Author: CWF

The 2012 Women & Wildlife Leadership Award Winner is Laurie Pettigrew.  Laurie has been a biologist with the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife for the last 25 years.  She established the Becoming an Outdoors Women Program and is the author of the New Jersey Wildlife Viewing Guide.  She is an eloquent ambassador for wildlife recreation in our state and has helped to restore hundreds of acres of grassland habitat in southern New Jersey for many endangered bird species such as the American kestrel and Eastern meadowlark.   Join us to honor Laurie and other 2012 Women & Wildlife Award Winners on Sunday, April 15th beginning at 2pm.  Click here for tickets and more information.

What is the worst thing you have to do for your job?  Paperwork.

What is the best thing you get to do?  Play with power tools!

What is the one tool or resource that makes your job easier?  My big girl truck! Just kidding. It is one of my favorite tools even though I hate to admit it. My most useful resource is ArcGIS.

If you couldn’t do what you are doing now, what profession would you attempt?  Cookie baking.

What is the best thing anyone ever taught you?  Always carry a pocket knife.

What wildlife “lives” in your office?  Mice, black snakes, and a few spiders!

 What were you doing before you answered these questions?  Training my dogs to find shed antlers.

PROTECTING NEW JERSEY’S BREEDING BEACH SITES

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager

Piping plovers and American oystercatchers have already begun to return to New Jersey to breed. Least terns and black skimmers will follow in another couple of weeks. This is a busy time for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s (CWF) Beach Nesting Bird Project – our program to protect these birds, some of the state’s most at-risk species, kicks into high gear as the birds arrive.

 

The first major task at hand is to protect the habitat where the birds nest from human disturbance associated with intensive recreational use of our beaches. Working closely with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, CWF typically helps fence off and post 20-25 beach sites annually.

And we couldn’t complete this massive job without the assistance of volunteers. This year we have gotten volunteer help from a diverse group of organizations, ranging from the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association to Wetland Institute to Manasquan High School Environmental Club. A huge THANKS to all those groups and individuals that pitched in to help!

 

 

Click here to learn more information about our Beach Nesting Bird Program.

http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/beachnestingbird/

Click here to learn how you can adopt a Piping Plover (or other species) to help fund our ongoing conservation projects. http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/store/adopt/

 

The 2012 Women & Wildlife Inspiration Award Winner is Jackie Kashmer.  Jackie has been a wildlife rehabilitator for 20 years but her dedication to bats and her deeper understanding of their needs is an inspiration to all.  Join us to honor Jackie and other 2012 Women & Wildlife Award Winners on Sunday, April 15th beginning at 2pm.  Click here for tickets and more information.

What is the worst thing you have to do for your job?
Spend three hours every night feeding bats.

 What is the best thing you get to do?
Turn the lights off after all the bats are fed.

What has been your biggest success in your current job?
Saving white-nose syndrome bats.

What delights you in your daily work?
Seeing that all the bats have eaten all their worms.

What is the one tool or resource that makes your job easier?
My boyfriend.

If you couldn’t do what you are doing now, what profession would you attempt?
Psychiatry – I would want to figure out what makes people spend all their time and money caring for animals that bite them every day.

What is the best thing anyone ever taught you?
Life is the train ride, not the destination.

What is one thing you learned through your work that surprised you?
That ALL wildlife, large and small, have emotions and personalities.

What wildlife “lives” in your office?
Ants.

If you could be one animal (that lives in NJ of course!) what would you be and why?
A squirrel. They’re frisky, type A personality, like me.  Also, they smell nice!

Why did you decide to protect or educate people about NJ’s wildlife?
People are clueless about anything that doesn’t directly affect them and have very little common sense when it comes to wildlife.  Thank goodness human babies are so durable!!

What were you doing before you answered these questions?
Feeding bats, of course.

One thing most people don’t know about you?
I’m a court reporter in federal court, so most people don’t know that my “real” full-time job is rehabilitating bats.

