for piping plovers for the past several years. And this year was just a phenomenal success rate of more than two chicks per pair — 16 pairs and 33 fledglings this year. I will say we had fewer major storms during the breeding season. There were some years where we were just hit again, and again with extreme high tides and major storms. But this year, we had one storm pretty early in the season, and they recovered well from it.
WSHU: And a lot of the state's conservation success stories are related to shorebirds. I know the osprey had a really great year, as well. What does that tell us about the overall health of Long Island Sound and Connecticut's coastal habitats in general?
JL: Well, it tells us that Connecticut is working to remain an environmental leader as we've always been. Ospreys are so great! We have 420 volunteers who do amazing work in monitoring osprey nests. This year, we monitored 726 active nests that had fledged over 1,000 chicks. It was the most successful year in all the years we've been monitoring, and we've been doing this for 10 years. Ospreys are not considered an "at risk" species because their success rate is so great, but they are an indicator of health and the environment.
As you indicated, some of the things that we've been doing lately — Connecticut was a leader in early environmental legislation like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Connecticut Audubon Society has been a major player in major legislation since the early 1900s. But just recent successes on restricting menhaden fish-takes, protecting horseshoe crabs — it's a lot of those legislative actions are really beneficial for our shorebirds involved.
WSHU: There is a lot to celebrate this year, but you guys write that when it comes to the legislation, there's still a lot more work to be done there. Could you tell us more about that?
JL: There is. Connecticut has been taking some actions, but this past year was not as successful as we had hoped. We're really focusing right now on pesticides like neonicotinoids — "neonics" as they're called. They're impacting our pollinators, our bees, butterflies, but also our birds. Anything that impacts our insects will impact our birds. Most birds, songbirds in particular, require insects at some point in their breeding cycle. When a songbird is fledging young, it could need 9,000 caterpillars just to fledge. Anything that's preventing insects from being successful in our state, or in the nation is a problem. So we're going to continue to work on "neonic" legislation with our partners at the Coalition of Pesticide Reform. And we'll be focusing on rodenticides, which have been impacting our raptors.
WSHU: I'm glad you brought up songbirds. I know shorebirds got a lot of attention this year, but is there anything to celebrate when it comes to birds in more forested parts of the state?
JL: We have been doing a lot of habitat restoration this year. It's very important for songbirds that they have some key things during migration. They migrate at night, and as soon as day breaks, they're looking for a water source, shelter, and food. So habitats that provide those are very popular! Our Birdcraft Sanctuary is one of the most popular locations during migratory seasons because songbirds and warblers, in particular, flock there! We love seeing those colorful birds come through, and they're really important for the success of Connecticut's plants.
WSHU: How concerning are these ongoing brush fires for those birds, or have most of them gone south at this point?
JL: There are still some that are migrating through, so brush fires are still of concern and of course, poor air quality. That doesn't only effect us, it effects birds. We are working with DEEP to monitor different locations. We've installed PurpleAir monitors at all of our nature centers across the state. The wildfire smoke definitely impacts their ability to breathe and travel long distances.
WSHU: Looking to 2025, what are some species of concern that the Audubon Society will turn their attention to, or birds that you think the general public should have a little bit more awareness of?
JL: We're going to continue to work on shorebirds. American oystercatchers had a difficult year. They were not successful at breeding at Milford Point, primarily due to predator interaction. There were a lot of foxes out there this year. We're gonna be looking at our least tern colonies, which are very susceptible to human or dog disturbances, and they will move on very quickly. We were not successful for the past couple of years with least tern breeding at Milford Point, and on some other beaches in Connecticut. So those are some shorebirds that are of concern.
And then we have our purple martins, which are now protected, but they really rely on human intervention. These are cavity dwellers that are out-competed by non-native species, and really require some help in order to be successful. We were so happy to have worked with 148 different colonies, and have fledged almost 500 chicks of the purple martin species. And then there's our warblers and our songbirds — so what we're doing is really making sure that the properties that we own and manage have all the habitats that are needed, and are working on a landscape scale with our neighbors to ensure that across Connecticut, we have pathways for all of these birds to rely on.
For more on shorebirds across the Sound on Long Island, check out the WSHU podcast Higher Ground.
