Most people are surprised to hear that American oystercatchers are present in New Jersey in the winter. They usually associate the charismatic shorebird as a breeding species here. Our state’s wintering oystercatchers, a combination of breeders from further north and our own, are at the northern extent of the Atlantic coast wintering range.
One of the hundreds of least tern chicks at the Pt. Pleasant colony in 2021. Courtesy of Lindsay McNamara.
With 2021 coming to an end, we thought it would be fun to look back at this year’s beach nesting bird season in New Jersey, focusing on some of the surprises.
At the top of the list is the huge jump in our piping plover breeding population, up to 137 pairs from just 103 in 2020, an unprecedented 33% increase in one year and the third highest on record for the state since federal listing. This was a much-needed bump, as productivity has been high over the past few years, but we weren’t seeing any sustained growth in the population as a result as would be typical. So, when the final pair number was tallied this year, we were both relieved and surprised at how big it was! The challenge now will be to maintain that higher level or increase it even more, as it has fluctuated up and down quite a bit in recent years.
CWF and Fishing for Energy are excited to announce the addition of a new port in Waretown, New Jersey, where a bin will be placed to collect marine debris removed from Barnegat Bay. Lost, abandoned, and discarded fishing gear threatens important marine wildlife in this USEPA Estuary of National Significance. Barnegat Bay contributes over $4 billion each year to the regional economy, and is home to 560,000 people, and over 1 million people during summer.
Fishing for Energy is an innovative public-private partnership that provides commercial fishermen with a cost-free solution to dispose of derelict fishing gear or gear that is lost, abandoned or discarded. Fishing for Energy is a nationwide partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program (NOAA MDP); Covanta, a world-leading sustainable waste and energy solutions company; and Schnitzer Steel Industries, one of the largest metal recycling companies in the United States.
An upland sandpiper looks out from it’s perch atop a post. Photo courtesy of USFWS.
In partnership with the USFWS New Jersey Field Office, CWF surveys a small population of upland sandpipers and other grassland birds at the McGuire Airfield in Burlington County, New Jersey. The upland sandpiper is a state endangered species nesting at only a few locations in New Jersey. Upland sandpiper, like many other grassland birds, require vast expanses of grassland habitat for nesting and caring for their chicks. Airports tend to be favorable locations consisting of maintained grassland habitat and limited human disturbance.
A total of 35 upland sandpiper observations were made at the McGuire Airfield in 2021, with an average of roughly 8 observations per survey. The overall number of upland sandpiper observations was comparable to 2018’s total of 37 sightings, but the average sightings per survey was lower than last year’s average, as well as the averages since 2017. Based on these observations, at least two to three pairs of upland sandpipers were nesting at the airfield this season. This estimation of nesting pairs is also lower than previous survey years.
Locating upland sandpiper nests is difficult due to the expansive habitat and the birds’ behavior. Most upland sandpipers nest in areas larger than 100 acres with relatively short grass heights. When nesting, the birds tend to fly in circles and loudly call from above to draw attention away from nests and unfledged chicks. Upland sandpipers are also easily disturbed during surveys, often taking flight long before surveyors get close to the nest or chicks. Additionally, the upland sandpipers’ song and call, a whistling “quip-ip-ip-ip, pulippulip, or whip-whee-ee-you,” can also be heard over a long distance.
Surveys during the breeding season from May to July have been ongoing over the past five years to determine the presence of breeding upland sandpipers in relation to ongoing habitat restoration efforts. Restoration efforts include the eradication of invasive plants and seeding of native warm season grasses. Restoration efforts will help conserve nesting habitat for grassland birds and help further limit human disturbance by minimizing mowing activities.
CWF Biologists (left to right) Sherry Tirgrath, Christine Healy, and Ethan Gilardiplant new greenery in the Trailside Nature Center Garden.
This fall CWF worked with the staff at the Trailside Nature and Science Center at Watchung Reservation in Union County, New Jersey to restore their Certified Wildlife Habitat. A Certified Wildlife Habitat must include sources of food, water, cover and places to raise young, and must be maintained using sustainable practices. Their garden had suffered from years of neglect and had become overgrown and choked out by weeds.
