Instructions Sheet

PACKAGE FOR PARTICIPANTS: part 1 of 2

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DECEMBER LONG ISLAND SOUND BIRD COUNT:

All birders are invited to join our December LIS (Long Island Sound) bird count.

That means going to at least one place where you can see the LIS and count birds, and then report that information back to us, by any of the "alternative pathways" listed below the map.

We will try to keep this simple, so that it will actually work, and be fun!

WHEN:
We will accept any LIS counts made between December 1st through the 31st, which is a good time range because during this month lots of birds are either migrating through or moving into the Sound for the winter.

WHERE:
This Long Island Sound bird count will look for birds anywhere IN Long Island Sound between CT and NY. Feel free to reports birds seen ANYWHERE in Long Island Sound (from the CT beaches all the way out to the middle of the Sound and beyond, right up to the NY beaches on the south edge of Long Island Sound).  We will accept reports of seabirds from anywhere within the green border lines shown on the LIS map below...

Thanks to L.Wahle for this new map

We recommend the following TYPES of "observation locations":

1. Seawatch points along the LIS coast:   See the list of suggested Seawatch Points below.
2. Seawatch points along the LIS coast:   ANY location of your choice.
3. Ferries, such as the Bridgeport/PortJefferson, NewLondon/Orient or NewLondon/Fishers Island  ferries.
4. Ships of any kind, e.g., fishing boats,  duck hunter boats, scientific surveys, kayaks, etc.
5. CBC. If you go on any coastal Christmas Bird Count the birds you report on Long Island Sound will be copied to us for a consolidated reporting (via your captain or compiler).

LOCATION:
It is important that you report the approximate location of the observations. For seawatches, just mention the name of the sea watch point (or the nearest town if you do not know the name of the point). For ferries, mention the ferry route, and if you see a rare or target bird, please indicate how many miles (or minutes) away from the CT port you saw the bird/s. For any other ships, mention the general area (such as Stratford Shoals, or Falkner Island) or the nearest town/port along the coast. If you see a rare bird, additionally mention how many miles off shore from the nearest town or port (or optionally your latitude/longitude if you can do that). For CBCs, follow your normal CBC procedures, and we will get the data via your captain and compiler.

ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS TO GET YOUR DECEMBER DATA TO US (do at least one of these):
#1.  You can print the paper data collection sheet shown below, fill in as much info as possible during & after your trip, and get the completed paper forms back to us via USPS mail to the  data administrator (T.Robben, 172 Grandview Drive, Glastonbury CT 06033),
#2.  You can email the equivalent information back to...  robben99@gmail.com
#3.  You can input your LIS trip report into eBird, and then SHARE your checklist with this new TWO-WORD (note the single space between the two words LIS and BirdCount) eBird account/username "LIS  BirdCount" (and we will thereby receive your eBird trip report). Ideally you would do both #1 and #3, if possible, because both have their advantages (#3 data entry into eBird, for example, enables future scientists to re-use our data more easily, while #1 done in the field helps you capture all the relevant data while it is fresh in your mind, and sending the paper to us enables us to scan and archive it centrally for future science).
#4.  For any of your CBC Christmas Bird Count observations, just report to your CBC captain/compiler as usual, and we will work with the CBC leaders to get a copy of your LIS bird data.
#5.  If you report your LIS trip & observations to a state birding forum/listserv, please include the two words "LIS BIRDCOUNT" so we can search for such posts. Since such posts may be hard to find, please also email the data to us.


WHAT:  SPECIES TO COUNT:
Please count the approximate numbers of ALL bird species on Long Island Sound.
We are especially interested in finding and counting the following species of birds:

Razorbills and any other species of Alcids.
Waterfowl of all kinds (especially Long-tailed Ducks, Gr. Scaup, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Black Duck).
Loons and Grebes (especially Red-throated Loon).
Fulmars, Shearwaters, Petrels, and Storm-petrels.
Gannets, Boobies, Frigatebirds, Tropicbirds, Pelicans.
Cormorants.
Shorebirds of all kinds.
Skimmers, Terns, Gulls (especially BL.Kittiwake & other small gulls).
Skuas, Jaegers.


