New, exciting programs at Island Beach State Park this summer
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
Full moon on the beach by Eric Hance.
The Jersey Shore has changed immeasurably over the past century. But one place gives you the chance to recapture the beauty and wild feeling that once encompassed the entire coast – Island Beach State Park.
At Island Beach State Park, you can still find hands-on adventures along the Atlantic Coast and the Barnegat Bay. You can still be immersed in the nature of coastal beach dunes, maritime forest, and vast saltmarsh. You can still find wildlife like osprey, red fox, diamondback terrapins, piping plover, sea turtles, and an incredible array of fish and shellfish.
Red fox by Eric Hance.
We are excited to partner once again with New Jersey State Parks and offer incredible programsabout New Jersey’s natural world at Island Beach State Park.
A new feature has been added to the Moonlight Hikes this year. The hike will start in parking lot A13, through the thicket, over the dunes, onto the beach and the bonfire will be in front of the judges shack. A representative will be there to talk more about the shack’s history. The astronomers will be with us again this year too.
The Kayak Eco-Tour and the Sedge Islands Then & Now Tour have been merged into one program. The program is now called the Sedge Islands Eco-Tour and will be an all-encompassing kayak tour of the area.
Also new this year, Island Beach State Park has partnered with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center to offer Mock Stranding events. There will be four this year, two mock dolphin strandings and two mock sea turtle strandings.
Make sure to point your browser to the new, Island Beach Nature Programs website. Check out the list of programs. Bookmark the site and share it with your friends! Make sure to include some awesome, educational outdoor recreational plans for your summer vacation along the Jersey Shore!
Photo by Ray Hennessy.
Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
Encouraging a Conservation Ethic in Locals and Travelers Alike
by Kelly Triece, Wildlife Biologist
Even though Honduras is no larger than the state of Tennessee, the country is very diverse in landscape and wildlife. In a short period of time, you can travel from the Caribbean and lounge on its white sand beaches and then visit the high-altitude pine forests. You can also see the Honduran emerald, an endemic hummingbird in the arid dessert. The diversity in eco-types and warm climate makes Honduras a great candidate for ecotourism, a growing industry since the 1990’s.
While Honduras is very diverse in climate and landscape, for many years it has been a country based on agriculture. Cattle ranching and growing cash crops, such as coffee and bananas, are common. While subsistence farming is essential to the Honduran way of life, the wide-spread slash and burn method to create agricultural land is destroying many Honduran forests and other landscapes. Since the country is rich in forest, marine and other natural resources, ecotourism can have many benefits on the land and the economy. Ecotourism may have the potential to serve as another way of living for Hondurans.
Isidro (on left) and visitor at Isidro’s wildlife education preserve.
During my stay in Honduras, I had the opportunity to meet many local conservationists eager to make a living off environmental education and ecotourism. We met with one such man, named Isidro on the fourth day of our trip. Upon arrival, we were offered some fresh brewed coffee from his farm and then headed straight through the forest for a tour of his land. Isidro bought the land in the 1990’s and has since been managing the land for bird habitat. Isidro told us he originally bought the land to raise cattle, but eventually decided instead turn the land into a nature preserve for wildlife.
He now resides with his wife and children on the property and dreams to have an environmental education program, where people come to hike, eat fresh local tilapia and view wildlife. At the environmental center, adults and children will have the opportunity to go bird watching, take a hike and learn about the importance of the natural world. He grows citrus, avocados and other fresh fruits, leaving many fruits just for the birds as well as shade grown coffee. This form of ecotourism is a way to bring nature and people together. Once children and others care about the natural world around them, they too will work to preserve it. It also provides a sustainable way of living for those like Isidro and his family.
Migratory Bird Festival photo by Kelly Triece
Education about the environment through hands-on experience, as well as formal education, has the potential have a significant impact on local communities. While visiting the Universidad de las Agricultureal (Agriculture University) in Olancho we had the opportunity to take place in the Feria de Aves Migratorias (Migratory Bird Festival). The festival was put on by the Juniata Valley Audubon Society and Ruth Bennett, Ph.D. student at Cornell. The festival was part of a program that educates Honduran families that live very close to national parks. The program teaches children about the national park, local flora and fauna and its overall ecological importance.
