Plover with chicks. Photo: Kimberley Caruso/Audubon Photography Awards
Plover with chicks. Photo: Kimberley Caruso/Audubon Photography Awards
On the wing!
For threatened and endangered species, each chick is a huge success and a sign that our efforts are worth it! During the 2022 season, our coastal field staff oversaw monitoring at 10 major sites on the north and south shores of Long Island.
Of these sites, four were active during the 2022 nesting season, with a total of four hornbill pairs. Among these, we recorded 15 chicks and 10 chicks, resulting in an average productivity of 2.5 chicks per pair, higher than their productivity recovery target of 1.5. One of the couples even wanted all four chicks from their brood!
In addition to the terns, our field staff also tracked four pairs of American oystercatchers and 50 pairs of terns.
Be a good egg
Our Be a Good Egg volunteers and staff worked hard to raise awareness of what hikers can do to protect nesting shorebirds. Photo: Christopher Collins/Audubon
Thanks to dedicated volunteers, associate educators, and shoreside and seasonal staff, we had one of the most productive and far-reaching outreach efforts this year! Our Be a Good Egg (BGE) program educates beachgoers about the importance of “shore-sharing” with Long Island’s beach-nesting birds, encouraging them to commit to avoiding behaviors that may harm or disturb the birds
With the help of our East End Group partners, 26 BGE events were held on Long Island last summer, resulting in over 3,300 pledges signed this season! Between these outreach events and other volunteer opportunities, such as building a tern shelter and cleaning beaches, we recruited 260 volunteers this summer. In addition to our volunteers, we also hired 2 Early Career Outreach Fellows to participate in our BGE outreach and learn more about the field of conservation.
In the Schools and the Beach
Drexel Elementary School students display their signs at a press event at Sunken Meadow State Park this May. Photo: Luke Franke/Audubon
Thanks to educators at Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center, we engaged 660 Long Island students from various school districts in lessons about beach-nesting birds and their conservation needs.
For some school districts, part of this program was a sign contest, where 225 students had the opportunity to design signs to educate swimmers about shorebird nesting sites. Of the incredible 225 entries, 45 were chosen and printed on signs that were installed at nesting sites in the City of Oyster Bay, the City of Brookhaven and Sunken Meadow State Park.
Discourage disturbance of shorebirds
This colorful sign can now be found at several Long Island beaches, reminding beachgoers to keep their dogs off the beaches where they are not allowed. Photo: Shelby Casas/Audubon
Audubon New York continued its work with Virginia Tech University to increase understanding of how humans, animals, and other disturbances affect shorebirds and what we can do to mitigate it. Our focus for the 2022 nesting season is to use this information to determine how to reduce disturbance from dog walkers and to educate all hikers about the importance of giving space to nesting birds.
Coastal Program Associate Shelby Casas was able to share this information even more extensively in an interview with News12 Long Island, which you can watch here!
One of the big successes was the creation and installation of new dog signs, done in collaboration with the National Audubon Society art team and local partners. The purpose of these signs is to reduce dog disturbance in our project areas by raising awareness of the negative impact dogs have on nesting shorebirds.
Outreach and education events were also an important part of this year’s work. In June, we spread the word about reducing disturbance to shorebirds at our inaugural “Share the Coast Day” event. This day of outreach and volunteering included a beach cleanup, information boards, crafts and several bird walks, including one focused on teaching photographers how to minimize disturbance while photographing birds on the beach. We thank the Town of Hempstead, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, South Shore Audubon Society and All Our Energy for their partnership and support of this event.
We were also able to partner with the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center for several tableau events, bird walks and talks throughout the year where we were able to inform people of all ages about the importance of “sharing the coast” and the impacts. of our coastal work.
looking ahead
Our staff and interns worked hard to collect essential data on our nesting shorebirds this season! Photo: Robin Fisher
The Audubon New York Coastal Team is looking forward to the 2023 season as they continue conservation work through the winter!
Events like our bilingual bird walk on October 8 to celebrate Migratory Bird Day allow us to grow our program by involving more people in our work, and we’re excited to hold more of these events next year next.
“Thanks to volunteers, field staff, center and education staff, municipalities and partners, our coastal program is able to provide valuable protection for Long Island’s nesting shorebirds,” he said. Shelby Casas, Coastal Program Associate at Audubon New York. “We look forward to future plans for this program as we expand our monitoring, education and outreach efforts.”
Many thanks to all our partners and volunteers for making this work possible. In addition, we thank the Gardner Foundation, the Schumann Foundation, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Long Island Sound Futures Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Atlantic Flyway Shorebirds Fund for providing funding for our work.
If you are interested in volunteering for the 2023 season, please contact [email protected]!