2024 Meeting of the American Oystercatcher Working Group
The 2024 American Oystercatcher Working Group Meeting was held virtually and in Wachapreague, Virginia at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Lab’s Seaside Hall, December 3rd-5th. The meeting was expertly hosted by staff from The Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, along with students from Trent University. The meeting planning committee consisted of Mario Balitbit, Ruth Boettcher, Bridie Farmer, Ben Gluhosky, Kevin Holcomb, Zak Poulton, and Alex Wilke. The only hitch was that for only (we think) the second time in Working Group history, the boat-based field trip had to be cancelled due to weather. But, there was a pre-meeting field trip option to tour Chincoteague NWR that was not affected by the gale warnings, and while safe indoors attendees enjoyed a very full schedule that included presentations from several students and a habitat restoration and enhancement session that could have been a meeting in its own right. We are still adding content to the page, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for, check back soon.
Meeting Documents
- Draft agenda
- Day 1 Notes (coming soon)
- Day 2 Notes (coming soon)
- Archival meeting information
Meeting Recordings
Each day of the meeting was recorded and is available in the links below. Please email Lindsay Addison for the password to open/download them.
Presentations
- Introduction to the VIMS Eastern Shore Lab and the Seaside Lagoon Ecosystem – Dick Snyder
- 2024 range-wide breeding season overview – Shiloh Schulte
- It’s complicated: the relationship between foraging ecology and reproduction for American Oystercatchers – Kate Goodenough and Lindsay Addison
- Movement patterns of American Oystercatchers in PFAS influenced Charleston Harbor, SC – Amber Litterer
- Delaware Bay American Oystercatcher project story map – Meghan Kolk and Emmy Casper
- Human behavior change: the presence of rangers and cameras in CT – Beth Amendola and Milan Büscher
- Community-based social marketing and guidance documents introduction – Sami Thomas
- Investigating drivers of nest and chick survival in the Virginia Barrier Islands – Mikayla Call
- Community connections to protect Georgia’s shorebirds – Abby Sterling and Allie Hayser
- Hurricane impacts: Cedar Key update – Janell Brush
- Eastern panhandle Oystercatcher habitat availability and cumulative hurricane impacts – Caity Reiland-Smith and Ezra Thompson
- “Elevating” American Oystercatcher conservation in Virginia: planning and platforms – Alex Wilke
- Beneficial of dredged material – Laurel Reichold
- Insights into permitting, construction, and habitat restoration for shorebird conservation – Jared Lopes
- Beneficial use of dredged materials for habitat restoration on the Atlantic Flyway: part II – Mike Molnar
- Georgia coastal bird program: habitat restoration projects – Tim Keyes
- Crab Bank, SC updates – Janet Thibault
- Vegetation management at a beneficial placement site in New Jersey – Sam Collins
- Habitat restoration database winter 2024 updates – Amanda Hackney
- Myths, misconceptions, dos, don’ts & recent changes – Jennifer McKay and Lauren Walker
- Natal dispersal of American Oystercatchers banded in North Carolina: A look at breeding records of banded chicks – Kristen Johnson
- Tiny tags – Shiloh Schulte
- Band database and productivity protocol update – Lindsay Addison and Shiloh Schulte
- Phenological advancement of two sympatric shorebird species in Virginia, U.S.A. – Trevor MacLaurin
- Diet specialization in American Oystercatchers – Lyn Brown
- Changes in productivity and breeding phenology of American Oystercatcher in response to human related threats – Emilio Tobin and Dustin Partridge
State Updates
- Texas
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Delaware
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- Rhode Island
- New Hampshire / Maine
Photos
Album coming soon!