Elementary children learning about migratory birds at the festival. Photo by Kelly Triece
We had the pleasure of attending the festival, where we colored pictures of birds with elementary children and spoke to the college students. Most of college students are majoring in Natural Resources and are eager to learn about becoming a biologist. Students also compete in bird photography contests, present posters and learn about the natural history of migratory songbirds. The festival brings education and awareness to migratory songbirds, especially the Golden-winged Warbler.
Jon Kauffman, Raptor Center Assistant Director of Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek poses with the elementary children at the festival. Photo by Kelly Triece
Through education of Hondurans and visitors alike, ecotourism has the potential to serve both the local communities and those visiting the country. Ecotourism should inform tourists about the environment and wildlife they are seeing, as well as help local populations understand the importance and value of their home. Through the combination of education and ecotourism, a sense of stewardship can be fostered by encouraging travelers and locals to be mindful of their natural resources and instill a sense of wonder about the natural world. For those who are educated about wildlife and the natural world, will often work toward preserving it as well.
Violet-crowned Wood Nymph. Photo by Laura Jackson
In Honduras, wildlife is all around. Melodious blackbirds, Social flycatchers and Violet-crowned wood nymphs, fly tree to tree in and among the villages and farm fields. When children, such as those at the migratory bird festival, learn the importance of biodiversity, they too will want to protect these amazing animals. Ecotourism not only provides a way to travelers to see exotic wildlife, it also provides a way of living for locals. It is through sustainable ecotourism and education that Honduras can continue to be rich in culture and wildlife.
2016 Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest Winners Represented on New Story Map
Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s 2016 Species on the Edge Art and Essay Contest gave fifth grade students from across the state the opportunity to research an endangered species and submit a drawing and essay written from the animal’s perspective. Meant to support awareness of endangered species in students, the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest encourages fifth graders to think like wildlife biologists as they gather research and learn about pressing environmental issues. The results of this contest are the subject of our newest story map!
This interactive map allows the user to click on icons to see participating schools, first and second winners from each county, and honorable mention entries. Scrolling through the text on the left side changes the content of the points on the map. A click on each map point brings up more information, like the number of classes from each school that submitted an entry. While scrolling through the list of winners, users can even click on the schools’ icons to bring up the students’ names, essays, and artwork.
The format of this story map is simple and easy to use, allowing for an interesting, interactive way to display the hard work of students across New Jersey.
CWF is Celebrating International Migratory Bird Day all Week Long
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
CWF’s blog on the piping plover is the second in a series of five to be posted this week in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). IMBD 2016 is Saturday, May 14. This #birdyear, we are honoring 100 years of the Migratory Bird Treaty. This landmark treat has protected nearly all migratory bird species in the U.S. and Canada for the last century.
Piping plover photo by Steve Byland
The piping plover – a small sand-colored shorebird that nests in New Jersey as part of its Atlantic Coast range from North Carolina up to Eastern Canada –weighs only one to two ounces and is about six to six and a half inches long. These tiny shorebirds migrate all the way to their wintering grounds along the coast of eastern Mexico and on Caribbean islands from Barbados to Cuba and the Bahamas.
Migrants can be seen in New Jersey from early March to late April and again from mid-July to the end of October. Females are the first to leave the breeding grounds, followed by males, then juveniles. Breeding plover “hot spots” in each coastal county of New Jersey are Gateway National Recreation Area – Sandy Hook Unit, Barnegat Light, North Brigantine Natural Area and Stone Harbor Point.
We see a number of migratory piping plovers in New Jersey because the Garden State is roughly in the middle of their breeding range. Todd Pover, CWF’s beach nesting bird project manager, reasons that we have a high number of Eastern/Atlantic Coast Canadian breeders that stop in New Jersey — based on band resights — albeit usually for just a day on their way north to breeding grounds. Therefore, New Jersey may play an important role in the piping plover life cycle not just for breeding, but for migration as well, which emphasizes the importance of protecting shorebirds in all phase of their lives or “full life-cycle conservation”.