 

Learn more about Jackie’s work by reading a recent blog post.

We need your help! 

Spring is here and amphibians all across the state making their way to their breeding grounds.  Unfortunately, there are two emergent diseases, chytridiomycosis and Ranavirus, that have caused devastating declines in amphibian populations worldwide. New Jersey is not exempt – there have been confirmed cases of both here in the Garden State.  CWF, the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, and Montclair State University, are working together to track the occurrences of these diseases in the state and are seeking information about any potential outbreaks.

If you see any wild amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, newts), or even reptiles, that appear to be acting abnormally or have visible lesions on them, or if you witness any mass die-offsk, we ask you to please report them to us.  This includes tadpoles, which are the main target of some strains of Ranavirus.  Please e-mail us and describe your observations (photos are helpful); do not send samples without first contacting us.

Please contact either:

Lisa Hazard (hazardl@mail.montclair.edu) OR Kirsten Monsen-Collar (monsenk@mail.montclair.edu)

Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University

Respect Signage to Protect Bald Eagle Nests

by Margaret O’Gorman, Executive Director

The recovery of New Jersey’s bald eagle population is a great success story for the state and for the many biologists, conservationists and volunteers involved in the effort.  This recovery has been over 20 years in the making with over 100 pairs now breeding in New Jersey, a huge increase from the late eighties when one pair remained in our state.

While we celebrate the success of our eagle population, we must now begin to deal with the fact that eagle nests are increasingly located in places where more people can view them and get close to these magnificent birds and who wouldn’t want to observe these iconic species?

But close observation can be dangerous to these birds and damaging to the continued recovery of the population.  Bald eagles do not react well when people or pets get too close to their nests.  They can be easily disturbed by humans in close proximity and this disturbance can cause them to expend valuable energy when flushed or, at the extreme, to abandon their nests leaving eggs to fail or newly hatched chicks to die. Continue reading “Keep Your Distance”

The New Jersey Young Birders Club seeks youngsters who share their love of all things feathered. 

By Nathaniel Hernandez, Great Meadows, NJ

CWF is happy to turn over the blog to Nathaniel to promote this new groups efforts to learn more about NJ’s incredible biodiversity.

New Jersey may be known as a state with the most people per square mile in the US, but it also ranks an incredible 12^th  place for bird diversity. It holds some of the most important migration points in the Eastern US. Places such as Cape May, Barnegat Bay, Old Mine Road in Warren and Sussex Counties, and other hotspots make this one of the best states for birding. It also hosts the famous World Series of Birding, where hundreds of birders come from around the world for the Garden State’s diverse birds.

Unfortunately, the young birders scattered throughout this birdy state have not united into an organized group that will help in raising New Jersey’s next generation of birders and ornithologists.  The newly formed New Jersey Young Birders Club wishes to change that.  Our club has trips all over the state and has interactive meetings to help its members learn more about birds and conservation.

To learn more about our club, including our events, please visit njyoungbirders.weebly.com

 

 

2012 MIGRATION SEASON BEGINS

by MacKenzie Hall, Biologist

After the wimpy winter (which I quite enjoyed), we knew the amphibian migration could start a little earlier than normal this season.  The ground has been thawed since mid-February across most of NJ, leaving only a reasonably warm nighttime rain to propel frogs and salamanders into their annual breeding frenzy.

And in an oddly symbiotic way, their frenzy becomes ours as well.  This year, the Amphibian Crossing Project covers 6 road rescue sites in Warren, Sussex, and Passaic Counties – more than we’ve ever done before – and includes monitoring at a number of amphibian road-crossings in the Sourland Mountains region.  More than 130 trained volunteers are part of the migration survey, which aims to 1) help amphibians survive the dangerous cross-road journey to their breeding pools, and 2) collect data to find out which sites are most important and which populations are most threatened by traffic.  With all the new sites, new helpers, and big plans for the data we collect this year (stay tuned…), a lot is riding on the weather.  We and our scouts have been out in every little nighttime rainfall over the past month that’s been anywhere near 40 degrees.

