by Kris Vagos, Wildlife Biologist, Fish & Wildlife Service
On March 24, 2012, we had twelve volunteers from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College who came out to Falkner Island to help us with tern habitat restoration projects. We left from Guilford at 9am and returned at 3pm. They worked on managing the vegetation by clearing back some of the sumac on the northern tip of the upper part of the island. This year we are going to try to create habitat for roseate terns there – as it was a nesting site historically. Another crew of the volunteers worked on assessing the damage caused by tropical storm Irene to the observation blinds. We found that they are in need of repair and that one of them – which
was located on the north spit – is completely gone. Other projects that were worked on were repainting the radial grid used and cleaning up the top of the island of debris so that we can mow. Everyone had a really good time, and we managed to get a lot of work done. Thank you, US Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College! We will be returning to the island several times in April and have a few volunteer weekends planned with highschools, boyscout troops, USCGA, and Connecticut College.
*click on the poster to view a larger version of the image.