Piping plovers face a number of threats, including intensive human recreational activity on beaches where they nest, high density of predators, and a shortage of highly suitable habitat due to development of barrier islands and extreme habitat alteration. Sea level rise and increased storm activity related to climate change will also likely lead to more flooding of nests.
Federally listed as a threatened species in 1986, piping plovers have since recovered in some areas of the breeding range. Yet piping plovers continue to struggle in New Jersey, where they are listed by the state as endangered. For more information about piping plover nesting results in New Jersey, please read Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s 2015 report.
Piping plover chick, photo credit: Asbury Park Press/Nancy A. Smith
CWF, in close coordination with NJDFW’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, oversees piping plover conservation throughout New Jersey. Staff and volunteers help erect fence and signage to protect nesting sites, monitor breeding pairs frequently throughout the entire nesting season from March to August, and work with public and municipalities to educate them on ways to minimize impacts. Although conservation efforts on the breeding ground remain the primary focus, in recent years, CWF has also begun to work with partners all along the flyway, in particular on the winter grounds in the Bahamas, to better protect the at-risk species during its entire life-cycle.
We are working hard to link students across the piping plover’s flyway through our Shorebird Sister School Network, where we pair up schools in New Jersey and the Bahamas, one of the most important wintering areas for Atlantic Coast piping plovers. Now, we are hopefully recruiting some Canadian students as well.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation will continue to find innovative ways to save the small migratory shorebird. In 2015, 108 pairs of piping plovers nested in New Jersey, a 17% increase from 2014. What will 2016 bring? Follow us on social media to learn more about the tireless efforts of a team of passionate, dedicated biologists working to save the iconic coastal species.
The Birds are Back – Red Knots Arrive Along the Bayshore
by David Wheeler, Executive Director
Photo by David Wheeler.
The 2016 mass shorebird migration is officially underway, with the thrilling spectacle of over 1,100 red knots spotted today at North Reeds Beach in Cape May County, New Jersey. A host of other shorebirds, including ruddy turnstones, dunlins, semipalmated sandpipers, and sanderlings, accompanied the red knots at this Delaware Bay hotspot.
The famished flocks fed on horseshoe crab eggs, while much larger laughing gulls congregated along the shoreline and a few crabs used the incoming waves to flip themselves over and return to the bay.
Photo by David Wheeler.
Researchers began seeing a large number of shorebirds arriving over the weekend, and today’s sightings are high for such an early date. A number of the red knots wear leg bands, with a few indicating departure points as far south as Argentina and Chile. Such lengthy migrations for those individual birds only add to the intrigue of their early-season arrivals in New Jersey.
Some red knots fly over 18,000 miles each year in their migrations from southern South America to the Canadian Arctic, with Delaware Bay serving as an irreplaceable stopover.
A team of international researchers and trained volunteers, led by Dr. Larry Niles, Conserve Wildlife Foundation, and the State Endangered and Nongame Species Program will spend the next month surveying and studying the at-risk shorebirds during their stay in New Jersey.
Infographic used from http://www.fws.gov/northeast/redknot/.
CWF Vernal Pool Walks Connect New Jersey Residents with Rare, Seasonal Marvel
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
Spring Peeper photo by Andrea Proctor.
We all know that “April showers bring May flowers,” but the earlier rains of March stir up beauties of a different kind. When the first spring raindrops hit the barely-thawed ground and night falls on the forest, frogs, salamanders, and toads emerge from their winter burrows. These amphibians – the spotted salamanders, wood frogs, spring peepers, and others – are anxious to get to their breeding pools and lay their eggs. The waters that they choose are called vernal pools because they fill with rainwater, snowmelt, and rising groundwater in early spring but then dry up as summer advances. The pools are thus temporary and cannot support fish, meaning fewer predators for the amphibian eggs and young.
In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are home to over 500 species. In New Jersey, these pools are critical habitat for amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, migratory waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. All 14 of New Jersey’s frog species use vernal pools to breed and two endangered salamander species breed exclusively in vernal pools, including Cape May’s eastern tiger salamander.
