To Protect Beach Birds, the Coastal Center Parking Lot Will Be Closed for the Fourth of July Weekend

Baby Piping Plovers, like this one photographed at the Coastal Center in early June, are vulnerable to the crowds and noise on Fourth of July weekend. Photo by Patrick Comins.

July 1, 2020 — Life for Connecticut’s beach-nesting birds gets a lot tougher over Fourth of July weekend.

Beaches tend to be gathering places for fireworks users and bigger crowds than usual on holidays. The noise and the crowds are incredibly disruptive to adult birds and their chicks.

We’re going to try to minimize the harm where we can — by closing the parking lot at the Milford Point Coastal Center for the weekend.

Milford Point is of course a nature preserve and not appropriate for typical beach recreational activities.

The gates will be locked from 4 p.m. Thursday, July 2, until 9 a.m. Monday, July 6.

You may remember that we’ve done this in previous years. We know it might be an inconvenience — thank you for understanding.

Piping Plovers are a federally-threatened species. Least Terns and American Oystercatchers are threatened in the state, and Common Terns are a species of special concern. All of those nest at Milford Point and as it is 2020 is already a tough year for them.

Concerns for the safety of staff and volunteers has meant that the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds has spent less time on the beach erecting the fencing that helps keep animal predators away and warns birders and other visitors to keep their distance.

After several years when near-record numbers of threatened Piping Plovers hatched, this year might not be as successful.

Keeping people off the beach for the Fourth of July weekend will help those birds survive.