My blogs

About me

Interests	For some years my wife and I have been volunteer Piping Plover and Least Tern monitors for the CT DEP and US Fish & Wildlife. This year (2010) we decided to try to keep a visual record of the Piping Plover (the Least Terns did not nest at the places we monitor this season), beginning with the arrival of the PPs in mid to late March and ending with the departure of the fleglings in August. We monitor the Piping Plovers at Milford Point (especially the spit at Francsis Street, Cedar Beach (adjacent to the spit), Silver Sands State Park, and the beach at East Broadway (usually a stretch along Shell Avenue). That is, we monitor the beach from the Housatonic River to Milford harbor. We've been especially interested in capturing the behavior of the PPs as they courted, mated, nested, incubated, defended territory, ate, hatched chicks, raised and defended chicks, and tended their young. The camera used, a Nikon Coolpix P90, allows for video, but we do not have high definition video. Still, we can distinguish the changes in chick and adult plumages as they age and identify their basic behaviors. Observing and protecting the Piping Plovers is fascinating, rewarding, and amusing, but it can also be frustrating when dealing with hostile people and heartbreaking when dealing with bird destruction and loss. We have also recorded a few images of the birds that share the Piping Plovers' environment.

Interests

For some years my wife and I have been volunteer Piping Plover and Least Tern monitors for the CT DEP and US Fish & Wildlife. This year (2010) we decided to try to keep a visual record of the Piping Plover (the Least Terns did not nest at the places we monitor this season), beginning with the arrival of the PPs in mid to late March and ending with the departure of the fleglings in August. We monitor the Piping Plovers at Milford Point (especially the spit at Francsis Street, Cedar Beach (adjacent to the spit), Silver Sands State Park, and the beach at East Broadway (usually a stretch along Shell Avenue). That is, we monitor the beach from the Housatonic River to Milford harbor. We've been especially interested in capturing the behavior of the PPs as they courted, mated, nested, incubated, defended territory, ate, hatched chicks, raised and defended chicks, and tended their young. The camera used, a Nikon Coolpix P90, allows for video, but we do not have high definition video. Still, we can distinguish the changes in chick and adult plumages as they age and identify their basic behaviors. Observing and protecting the Piping Plovers is fascinating, rewarding, and amusing, but it can also be frustrating when dealing with hostile people and heartbreaking when dealing with bird destruction and loss. We have also recorded a few images of the birds that share the Piping Plovers' environment.