A baby Oystercatcher died of starvation and concern has risen about the well-being of shorebirds there.

August 16, 2021 — For the good of the shorebirds feeding and resting now at Milford Point, Connecticut Audubon has decided to schedule no group walks to the point's sandbar for the rest of August.

We are also asking for your help in giving the shorebirds room to feed and rest when you visit on your own.

On a morning two weeks ago, four photographers carried their equipment out to the sandbar.

To make sure they were close enough to get the photos they wanted, they settled onto the sand within 50 feet of two American Oystercatchers and their baby.

The baby oystercatcher was too young to fly and the parents were too attached to leave it on its own. Connecticut Audubon’s coastal ranger asked the photographers to please move farther away.

But they stayed. The birds were on high alert and distracted from resting, feeding and keeping cool in the midday heat.

By 1:30, shortly after the photographers’ four-hour stakeout, the baby American Oystercatcher was dead.

A necropsy showed that it starved to death.

Oystercatchers at Milford Point attempted 20 nests during the 2021 season.

Only one baby has survived.

This was just the latest example this summer of seemingly well-meaning visitors ignoring the warning signs, string fencing, and requests of Connecticut Audubon staff to birds on the sandbar the room they need to survive.

Walking, birding, and taking photos on the sandbar can unnecessarily disturb the shorebirds there.