My first salamander of the season came out of the woods at 2:00 am on February 24th at a crossing in southern Sussex County, as light rain turned to snow in 37 degree air.  Aside from the three bulky humans watching him labor across the road, this Jefferson salamander had a quiet and uneventful trip.  No cars passed through; the only thing coming down on his cool skin was the occasional snowflake.  If you’re a slow, small amphibian, a middle-of-the-night migration is the way to go.  Your chance of survival is slim in the earlier evening’s traffic.

The nights of February 24th, 29th, and March 2nd were also rainy and just warm enough to draw some eager amphibians to the surface.   Jefferson salamanders are famously cold-hardy and have made a big push to their pools.  Spotted salamanders, wood frogs, and even a few spring peepers have taken advantage of the early thaw as well.  Peak migration is still ahead of us in northern NJ, though, so we’ll continue watching the weather and waiting for our next night out in the rain.

by Maria Grace, Education & Outreach Manager

Recently, I visited the 4th and 5th graders at ECO Charter School in Camden, NJ.  With plenty of wildlife specimens in hand, I talked to the students about NJ’s rare wildlife and why it is important to protect it.  I had fun interacting with these kids and they asked plenty of really good questions like “What does DDT stand for?” and “What do peregrine falcons eat?”.  I gave them a homework assignment – to share their newly discovered knowledge with their friends and family members, one of the most important things in protecting wildlife.  An easy lift, since each of these students participated in the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest and learned about one of NJ’s rare wildlife residents.

Subaru of America generously sponsored the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest and specifically, they supported its expansion and promotion in Camden County, which notoriously had low participation.  Without Subaru’s support, I may not have been able to visit ECO Charter School and the students may not have found out about the contest nor chose to enter.  These students now have a better understand of the wildlife that shares our state with us.

CWF would like to thank all the sponsors of the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest:

PSEG, Church & Dwight, NJEA, Subaru of America, Verizon, and ShopRite.

February 10, 2012

By Maria Grace, Education & Outreach Manager

Entries for the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest have been arriving at our office since early January.  The contest ended recently and now the hard work begins.  We need to sort, count, and organize over 2,000 entries and ready them for judgement day.  That job will be done by a biologist, an educator, and an artist, all who generously agreed to volunteer their time to choose the winners.  I don’t envy them since there are so many outstanding entries and the hard work by the students is evident in all of them.  It is refreshing to know that thousands of kids learned about NJ’s rarest wildlife residents through the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest.  Hopefully, that knowledge will be transferred into actions that help to preserve and protect NJ’s environment.

by Karena DiLeo, Wildlife Biologist

This fall ENSP, in partnership with CWF, completed a project to enhance a complex of vernal pools in Cape May County, creating habitat for state-endangered eastern tiger salamanders and other vernal pool breeding amphibians.  Since excavation of these twelve interconnecting pools was completed in October, and eastern tiger salamanders return to vernal pools to breed in early winter, we were unsure the salamanders would find our new pools in time to breed this year.  But on December 14^th, as we were adding leaves and debris to provide attachment points for the salamanders to lay their eggs, we noticed eastern tiger salamander egg masses in our pools!  The salamanders not only found our pools but found the only three sticks in the pool to attach their eggs!

To supplement this population and increase genetic diversity, egg masses collected from other sites have been introduced into these pools.  Egg mass were also collected as part of a headstarting program at the Cape May County Zoo.  Amphibians are very vulnerable to predation during their egg and early larval stage so by headstarting these salamanders and raising them in a safe environment, like special tanks at the Zoo, we are able to release larger individuals into the pools and increase survivorship.

This enhancement is part of a larger project to create an eastern tiger salamander stronghold in New Jersey by linking sites where this state-listed species are found and creating new metapopulations that allow for migration between sites.  Increasing connectivity of vernal pool habitat also allows us to plan for climate change and possible sea level rise by assisting these species’ migration towards more upland habitats.