The new generation of amphibians must race to complete metamorphosis and leave the vernal pool before the water does. Under perfect conditions of warm, thawing, nighttime rains, there may be hundreds or even thousands of amphibians moving at once toward the same breeding pool. The darkness and the rain allow them to move stealthily over the landscape, hidden from predators like the owl and raccoon.
CWF’s Kelly Triece organized a series of walks through the vernal pools of Waterloo Village in Sussex County, New Jersey, and showed residents the unexpected creatures swimming in the pool’s shallow waters. Kelly led the exploration of an ecosystem that most people will never see! Participants listened to the songs of Spring Peepers and discovered salamander eggs, fairy shrimp, and other unique creatures as the evenings set in. Here are photos from her walks:
CWF biologist Kelly Triece educates participants on the natural resources of Waterloo.CWF biologist Kelly Triece looking for wildlife in the vernal pool.
Spotted Salamander Eggs! Photo by Kelly Triece.
Green Frog photo by Kelly Triece.
Examining the wildlife found in the vernal pool after dark.
Second Annual “Shell-a-Bration” brings volunteers to strengthen coast’s resiliency and habitat
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
Today, conservation organizations leading the efforts to restore New Jersey’s Delaware Bay beaches today organized the Second Annual “Shell-a-Bration” oyster reef building volunteer event.
Dedicated volunteers braved the elements and worked alongside American Littoral Societyand Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey to establish a near-shore whelk shell bar at Moores Beach in Maurice River Township along New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore. The shell bar was built to prevent sand loss from wind-driven waves. An approximately 200-foot oyster reef was constructed offshore to test whether the reef bars help reduce beach erosion and create calmer water for spawning horseshoe crabs.
“The Second Annual Shell-a-Bration truly celebrates the ecology, community, and culture of the Delaware Bayshore,” stated Captain Al Modjeski, Habitat Restoration Program Director, American Littoral Society. “It reinforces the connectivity between the natural and human-built bayshore communities through reef building and celebrates the significance of the Bay’s resources through restoration.”
“There are many strategies to defend our Delaware Bayshore, but one of the best and most productive are these oyster reefs,” stated Dr. Larry Niles, a biologist with American Littoral Society and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. “They not only replicate a lost but important habitat on Delaware Bay — reefs once covered much of the bayshore — but they provide just enough protection to make a difference in how long our beaches persist against the unrelenting forces of nature. In a way, we are fighting nature with nature.”
Shorebirds, like the federally listed Red Knot, depend on an uninterrupted supply of horseshoe crab eggs when they stopover in Delaware Bay during their migration. In recent years, countless horseshoe crab eggs have been lost because of the devastating storms that swept away the beaches they depend on.
The new oyster reef will attenuate waves but still allow for horseshoe crab breeding. In existing areas where crabs can breed without interruption, like creek mouths protected by sand shoals or rock jetties, egg densities can exceed ten times the egg densities on unprotected beaches.
“New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore hosts an annual wildlife spectacle of global significance – the time-honored migration of Red Knots to reach the eggs of these ancient horseshoe crabs,” said David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey Executive Director. “Red Knots fly to New Jersey’s Delaware Bay from as far away as Tierra del Fuego in South America to feed on horseshoe crab eggs. Volunteer projects like the Shell-a-bration help connect the people of New Jersey with these endangered shorebirds and the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world.”
Last year, over 130 volunteers and veterans built the South Reeds Beach oyster at the First Annual Shell-a-Bration. Veterans Day on the Bay 2015 dedicated the South Reeds Beach oyster reef to all veterans and highlighted veteran involvement in the effort to restore New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore. Event attendees honored their own military veterans by inscribing that special person’s name on a shell and placing that shell on “Veterans Reef.” Guests also helped study the wildlife living in this new reef with hands-on, interactive marine science activities like seining, trapping, trawling, and species identification.
Our “assembly line” of volunteers all working together to build the reef.
Veterans Reef and the Moores Beach Oyster Reef are two of the many projects that American Littoral Society and Conserve Wildlife Foundation are working on to restore the ecology and economy of the Delaware Bayshore.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, American Littoral Society and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and the New Jersey Recovery Fund to remove 8,000 tons of debris and added 45,000 tons of sand to the beaches just before the annual spring arrival of the red knot in 2013.