ONE COMBINED WORKSHEET (under construction & available in another week):
We will bring together ALL December Long Island Sound trip reports into one combined summary database which you will be able to view to see this data....
LIS trips and bird observations worksheet   <<click on this link
Here is an example of that database table, being tested with a first few sample trips...

This one database table will combine December inputs from many sources:  from CBCs, from eBird, from emails and from CTbirds forum, and it will cover all types of reporting locations (from all seawatch points and from all ships reporting from the water, including ferries). Note that CBC results are generally NOT input (systematically) into eBird (although some individuals may input some results, of course).
We will also produce various summary reports of all totals, as we receive all the data. As a contributing partner in this bird count you will receive more information than will the general public birding community. We can display your name as your initials or a code if you prefer anonymity, if you notify us of that.

REGISTRATION:
It is optional for you to notify us that you intend to participate in any way. If you do notify us ("register"), indicating that you may be covering an area, then we may be able to plan better coverage of the many LIS locations during December, and to share specific new information with you.

USEFUL BOOKS FOR THIS COUNT:
These two highly-recommended books are not required, but they certainly add to the pleasure of watching seabirds, and the first one additionally covers many other life forms in the marine waters....
A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife: Marine Mammals, Seabirds, Fish, and Other Sea Life: Noble S. Proctor, Patrick J. Lynch

Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight (Peterson Reference Guides): Ken Behrens, Cameron Cox


THE TEAM LEADING THIS DECEMBER BIRD COUNT:
P.Auster, S.Broker, A.Collins, P.Comins, M.Huang, M.Lyman, P.Lynch, F.Mantlik, K.Mueller, N.Proctor, T.Robben, L.Wahle, P.Wolter, A.Zemba.

Thank you!
If you have any further questions/suggestions, please contact data administrator T.Robben  (robben99@gmail.com)


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SUGGESTED SEAWATCH POINTS AND ISLANDS on the CT side of LIS:   (top spots are asterisked)   Listed west-to-east...
        - Tods/Greenwich Pt., Greenwich
        - Shippan Pt and Cove Island, Stamford.
        - Darien - no good publicly accessible sites known.
        - Norwalk Islands, Long Beach and Calf Pasture Beach*, Norwalk
        - Sherwood Island State Park, Burying Hill Beach* and Compo Beach, Westport
        - Penfield Reef*, Fairfield
        - Fayerweather Island*, Bridgeport (but don't walk out there alone...only in small groups)
        - Seaside Park, Bridgeport
        - Russian Beach, Stratford (at end of MapleSt along ParkBlvd)
        - Stratford Pt.* and Long Beach* (faces SW), Stratford
        - Milford Pt. and Merwin Pt., Milford
        - The coastal roads between Milford and West Haven (and Oyster River*)
        - Sandy Point, West Haven
        - Lighthouse Pt.*, New Haven
        - East Haven Town Beach, East Haven.
        - Outer Island (of Thimble Islands), Branford (by boat)
        - Indian Neck, Branford
        - Sachem's Head, Guilford
        - Vineyard Pt*, Guilford
        - West Wharf*, Middle Beach Rd, East Wharf all in Madison
        - Hammonasset and Meigs Pt.*, Madison
        - we do not know of any good public sea-watch spot in Clinton
        - Menunketesuck and Westbrook Town Beach, Westbrook
        - Cornfield Pt*, Old Saybrook
        - White Sands Beach, and walk west to Griswold Pt, Old Lyme
        - Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme
        - Harkness State Park, Waterford
        - Ocean Beach State Park*, New London
        - Avery Pt, Eastern Point Beach and Bluff Point Park, all in Groton
        - Enders Island & Mason's Island*, Stonington
        - Stonington Pt.*, Stonington
        - Napatree Pt. and Westerly, Westerly RI
        - OR ANY OTHER PLACE WHERE YOU BIRD WATCH LONG ISLAND SOUND FROM

SUGGESTED SEAWATCH POINTS AND ISLANDS on the NY side of LIS:  

We do not know all the good seawatch points on the north shore of Long Island (NY) but will assemble this list based upon what reports we receive from birders there during December. Individual NY birders are already letting us know they will be doing counts from their NY locations along LIS.