M.S. student Melissa Althouse recently finished up her second field season studying staging Roseate Terns on Cape Cod, MA. Melissa reports a successful field season, and shares a few highlights and photos. 
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Melissa's work involves patiently watching mixed flocks of staging terns at several sites around Cape Cod and recording information about their behavior and their responses to potential sources of disturbance, like people, boats, and predators. Melissa's M.S. project is focused primarily on endangered Roseate Terns, but other species such as Common Terns, Least Terns, and Royal Terns (among others) stage with Roseate Terns and are part of her observations. Melissa and her field crew also resight color banded Roseate Terns as part of a larger effort to collect information about their demographics and movements. 

SUNY ESF's portion of the Roseate Tern work is part of a larger research study with partners and cooperators from the Karpanty Lab at Virginia Tech, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Cape Cod National Seashore, Mass Audubon, and Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. We also owe a special thank you to the field technicians that have worked on the disturbance project- Serina Brady, Loren Gallo, Jenna Correia, and Jenna May. 

By the early 1980's, habitat loss, human disturbance, and increasing predator populations combined to make the beaches of the Great Lakes unsuitable for nesting by the piping plover.  The entire region contained only 16 nesting pairs when the species was placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1985, and after 1984 the species completely disappeared from Lake Ontario except during migration.  Thanks in large part to conservation efforts led by Dr. Francie Cuthbert at the University of Minnesota, there are now 70 nesting pairs in the Great Lakes and piping plovers are starting to expand into deserted portions of their former range.   In 2015, for the first time in 31 years, piping plovers nested on the shores of Lake Ontario.      Under the protection of the New York DEC, two eggs hatched at the eastern end of the Lake and one of the young survived the dangerous 25 days from hatching until first flight.  At the invitation of Dr. Cuthbert and the DEC, Dr. Cohen and members of his lab placed colored legbands on the chicks.  We will now be able to identify the fledgling when, hopefully, it has a nest of its own.  In this way, the growth of the recovering Great Lakes population can be tracked and further opportunities to protect habitat can be identified.

Ph.D. student Maureen Durkin's work using tiny radiotransmitters to identify sources of Snowy Plover chick mortality in the Florida Panhandle received mention in the recent "Gulf Issue" of Audubon Florida's quarterly magazine. The radiotelemetry is part of a larger project, in collaboration with partners at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Audubon Florida to understand the impact of roadways on Snowy Plovers and other wildlife at the park. _

The recent edition of the New York State Parks publication "Nature Times" details research being done by Ph.D. student Amanda Cheeseman on predator communities in New England cottontail habitat.   Amanda and her research team are using camera traps and avian point surveys to compare occupancy rates of predators among different potential cottontail habitat areas.  Her research will inform restoration efforts currently planned by the agency.

Graduate student Maureen Durkin's project evaluating the impacts of road mortality to the Snowy Plover population and other wildlife at Gulf Islands National Seashore, FL was featured in a piece urging local beachgoers to be mindful of nesting birds this holiday weekend. Audubon Florida and the National Park Service also highlighted the importance of respecting wildlife by following speed limits in the park, staying away from posted nested areas, and keeping pets off the beach. Maureen is conducting her dissertation research at Gulf Islands, where mortality of shorebirds and other wildlife on park roads is an ongoing issue of concern. Ultimately, this research aims to quantify road mortality and identify contributing factors to provide information that may aid the National Park Service in balancing management of shorebird populations and recreational use. Check it out here.

Dr. Cohen has received funding from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund to continue studying wildlife road mortality at Gulf Islands National Seashore, FL. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) received 2.5 billion dollars as the result of a plea agreement resolving the criminal case against BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. This fund will be directed towards projects that will benefit the Gulf Coast's natural resources over the next five years.  SUNY ESF collaborated with Audubon Florida to submit a proposal for the first round of funding in November 2013, which was successful. Preliminary results from a summer 2013 pilot study funded by the National Park Service found road mortality of shorebirds and seabirds at Gulf Islands National Seashore is likely higher than previously counts indicated, and that beach mice and reptiles are also affected. This study will also build on prior work on this site and continue to investigate snowy plover survival and reproductive success. This will allow for determination of the impact road mortality may have on snowy plovers at the population level.

Current lab member Maureen Durkin, who has spent the past 2.5 years working on her M.S. on human disturbance to snowy plovers at several sites in Florida, including Gulf Islands, will take on this project for her Ph.D. Maureen carried out the field work for the pilot study last year, and is excited to continue working with our partners at the National Park Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Parks Service, and Audubon Florida. This year's field work will begin in early April and continue through August. 

M.S. student Michelle Stantial's work examining the potential impact of wind turbines on Piping Plovers in Massachusetts received a write-up in the Cape Cod Times this summer. Nice work Michelle!

Read the full article:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130723/NEWS/307230323

For her second field season studying piping plover movements and flight patterns in Massachusetts and New Jersey, M.S. student Michelle Stantial was able to build an automated telemetry system for monitoring radio-tagged plovers at her study sites. Michelle was awarded grants from the Goldenrod Foundation and the Garden Club of America to fund the telemetry station.

She says of the system, "It helps us detect movements of piping plovers during times of poor weather and low-light conditions (times when birds are more susceptible to collisions with turbines).  We leave it out on the beach and let it 'listen' to a bird with a telemetry unit for a few nights in a row, then we switch to another individual."

Michelle's research will examine the implications of wind turbines piping plovers, specifically examining the potential for collision mortality if turbines are built in or near their habitat.