1. FINDING BANDED AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS VIA PRISM SURVEYS DURING THE NONBREEDING SEASON IN VIRGINIA Ruth Boettcher VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries Alex Wilke College of William and Mary – Center for Conservation Biology The Nature Conservancy – VA Coast Reserve

2. PRISM SURVEYS IN VIRGINIA In the fall of 2004, we established three boat based survey routes in the seaside barrier island/lagoon system on Virginia’s Eastern shore to… describe local shorebird distribution, abundance and habitat relationships throughout the nonbreeding season; identify and monitor stopover and wintering hotspots for shorebirds on Virginia’s Eastern Shore; and monitor trends in shorebird population sizes at the local, regional, national and international level. Surveys will be conducted annually throughout the nonbreeding season as time and resources permit.

3. SURVEY METHODS Currently survey routes are run every 14 days when high tide occurs between 0700 and 1000 hrs. Only one route is run per day during the high tide window (~2 hrs. before - 3 hrs. after high tide). Each route has 8 – 9 sampling points, which have been identified as high tide roost sites for shorebirds. All waterbird species are counted at each sampling point and age of birds are recorded when possible. After all the birds have been counted, flocks are searched for banded birds. Bird counts and banded bird searches are conducted from the boat with regular binoculars, a spotting scope and/or a pair of 14 x 40 image stabilizing binoculars depending on sea conditions. All data are entered in an Access database.

4. Seaside Shorebird Survey Routes VA Eastern Shore of Virginia Atlantic Ocean Chesapeake Bay Wachapreague Route Quinby Route Oyster Route

5. Examples of High Tide Roost Sites Barrier Island Inlet Beaches Marsh Island Oyster Shell Piles Sand Shoals Marsh Grass & Marsh Mudflats

6. Wachapreague Survey Route Wach08 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes 50 - 99 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes > 100 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes < 50

7. Quinby Survey Route Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes 50 - 99 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes > 100 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes < 50

8. Oyster Survey Route OYST07 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes 50 - 99 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes > 100 Sampling points with avg. AMOY flock sizes < 50

9. SUMMARY OF BANDED BIRD SIGHTINGS All 3 routes surveyed 3 times from Sept. 1 – Nov. 1, 2004 Sightings of Birds Banded in VA: Total number of individuals observed = 14 - 13/14 carried black engraved bands (12 HY; 1 adult). - 7/13 were observed in one day (Nov. 1) on the Wachpreague Route; all 7 were HY birds banded in the Wachapreague marshes in June and July. - 1 second year bird banded on Fisherman Island observed along the Oyster Route on Oct. 30. Sightings of Birds Banded Out- of-State: Total number of individuals observed = 3 - An adult banded in SC in Nov. 2003; this individual was observed along the Oyster route on Sept. 3. - A HY bird banded in NC; this individual was seen on all three surveys of the Oyster Route. - A possible second year bird banded in NC; this individual was observed along the Quinby Route on Oct. 31. Total number of banded birds observed with unknown identity = 6 All carried multiple color bands and were probably banded before 2004.