On Saturday, March 14, 2009, the 14^th Annual Cape Cod Natural History Conference took place at Cape Cod Community College in Barnstable, MA.  The event was sponsored by Mass Audubon, Cape Cod Community College, and Cape Cod 5 Bank.  Monica Williams, Wildlife Biologist at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, presented one of eleven scientific posters shown at the event. 

The event included speakers on a wide variety of topics effecting Cape Cod.  Discussions included land acquisition for conservation, geological changes on Cape Cod, and research dealing with the wildlife communities on the Cape and surrounding waters including many different species ranging from spiders to whales.

The title of the poster presented by Wildlife Biologist Monica Williams was, “Introduction and Monitoring of the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle at Monomoy NWR,” and was co-authored by Neil Kapitulik.  Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle larvae were originally introduced to Monomoy, from Martha’s Vineyard, in 2000.  Larvae we translocated for four years to insure a stable population on South Monomoy Island.  We now consider the population stable and 180 beetles were recorded on the refuge this year.  Hopefully this new population will sustain itself well into the future.

The conference was a great opportunity to get into the community and speak with local citizens about activities at Monomoy NWR, especially management of our Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle population.  Monica Williams, Refuge Manager Michael Brady, and Biological Technician Kate Iaquinto attended the conference and spent much of it discussing Monomoy and its regional significance with members of the public.