Additional work after 2012 restored another mile of shoreline, including two new beaches of poor quality even before Sandy. To date, the groups have placed 85,000 cubic yards of sand and restored seven beaches along New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore. In early 2016, groups began another phase of restoration work at Cook’s Beach and Kimble’s Beach in anticipation of the return of the horseshoe crabs and red knots in May.
CWF leading the charge to provide free recycling and disposal of derelict fishing gear throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
Abandoned crab pots unnecessarily trap fish and harm other marine life. Photo credit: NOAA
Conserve Wildlife Foundation is proud to collaborate with the Fishing for Energy partnership — an innovative public-private effort that provides commercial fishermen a no-cost solution to recycle old and unusable fishing gear — to recycle an estimated 26,000 pounds of derelict crab pots and other marine debris collected throughout the Barnegat Bay watershed as part of a removal project over the next two years. On Friday, we celebrated our new project with our Fishing for Energy partners at a press event in Waretown, New Jersey.
Abandoned or lost fishing equipment can threaten marine wildlife, like diamondback terrapins, in a number of ways, including by damaging ecosystems as nets and heavy equipment settle upon the ocean floor and through “ghost fishing,” wherein gear continues to catch fish and other wildlife even if abandoned or lost. Gear also can impact navigational safety, damage fishing equipment and boats that are in use, and have economic repercussions on fishing and shipping enterprises and coastal communities.
In just six days, RJ Cericola and other local fishermen have collected over 160 abandoned crab pots!
Look at all the abandoned crab pots removed so far!
“By recycling thousands of dangerous abandoned crab pots, our team is protecting vulnerable wildlife such as the diamondback terrapin, which inhabit the same shallow coastal waters in Barnegat Bay where pots are often lost or abandoned,” said Stephanie Egger, CWF wildlife biologist and principal investigator. “Terrapin population declines, reduced growth, and changes in sex ratios have been directly attributed to by-catch mortality in crab pots. We are so thrilled to work with local fishermen and all of our project partners, particularly the Fishing for Energy program, NOAA, and the New Jersey Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership.”
This two-year marine debris removal project, led by CWF and supported by a NOAA Marine Debris Program Community-based Marine Debris Removal grant, is working with local crabbers to locate and remove more than 1,000 derelict crab pots from Barnegat Bay. As part of this project, CWF is partnering with the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, Monmouth University, Stockton University, ReClam the Bay, New Jersey Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (NJCWRP), and the recreational and commercial fishing community to identify, retrieve, and inventory derelict crab pots. The project is also conducting education and outreach activities on the impacts of derelict crab pots including the development of a lesson plan for schools, presentations for the community, developing informational print materials, and collaborating with the WeCrab education and outreach project led by the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve/Rutgers University and Stockton University.
MATES students collecting data on the derelict crab pots.
“NJCWRP is proud to support this coalition of partners working on innovative projects to benefit the ecological quality of Barnegat Bay,” said Russell Furnari, chair, NJCWRP. “Removing thousands of these derelict crab pots not only enhances habitat, but also reduces navigational hazards, human health issues, and fishery impacts. We are thrilled to help provide outreach and educational campaigns to the local community, which will prevent additional lost pots and promote a deeper understanding of the bay’s habitat and wildlife.”
The Fishing for Energy partnership provided funds for the transportation and disposal of the gear found in Barnegat Bay through Covanta’s Energy-from-Waste facility in Union County, New Jersey. At the Covanta site, any metal found on the debris will be recycled and the remainder of the traps converted into clean, renewable energy that will power area homes and businesses. The recycled materials will be processed and converted into enough energy to power 2,200 homes for a month!
From left to right: CWF’s Stephanie Egger, Covanta’s Meg Morris, NFWF’s Courtney McGeachy, and Covanta’s Kristin Blake.
