Volunteer for Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program

Volunteer for Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program
Training classes scheduled Aug. 6 and Aug. 18 at Gulf State Park

Local volunteers are are being solicited to participate as monitors for the Alabama Coastal Bird Stewardship Program. The next training sessions are in Gulf Shores on Monday, August 6 and Saturday, August 18, at the Gulf State Park Nature Center (214255 State Park Road 2) from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
The ALCBSP program provides critical protection and monitoring of Alabama’s sensitive beach nesting birds in Mobile and Baldwin counties. ALCBSP is implemented by science staff based from the Birmingham Audubon Coastal Programs Office in downtown Mobile and additionally supported by Mobile Bay Audubon Society and other volunteers.
The Program focuses on the Audubon Coastal Bird Survey and continued breeding and overwintering success of the following 11 focal species of concern: Wilson’s Plover, Snowy Plover, Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Red Knot, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, Least Tern, Black Skimmer, Reddish Egret and Brown Pelican. ALCBSP compliments the work of similar National Audubon Society initiatives in the Gulf of Mexico including Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
The ALCBSP will help the declining populations of shorebirds and water birds by training volunteers to steward and monitor these targeted species and their habitats at key nesting sites along the coast. During the nesting season, volunteers are also needed to maintain the health and safety of nesting colonies through public outreach and the installation of symbolic fencing at colony locations. Educating beachgoers through print materials and scope-based viewing opportunities is critical to helping the public become more aware of wildlife and habitats in coastal Alabama.
For more info, contact Alabama Coastal Foundation Outreach Coordinator Valerie Longa at 251-990-6002 (vlonga@joinACF.org) or Birmingham Audubon Coastal Programs Coordinator Nicole Love at (nicolelove@birminghamaudubon.org) or visit joinacf.org.
Pictured: Short-billed Dowitcher (above) and Least Tern