The first task was to tackle the major cleanup with the goals of opening the garden up to more sunlight, making room for new plantings, and giving the garden a fresh and clean appearance. CWF staff, interns and volunteers joined the Trailside Center’s staff and spent a day pulling weeds, digging up unwanted and overgrown plants, trimming shrubs and trees, clearing vines from trees, and raking and blowing leaves. Dead, dying, or damaged trees and shrubs were cut down. We left the healthy and beneficial trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that will be the backbone of the refreshed garden. At the end of the day, the result of cleanup was remarkable. Sunlight can now reach the ground, and the garden became a clean slate to add new plantings that will benefit birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife.
Trailside garden before and after cleanup.
The next step was to install a new deer fence around the garden. The Trailside Center lies within a wooded area and deer are drawn to the garden to munch on the shrubs and plants. In order to keep deer from destroying the garden, while allowing birds and other wildlife to utilize it, we installed a new eight-foot-high deer fence around the garden to replace one that had fallen down years ago. At the same time, we planted some new trees and shrubs in the garden that will be able to grow without the pressure of deer browse. We planted only native species that will attract birds, hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies to the garden.
In the spring, we will return to plant native herbaceous perennial plants that will also benefit birds, hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. We will be sure to plant some host species for native butterflies, such as milkweed for monarchs. We plan to make a corner of the garden that caters specifically to hummingbirds. The garden is already home to a beautiful man-made creek flowing into a pond that draws birds and frogs. Several types of bird feeders, squirrel feeders and nest boxes are scattered throughout the garden as well. The restored garden will be unveiled this spring for visitors to observe through the viewing windows inside the Trailside Center.
Trailside staff install deer fencing around the garden with help from CWF staff, interns, and volunteers.
The Coastal Barn Owl Project team is gearing up for another round of nest box installations in coastal southern New Jersey. After a successful fundraising appeal, we can now thank our donors by adding more potential nesting opportunities for barn owls, a species in population decline.
Our fourth and most recent box was just installed on October 22 in the saltmarshes of Cape May County. With each install, the team is becoming more efficient, and we hope to get several more boxes up in key locations before early spring when the owls begin their search for suitable nesting sites.
The newest barn owl nest box with volunteers Kevin Knutsen, Steve Eisenhauer and Mike Lanzone on left. Team leaders Tricia Miller and Meghan Kolk on right. Photo by Lisa Ferguson.
Coverboards are typically placed along ecotones, where species diversity is expected to be greatest. The corrugated tin board, pictured above, was positioned along a forest edge where larger deciduous trees meet a more open, sandy landscape.
How do you survey for animals that spend most of their time hidden under leaf litter or wedged between fallen tree limbs and rocks?
In the case of reptiles and amphibians, the answer is to use coverboards!
Coverboards are materials that are intentionally placed within a potential habitat, often along ecotones (where different habitat types- e.g., wetland and forest, field and forest, etc. come together) that trap moisture and retain heat, creating favorable conditions for our “cold-blooded” (ectothermic) friends. Researchers often arrange coverboards in long transects or arrays and collect data on the diversity of the community underneath the boards as compared to the surrounding environment. This technique was used by NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife to survey for herptiles in 17 wildlife management areas in the early 2000s (Golden, 2004). A total of 30 species were recorded during the first year of the study, including long-tailed salamanders, pine barrens tree frogs, and northern pine snakes, all of which are listed as threatened in New Jersey.
Pair of Piping Plovers Tending Nest. Courtesy of Northside Jim
The 2021 New Jersey piping plover breeding season was a classic “good news, bad news” result. According to the annual report released by the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program earlier this month, the breeding population increased to 137 pairs in 2021, third highest since federal listing in 1986. That is an unprecedented 33% rise over the previous year and just short of the record high of 144 pairs in 2003. On the downside, the number of chicks fledged statewide was just 0.85 chicks per pair, the lowest since 2013 and about half of the 1.50 federal recovery goal. The low productivity was largely the result of a severe Memorial Day weekend nor’easter and persistent predator activity throughout the season.