Fishing for Energy is a nationwide partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; the NOAA Marine Debris Program; Covanta, a New Jersey-headquartered sustainable waste and energy solutions company; and Schnitzer Steel Industries, one of the largest metal recycling companies in the United States. The partnership offers conveniently located collection bins for disposal of old fishing gear, making it easy for fishing communities – even small coastal communities like Waretown and Mantoloking – to deal with the issue of derelict gear. As a result, the partnership reduces the amount of gear that ends up in U.S. coastal waters and recycles and converts the remaining gear and debris into clean, renewable energy at Covanta’s Energy-from-Waste facilities.
Making Headlines: News Coverage from the Press Event:
Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest will run from February 12, 2016 to March 25, 2016
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
New Jersey might be the most densely populated state, but it is also home to a diverse array of wildlife. From bobcats in the north to Eastern tiger salamanders in the south, many different species of wildlife live in the variety of habitats found in New Jersey. Our photography contest is meant to showcase the love for and need to protect the endangered and threatened wildlife that call New Jersey home.
The “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest is free to enter! Two grand prize winners — one youth and one adult winner — will receive $250. The People’s Choice Winner will win a canoe trip for two on the Batsto River in Wharton State Forest courtesy of Pinelands Adventures.
Submit your photos by 8 PM on Friday, March 25, 2016 in the following categories:
New Jersey’s Rarest Residents: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife Species Only
Sandy Hook Christmas Bird Counters Delighted by White Pelicans
by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
“American White Pelican” by Manjith Kainickara – originally posted to Flickr as American White Pelican.
My alarm was set for 4:00 AM on December 20, a Sunday morning. I woke up excited and eager to start the day. My phone started going off with text messages from friends about our meeting location. As any birder will tell you, this scenario is far from uncommon — we love our birds! and will likely wake up at any time on any day for a chance to add another species to our life list.
I woke up early to look for owls to tally in the Sandy Hook Christmas Bird Count (Highlands and Atlantic Highlands territories are included in the Sandy Hook count). Our team drove through Hartshorne Woods Park in Highlands, New Jersey, in search of the nocturnal raptors. I thought the highlight of my day would be hearing two great horned owls calling to each other as first light came over the woods. While this was exciting (and definitely worth getting up at 4:00 AM for), I was in for another treat.
By 7:00 AM, our team grew into a group of six “bird nerds.” We were surveying the Navesink River, counting waterfowl, herons, songbirds and gulls, when Monmouth County Audubon Society‘s Rob Fanning yelled “three white pelicans”and sure enough, the pelicans were flying around the Oceanic Bridge in Rumson! I missed them the first time, but luckily the birds came back around and we were all able to watch them fly and swim through the scope. We shouted, laughed, smiled and high fived each other. One of my favorite aspects about birding is how quickly wildlife brings people together. Suddenly, we were the dream team.
Three White Pelicans. Photo by Lisa Fanning
According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American white pelicans are one of the largest North American birds — considerably larger than a bald eagle, but smaller than a California condor. They feed from the water’s surface, dipping their beaks into the water to catch fish, such as minnows, carp and suckers. White pelicans often upend, like a large dabbling duck, in this process. They do not plunge-dive the way Brown Pelicans do.
They are superb soarers (they are among the heaviest flying birds in the world) and often travel long distances in large flocks by soaring. Adult American White Pelicans are snowy white with black flight feathers visible only when the wings are spread.
Northern breeding populations migrate to southern California, the Gulf States, Mexico, and Central America. White pelican populations breeding in Texas and Mexico are resident populations.
White Pelicans in Flight. Photo by Lisa Fanning
The pelicans, first spotted by Rob, were the first Sandy Hook Christmas Bird Count (CBC) record in the 39-year count history! We saw the “three amigos” again later in the day at Many Mind Creek in Atlantic Highlands flying towards Staten Island.
Incidentally, three white pelicans were reported on December 27 in Connecticut. Our team wonders if those are our buddies. Monmouth County Audubon Society’s Lisa Fanning also stated that there have been up to five in Maryland, but she believes a small population may winter there. There are a number of winter records in eBird, mostly of a handful of birds (one report of up to 21 on January 1, 2012) at Blackwater NWR in Maryland.
During the 39th Sandy Hook CBC, 101 species were tallied. Each year, from December 14 through January 5, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas collect data used by scientists to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. CBC informs strategies to protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people too. Find a count near you on Audubon’s website.
Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
