A wild turkey spotted in a Manitoban provincial park. Photo by Vince Pahkala.
Over the years, the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
has been widely domesticated for food and has become part of this country’s
heritage for Thanksgiving dinner. There is evidence that Native Americans have
been hunting turkeys as early as 1000 A.D. Each year, over 46 million turkeys
are eaten each year on Thanksgiving – but how much do you really know about the
turkey?
Instead of our holiday emblem, the wild turkey nearly found
a drastically different role in American culture. Ben Franklin proposed it to
be the official bird of the United States, and though some say he did it in
jest, he praised the turkey as “a true original native of America…a bird of
courage…and a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle!
Monarch butterfly refueling in Cape May as it prepares for fall migration to Mexico. Photo courtesy of Lindsey Brendel.
Over the last decade, the monarch butterfly,Danaus plexippus, population has declined. Climate change has affected weather conditions, the winters are colder and wetter while the summers are hot and drier. This disturbs their survival rate, especially during their long annual migration. Other factors like pesticides and a loss of habitat to human development further threaten the monarch population.
The monarch butterfly migration is mysterious and magnificent. Every fall season, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles from their breeding grounds in the United States and Canada to escape the cold winters. Monarchs in Eastern North America spend the winter months in the Transverse Neo-Volcanic Mountain Range in Michoacan, Mexico. To reach their destination, monarch butterflies migrate over 3,000 miles, utilizing the air currents and making many stops along the way.
A beached humpback whale, found on the bay side of the inlet just across the Townsends Inlet Bridge. Photo by Seven Mile Times.
On Thursday, November 5, 2020, a 20-25 foot juvenile humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was found dead floating near a sandbar in Townsends Inlet in Cape May County, New Jersey. The large mammal had apparently been dead for several days. It was first spotted around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
This tragic event follows even more heartbreaking news about Right Whales, the most endangered large whale species in the world!
The North Atlantic Right Whale.
We are very sad by the announcement by researchers at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium that the estimated number of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) remaining in the world is just 356, not 400 as previously thought. It is truly upsetting news. The population continues to be in decline, and the decline is accelerating.
Our website offers a unique look into the lives of at-risk wildlife species that our viewers may otherwise never see, like watching the birth of the season’s first baby osprey in real time on the Barnegat Light Osprey Cam.
Connecting people to nature through our website is a vital part of Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s mission.
That’s why we have been thrilled by the record numbers of scientists, students, educators, and wildlife enthusiasts of all ages who have used this resource, especially since the start of the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people like you are inspired and enlightened by viewing our species guide, our wildlife webcams, and our conservation project pages each year.
Our custom management system was ‘cutting edge’ when it was launched over 10 years ago, but it relies upon software that will be unsupported by the end of this year.
This fall, we must redesign our website and finally make it mobile-friendly! Viewers like you will benefit in many ways.
Whether you are at home or on the go, more people than ever are accessing our website on your hand-held devices.
You have asked us to make it easier and quicker to report rare species, to access wildlife lesson plans, to register for events, to enter our contests, and to easily access our timely updates.
People of all ages can be inspired and educated by our compelling new videos, thought-provoking podcasts, vibrant photography, and insightful blog stories.
Generous supporters have offered to match the first $10,000 in gifts received, dollar for dollar, which means we need to raise $10,000 to reach our $20,000 goal.
Our new custom-designed website is a major,
long-term investment, and one we don’t take lightly. Even though $20,000 is a
very fair market price, it’s still a huge outlay for a nonprofit like ours! But
it’s a step we need to take.
Our website offers a great wealth of information
to visitors like you – webcams, videos, podcasts, photos, field guides, and
blog posts. But those expansive contents also demand an ample “back end” – the
portion of the website that programmers code and manage. These thousands of
files and countless lines of code make transforming our website especially
challenging.
We can’t wait to better showcase our incredible wildlife photography and video to tell the stories of our work protecting species like bald eagles, diamondback terrapins, ospreys, bobcats, pollinators, and beach nesting birds.
The team from Cape Tech stands with their newly erected Osprey Platform.
New Jersey’s osprey population has a wonderful group of young biologist looking out for them in Cape May.
Cape Tech’s Natural Science Technology class recently took the initiative to install an osprey platform in the saltmarshes of the Delaware Bay to help out these imperiled raptors.With some help from CWF, the project helped to engage students to actively participate in an interdisciplinary bit of wildlife conservation.
Preview the article by Deborah Valletto below and continue reading on PressOfAtlanticCity.com
CREST HAVEN — Anticipation and
excitement were rising in early October for Cape Tech students in the
Natural Science Technology class. Hanna Toft, Natural Science Technology
teacher and FFA advisor, shared, “The perfect tide to complete our
project is approaching.” On Oct. 9, Toft gathered the students,
equipment, materials and boat to go into the local saltmarsh and install
a new osprey plaftform for the local wildlife.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ contacted Toft and a few other volunteers regarding their NJ Osprey Project. According to Toft, the class patrols the local area for osprey data. It was a match, and they agreed to do it.
Halloween is right around the corner and of course that means preparing for the age-old tradition of carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. An event that brings joy to your household and trick or treaters on Halloween night can also be beneficial to wildlife! Instead of tossing the seeds and guts of your pumpkins into the trash, save the seeds to feed wildlife in your own backyard.
As the weather gets cooler and food becomes scarcer, wildlife species like migrating songbirds and small mammals seek out fall nuts and berries to help get them through the cold weather months. Migrating songbirds need energy to fuel their long migration south and molt into their winter plumage. Songbirds also need to store more fat to help resist the cold. Pumpkin seeds are full of essential nutrients and trace minerals that could be hard to come by in the winter.