Holgate, a unit of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, hosted 46 pairs, the most in the state. This site, which is monitored and managed by CWF through a cooperative agreement with the Refuge, has seen an astounding increase in piping plover pairs in recent years, up about 2.5 times from the 18 pairs it had in 2018. CWF also monitors Little Beach, the adjacent Refuge-owned site, where another 13 pairs nested in 2021. Combined the two sites had 59 nesting pairs, a new record, by far, for the Refuge. Unfortunately, like the statewide results, productivity was very low this year at both Refuge sites, combined only 0.80 chicks fledged per pair, about half the rate just a year ago. The Memorial Day weekend nor’easter flooded those sites, wiping out most nests, and although most of the pairs nested again afterwards, many of those renests (or hatched chicks) were lost to predators, especially coyotes at Holgate.
CWF also oversaw piping plover breeding at the National Guard Training Center, which had just one pair in 2021, but that nest successfully hatched and fledged three chicks, helping boost the state average. Overall, CWF was responsible for monitoring 44% of the statewide population, giving it a significant role in helping guide conservation of this highly vulnerable state endangered (and federally threatened) species.
Although CWF does not conduct the daily on-the-ground monitoring and management of piping plovers at the Barnegat Inlet nesting site, it was a co-leader of the habitat restoration that was completed there two winters ago, and as such has had a big role in the nesting outcomes at the site. The number of pairs using the site has noticeably grown, up to five pairs in 2021 from just one pair when the project began. Productivity has also been consistently high at the restoration site and 2021 was no different with the pairs exceeding the federal recovery goal and statewide average with 1.6 chicks fledged per pair this year.
With the breeding results for 2021 now “in the books”, we are already looking forward to next year. The biggest question will be whether the state can sustain the progress towards recovery it made this year, especially given the big drop in productivity, which typically drives population. But for now, all we can do is wait until next spring to learn the answer to that question.
To read the state’s entire 2021 piping plover report:
The Big Brown Bat is one of New Jersey’s most common bat species!
When you think about Halloween, the first things that may come to mind are probably trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, black cats, and bats.
But where did the association between bats and Halloween come from?
There are around 1,400 species of bats worldwide that feed mainly on insects, fruits, rodents, and even frogs. However, 3 species of bats (the vampire bats) have a specialized diet of blood. When the discovery of these bats feeding on blood from cattle in Latin America, the name “vampire” was given to them. Then in 1897 when Bram Stoker’s Dracula hit mainstream media, the portrayal of vampires shapeshifting into bats helped solidify the idea that these creatures of the night were something to be afraid of. Vampire bats are where the group as a whole got their connection to Halloween.
While many people still have a fear of bats, scientists and allies alike have been working to rebuild their reputation. Bat Week, which starts the week of Halloween, is an annual worldwide celebration of the role of bats in nature. This week raises awareness for bat conservation by educating the public about bats through social media and events, their role in nature, the importance they bring to agriculture, and threats they face.
At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, our biologists work hard throughout the year to protect our resident bat species. Whether our team is out conducting field research for our bat projects, educating the public through in-person and virtual talks, or engaging with homeowners and businesses who want to safely manage bats on their property. Our team is dedicated and committed to conserving our vulnerable bat friends.
Healthy New Jersey wetlands feature a gorgeous explosion of colors each summer as wildflowers, including the Ironweed (purple), Joe Pye weed (pink), and Jewelweed (gold), displayed here, come into bloom.Photo by Kristen Meistrell, NJ Audubon.
We’ve all heard the expression “you can’t have your cake and eat it too”. For example, as a wildlife biologist, I can’t be promoted and still expect to spend most of my time in the field playing with turtles and salamanders- that would simply be too good to be true! The same phrase could probably be applicable to land; your property can’t simultaneously be profitable to you, the landowner, and beneficial to rare wildlife… right?
Well, in this case, I would have to disagree with the proverbial wisdom.
For many years, CWF biologists have worked with private landowners, other nonprofits, and the state and federal government to spread the word on programs that make wildlife conservation not only accessible, but economical. Why? Because >80% of New Jersey is privately owned. This gives residents a unique opportunity to be a part of the success story for every endangered, threatened, and at-risk species that, like us, call the garden state home. In the words of everyone’s favorite ‘90s superhero, Captain Planet, “The power is yours” – truly.
Prescribed grazing by livestock, like the cows pictured above or water buffalo below, can help improve hydrology in certain types of wetlands. If your property fits the criteria, NRCS can assist with the maintenance or installation of fencing as part of your restoration plan.Photo by Kristen Meistrell, NJ Audubon.
