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Oystercatchers Vulnerable in NJ Despite Rise in Population

This article was originally published on NorthJersey.com on February 10, 2014, and was written by James O'Neill. View the original article here. In the past five years, more than 35 non-profits and government agencies from Texas to New England have collaborated to stabilize the population of the American oystercatcher, a shore bird with a distinctive flat orange bill it deftly wields to pry open shellfish. The birds primarily nest on the open, sandy beaches of barrier islands, which makes them vulnerable to human disturbance, attacks from predators and sea level rise. To protect the species, small sections of beach from Sandy Hook to Cape May have been roped off and posted with signs from April through August. Similar efforts are...

Oystercatchers See Strength in Numbers

This article was originally published in the Martha's Vineyard Gazette on February 1, 2014. View the original article here. The American Oystercatcher population is recovering following a decline documented a decade ago, a Cape Cod science center said. A comprehensive aerial survey of the oystercatcher population done last year from Long Island to the Mexico border found the population had increased steadily since 2009. A coalition of 35 conservation groups formed five years ago to protect habitat and aid recovery. Ten years ago the harlequin-colored shorebirds were in a decline. Habitat loss and human encroachment were blamed. A survey that year showed there were about 10,900 oystercatchers and that the population was dwindling. In 2009 a coalition of 35 groups...

Downeast Fisheries Partnership

  Fishing in Downeast Maine has changed dramatically since populations of groundfish like cod, haddock and flounder collapsed twenty years ago. Manomet has partnered with the Downeast Salmon Federation and the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries to form the Downeast Fisheries Partnership (DFP), a large-scale effort to tackle the complex problem of restoring the regional fisheries.   The partnership aims to recreate fish habitat, diversify the fishing economy by better controlling when and where fishing occurs, create stewardship and management programs in which fishermen are active partners, develop new markets for fisheries products and document the outcomes and lessons learned so that the methods can be expanded to other regions. The DFP is using a collaborative, expansive approach to restore...

American Oystercatcher Populations Rebound with Conservation Effort

Five years after conservation groups launched a large-scale, coordinated effort to recover the imperiled American Oystercatcher, the species' population has stabilized and begun to increase, according to an aerial survey conducted in 2013. Ten years ago, the charismatic, orange-billed shorebird was threatened by habitat loss and human encroachment. A comprehensive survey that year showed about 10,900 total birds and a declining population. The numbers kept dropping until 2009, when a coalition of 35 groups from Canada to Texas mobilized to protect the species. A survey completed in 2013 found about 11,200 birds. "This kind of conservation success is extraordinary, especially in the shorebird world," said Shiloh Schulte, a scientist at the Manomet Center and coordinator of the American Oystercatcher Working...

American oystercatchers are on the way back

This article was originally published in the Delaware News Journal on January 24, 2014 and was written by Molly Murray. View the original article here. Populations of American oystercatcher shorebirds appear to have stabilized and started to increase on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts after a coordinated, five-year restoration effort by conservation groups and state agencies. In Delaware, the numbers appear to be stable with about 15 nesting pairs over the last four years, said Matthew Bailey, a state wildlife biologist. The downside: Delaware has seen limited production of young birds from those nesting pairs, he said. For instance, just two young birds survived the nesting season to fledge last year. In 2010, 10 young birds fledged, he said. But...

Interview with Ethel Wilkerson: Protecting Water Quality and Fighting Climate Change

Ethel Wilkerson is a program manager in Manomet’s Sustainable Economies Program. She leads the Clear Water Carbon Fund, which plants trees on deforested riverbanks to protect water quality, create wildlife habitat and remove carbon from the atmosphere.   On January 28, Wilkerson will speak at Manomet headquarters about protecting water quality and fighting climate change.   The event is free and open to the public. Click here to register.   Why did Manomet launch the Clear Water Carbon Fund?   Wilkerson: I came to Manomet 11 years ago to lead a field research project on the importance of forests for clean water and wildlife habitat. The study focused on the how trees growing on stream banks helped maintain and protect...

Over 1,000 People Flock to Chiloé Island Migratory Bird Festival

More than 1,000 people attended the third annual Migratory Bird Festival on Chiloé Island, Chile, on November 23rd and 24th.   The festival was held in the town of Putemún to celebrate the migratory shorebirds that winter in the eastern wetlands of Chiloé, a vital site for many species, and was organized by Centro de Estudios y Conservación del Patrimonio Natural (CECPAN). Festival attendees enjoyed shorebird-themed theater, dance and music, as well as local food tastings, handicrafts, scientific and educational talks and guided birding walks in the wetlands of Putemún.   Diego Luna Quevedo, Southern Cone Coordinator for Manomet’s Shorebird Recovery Project, traveled to Chiloé to attend the festival.     "Chiloé’s Migratory Bird Festival has become an iconic local...

Want to Make a Measurable Difference?

Manomet’s scientific, collaborative approach is why so many friends like you believe in Manomet — and why many of you have invested generously in our work.    We are quickly approaching the final days of 2013. Have you sent in your year-end gift yet? If you haven’t, please consider doing so now.   And remember, your investment doesn’t stop with Manomet. It starts with Manomet. And then it keeps going and going and going.    Your gift allows our program leaders to create innovative, scientific solutions to conserve natural resources. Then we bring in powerful partners like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Small Business Administration, and Hannaford Supermarkets. With partners, we put science to use and together we...

Manomet Works With Mexican Scientists to Monitor Laguna Madre Shorebirds

Manomet scientists visited Texas last month to work with biologists from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and establish International Shorebird Survey (ISS) monitoring sites in the Laguna Madre of Mexico, one of the most important wetland systems in the Western Hemisphere.   Shorebird Biologist Brad Winn and Senior Scientist Emeritus Brian Harrington led the monitoring section of the workshop with more than 20 participants from Mexico and the United States. The entire Laguna Madre complex, on both sides of the border, stretches for almost 400 miles. The area is ecologically rich, supporting millions of wintering waterbirds, including hundreds of thousands of shorebirds.   A contingent of scientists had traveled from Mexico and the workshop laid the groundwork for long-term shorebird...

Manomet Releases Climate Change and Biodiversity in Maine Report

More than a third of the Maine species assessed in a newly released Manomet report were determined to have high vulnerability to climate change.   The report, Climate Change and Biodiversity in Maine, defined high vulnerability as species that will experience at least a 66 percent population decline as a result of climate change by 2100.   Researchers looked at 442 species in Maine and found 168 were highly vulnerable. Another 38 percent, or 171 species, fell into the medium range of vulnerability.   The report was a collaborative effort, with scientists from the Maine Natural Areas Program, Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, Maine Audubon and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service running a statistical analysis...