Small mammals like squirrels and chipmunks can also benefit from pumpkin seeds. Although you may not see as many squirrels and chipmunks in the winter, they do not hibernate. Their activity slows down considerably in the winter and they rely on the food they stored in the fall. Food caching is a common practice among small mammals which allows them access to food when the ground is frozen or covered in snow. Additionally, pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack to help store fat for the winter.
There are many ways you could provide these seeds to wildlife. The pumpkin seeds can be added to a bird seed mix or just sprinkled on the ground. They do not need to be baked or dried, just left in a small bowl accessible to your backyard critters. If carving pumpkins is not your aesthetic, wildlife will also enjoy the pumpkin or squash in its entirety.
This is a great way to use every part of your Halloween pumpkins and be left with no waste! After Halloween, the pumpkins can also be composted at a local facility to help benefit the environment. Let’s make this year a Happy Halloween for communities and for wildlife!
Meaghan Lyon is a biologist with Conserve Wildlife Foundation.
Many of New Jersey’s streams have been manipulated by being impounded with dams or weirs, or otherwise redirected over time – decreasing their ecological habitat diversity and blocking fish passage for native brook trout and other species. Restoring these streams to a more natural state can greatly benefit wildlife.
The Land Conservancy of New Jersey, along with assistance from Conserve Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Urbani Fisheries, worked on a stream restoration project on a highly modified part of stream flowing through the West Brook Preserve in West Milford this summer. This vital 170-acre preserve holds the headwaters of the West Brook, one of the primary sources of water for the Wanaque Reservoir, which provides drinking water for two million New Jerseyans.
It appears that sometime in the 1950s, part of the West Brook was taken out of the original stream channel and redirected to a channelized ditch that ran alongside it. There were also several culverts installed in the stream (including one that was the size of a small grain silo) which restricted flow and acted as a blockade to fish passage. In addition, one of the unnamed tributaries leading to the mainstream channel had a pond where water was being held back by a weir, resulting in elevated water temperatures. The original channel and tributaries also needed an enhancement of a thalweg, the line of lowest elevation that the stream follows as well as the addition of pools, riffles and runs.
Removal of large instream culvert that blocked fish passage and restricted flow.
A healthy stream should have an established thalweg – a connected floodplain – as well as pools, riffles, and runs. All of these features are important in the function of the stream. For example, pools provide areas for various aquatic species to seek refuge, while riffles aid in the reoxygenation of the water.
Tributary to the West Brook one day after streamwork. In the picture above it shows a constructed pointbar which causes the stream to naturally meander and protects the banks.Tributary to the West Brook one day after streamwork. In the picture above it shows the enhanced pools and riffles.
The ultimate goals of the West Brook project included restoring the native fish habitat, improving the overall water quality, and rejuvenating the macroinvertebrate population.
The work done to accomplish this included:
Restoring the river back to the original stream channel.
Enhancing features along the whole length of the stream.
Creating wetland pools out of the old ditch and within the riparian zone.
Removing five culverts and the small weir.
After the restoration, it appeared some of the site is now suitable for native brook trout, and the project has greatly improved habitat diversity in a stream that flows into a Category One trout production stream. New Jersey Fish & Wildlife and The Land Conservancy will continue to monitor the project.
Nicole Porter is a biologist with Conserve Wildlife Foundation.
Horseshoe crab blood is hypersensitive to dangerous bacteria that can develop in injectable medicines and vaccines.
In the race for a vaccine for COVID-19, horseshoe crabs – a New Jersey coastal fixture both now and eons ago in the days before the dinosaurs – may play a vital role.
This video story by ABC Action News features CWF Executive Director David Wheeler and top shorebird scientist Dr. Larry Niles in telling this science fiction-like tale.
Plover chick next to a seabeach amaranth plant. Photo by Alice Brennan.
Despite hundreds of trash bins conveniently located on the beach, litter is still found in the sand every day. Many people enjoy their summer days at a key beach nesting bird site in Sea Girt. Beach goers leave behind trash that litters the crucial environment. These include plastic bottles, bags, cans, wrappers, straws, fishing line, etc. Plastic pollution effects the surrounding environment and wildlife that inhabits it.
At the Sea Girt beach, piping plovers (Charadrius melodus), an endangered beach nesting bird species, travels hundreds of miles to breed and nest during the summertime. This species is directly affected by the amount of litter that pollutes the beach. Every year shore birds, and many other species, ingest plastic or get entangled in fishing line which lessens their chance of survival.
Seabeach Amaranth. Photo by Meghan Kolk.
Another significant endangered species located at Sea Girt beach is seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus). This annual plant needs a healthy ecosystem free of debris to thrive every season. It is important to maintain a strong coastal habit for reproduction and population growth.
Twenty weeks of litter was collected at the Sea Girt beach with approximately 200 plastic straws, 50 plastic bags, 75 bottles, and 25 pieces of fishing line. Pollution on the beach can be prevented if patrons are mindful of properly disposing their trash at the end of their trip.
20 weeks worth of beach trash recovered from the Sea Girt beach.
Mary Emich is an assistant biologist with Conserve Wildlife Foundation.
Horseshoe crabs spawning at Thompsons Beach in May 2015. Photo by Joe Smith.
Perhaps the most remarkable creature to call the
waters off New Jersey home is older than the dinosaurs, helps
balance the state’s ecosystem and looks like it crept out of the
“Aliens” movie franchise.
Now the horseshoe
crab is playing a vital role in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine,
with billions of doses expected to be produced worldwide over the next
several years.
“It’s absolutely worthwhile for horseshoe crabs to be used in the
development of a vaccine,” said David Wheeler, executive director of the
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. “They play an extraordinary
role in public health. But they are irreplaceable in New Jersey and
Delaware for how they keep the bird population alive.”
