The Bat Team setting up a mist-net in the Pine Barrens
Surveying for bats means staying up late and spending a lot of time in the dark. Our evenings begin a few hours before sunset, giving us just enough time to set up for the night. We start off by scouting locations to set up our mist-nets which we use to capture bats. These fine nets, ranging from 8 – 30 ft across and 16 ft high, are attached to tall poles stationed along corridors which bats often use to forage for food. With our nets ready to be deployed, we use the last of the daylight to set up our work station where we will process the bats we hopefully catch.
Long-legged spider crab (Libinia emarginata). Photo courtesy of Save Coastal Wildlife.
A special thanks to Juliet Kaszas-Hoch for spotlighting the most recent episode of CWF’s podcast, State of Change, as part of her Art & Entertainment Column on TheSandpaper.net!
The episode, Our Changing Coast, takes a deep dive into how our ocean species could be affected by climate change. CWF Multimedia Producer Matt Wozniak interviewed Dr. Thomas Grothues, a research professor with Rutgers University who specializes in abundance and distribution of fish, as well as Joe Reynolds, the head of Save Coastal Wildlife, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting New Jersey’s coastal species and educating the public about them.
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.
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.
COVID-19 has changed our lives in virtually every possible way over the last few months. Our relationship to wildlife is no different. This three-part series will explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown on wildlife in New Jersey and across the world. Be sure to also check out our podcast on COVID-19 and wildlife.
From my car window, I observed as many red foxes in a recent week as I had seen in the previous year combined. And it wasn’t just fox I was seeing more of. Wild turkeys, raccoons, migratory songbirds – I was seeing them all in greater abundance since the COVID-19 pandemic restricted most of us to our homes for nearly all of our waking hours.
You don’t have to travel far to see amazing wildlife. Our Backyard Safari video series will show you stunning perspectives on wildlife living right in your neighborhood.
Join producer Matt Wozniak for a new adventure each week. This week, Cricket Combat will have you on the edge of your seat. You might not know it, but crickets are fierce fighters! Their pitched one-on-one battles can take place just steps from your back door.
Adventure awaits just outside your door on a backyard safari!
You don’t have to travel far to see amazing wildlife. Our new Backyard Safari video series will show you stunning perspectives on wildlife living right in your neighborhood.
Join producer Matt Wozniak for a new adventure each week. First up, The Antlion’s Trap gives you an up-close-and-personal look at a mighty predator relentlessly trapping its prey, in a dramatic scene that could take place just about anywhere in New Jersey. Thankfully, that predator happens to be only an inch long!
Enriching Learning Experiences while Enhancing Biodiversity
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Sunflower in bloom out front of Bass River Elementary School.
Bass River Elementary is a small school located in Bass River Township, Burlington County. Students and faculty are passionate about protecting wildlife and the habitat that’s required to survive. From headstarting hatching N. diamondback terrapins, composting, and raising monarch caterpillars, they know that hands on education is key to engaging future generations to care about our environment. We knew it would be the perfect place to create a wildflower garden to provide food for nectar feeding insects! Continue reading “Bass River Students Enhance Pollinator Habitat”
The monarch butterfly gets a lot of attention these days, it’s large, showy and easy to spot. My love of butterflies started with my Monarch internship years ago. Monarchs are a great way to get people interested in butterflies of all kinds. Unlike the monarch the Frosted elfin, isn’t all that easy to find. There are four species of butterfly listed as endangered in New Jersey and three listed as threatened in New Jersey.
The Frosted elfins are beautiful in an understated way and approximately an inch in size. They are a NJ threatened species. It is locally rare and found in isolated populations. Their major food and host plant is (Baptisia tinctoria). Baptisia can be found in dry clearings and open areas often along power-line right of ways and roadsides.
Can you find the Frosted elfin in this photo?
Baptisia with Frosted Elfin May 3, 2017@L.Smith
I went out last week to search for the Frosted elfins. I was lucky to see six adults as it was a windy day and not the best survey conditions. The Frosted elfin is on the left side of the plant hanging upside down. You can see how well they blend in with the environment.
The below photo was taken by ENSP biologist Robert Somes in 2015 while we were out surveying. This photo gives a close up look at the butterfly which had was oviposting eggs on the leaf of the Baptisia.
Frosted Elfin with recently oviposited egg on Baptisia plant@ Robert Somes
Now is a great time of year to see all different species of butterflies. Don’t forget to plant native species as food, nectar and host plants for butterflies as well as other invertebrate species.
First bee in continental U.S. added to endangered list
By Kendall Miller
The rusty patched bumble bee has been locally extinct from the Garden State since the late 1900s. Once a common sight, the species has been eliminated from 87% of its entire range and has been seen only in isolated pockets of its once wide range.
But finally, the long awaited day has come – the rusty patched bumble bee has officially been added to the Endangered Species List.
The Rusty Patch Bumble Bee is found only in isolated pockets of its former range. Photo taken from Xerces Society.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation first petitioned for the listing of the rusty patch in 2013. The decision to list was finally reached in September of this past year, and the Rule was officially published on January 11, 2017. The official Ruling brings the species under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, which will enable it to receive much needed federal protection.
Following the listing of seven yellow-faced bees found only in the isolated archipelago of Hawaii this September, the rusty patched is the first bee to join the ESL that is native to the continental U.S. It seems as if it has not been a good couple of months for bees, however this perception is far from the truth. Pollinators are on the decline across the globe as a result of pesticides, habitat loss and degradation, and the spread of pests and diseases. Listing pollinators for the first time means that their plight is recognized, and it empowers those who are working to protect these species from extinction.
Rare find, this is a species that has suffered drastic declines since the late 1990’s. Photo courtesy of Dan Mullen.
The multitude of ways that we rely on pollinators – for food, clothes, ecosystem functioning – means that their peril is our own. In New Jersey, the service provided by *wild pollinators is valued at $43 million; in the U.S. as a whole, it is $3 billion annually. Since the rusty patch (along with other species of bumble bees) is an excellent pollinator of New Jersey crops like blueberries, cranberries, and tomatoes, it is sorely missed from the Garden State.
This listing is another small step for the protection of native bees and pollinators everywhere.
Helping pollinators takes three steps:
1. Plant flowering nectar sources spring through fall
2. Provide safe nesting and overwintering habitat
3. A pesticide free environment
*Wild pollinators are native bee species like the rusty patch bumble bee that have evolved with their native ecosystems. Honey bees that are commercially used for agriculture pollination services and honey production are not native to the United States.
