Category: Wildlife News

This October, CWF biologists began work on an exciting new pilot project led by The Wetlands Institute to help fill knowledge gaps in the breeding productivity and habitat use of American oystercatchers across New Jersey.

While a significant portion of New Jersey’s oystercatchers nest in marsh habitats, intensive monitoring has historically focused on beach-nesting pairs along the Atlantic Coast due to logistical and resource constraints. In recent years, CWF has played a leading role to gradually expand monitoring to include previously unmonitored sites along the Delaware and Raritan Bays. Now, through this new collaboration with The Wetlands Institute, we are extending our efforts to the estuarine islands and marshes within the Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area.

Over the next year, CWF biologists will work closely with The Wetlands Institute to survey, monitor, and band oystercatchers in these marsh systems to better understand their breeding productivity, habitat needs, and the conservation challenges they face. As sea-level rise, flooding, and erosion threaten the health and resilience of our state’s marsh ecosystems, understanding the needs of marsh-dependent species like oystercatchers is becoming increasingly important. The findings of this pilot effort will help refine monitoring strategies for marsh habitats and guide future management decisions, ultimately contributing to more comprehensive management of New Jersey’s oystercatcher population.

Want to help? If you’ve spotted an oystercatcher around the Barnegat Bay, we want to hear from you! CWF recently launched an Oystercatcher Tracker to document AMOY sightings throughout the marshes of Barnegat Bay. Every report helps us better understand oystercatcher distribution and habitat use across the region. Click here to access the survey.

Funding for this project is made possible through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative.

Earlier this month, the 25th annual American Oystercatcher Working Group meeting was held in New Jersey at the Cape May Point Arts and Science Center. Staff from CWF, The Wetlands Institute, and NJDEP Fish and Wildlife, formed the local organizing committee that helped plan, host, and stage the meeting. Nearly 125 Working Group members attended the meeting either in-person or virtually over the course of two days.

Continue reading “American Oystercatcher Working Group Meeting – 25th Anniversary Edition”

by CWF Senior Biologist, Larissa Smith

On September 28th a bald eagle with a green band was reported in the Princeton area and again on October 5th, by Susan VanderKam.  The code on the band was D99 an eagle who fledged from the 2014 Duke Farms nest.  In 2014 the Duke Farms pair raised and fledged three eaglets while being viewed by thousands of people on the eagle cam. The eaglets were banded by state biologists at six weeks of age.  D99 a male and the youngest, D98 a male and the second youngest and a female, EOO who was the oldest eaglet. They all fledged in June, 2014.

On August 25th, 2014,  D98 was found dead in Little Sebago, Maine. For more details on what occurred prior to his death see the blog post.  E00 the only female has been resighted once and that was on the Duke Farm eagle cam.  On February 20th, 2018 as a four year old eagle she returned to her natal nest, while the Duke Farms pair was incubating. The female eventually chased her away.

D99 has been resighted several times since fledging. He was seen in January 2019 at Mercer Lakes

In January 2021 he was seen feeding on a deer carcass in Monmouth County.

D99 is now 11 years old and is most likely in a breeding pair and nesting. On September 28th he was perched in a tree with another eagle.  Perhaps this is his mate? It would be very exciting to know that he is nesting and we’ll keep you updated.

The New Jersey Endangered Species List just got expanded, which leaves more data to be submitted to the New Jersey Wildlife Tracker! The NJ Wildlife Tracker is our go-to place for submitting: 1) rare wildlife species sightings as well as 2) observations of wildlife (of any kind) on roadways.

Our biggest submissions of commonly known species are bobcats, box turtles, and Bald Eagles! Bobcats are found in over half of New Jersey counties and are native wild cats historically found throughout New Jersey. 

We also have a significant number of commonly known species that were added to the Endangered Species List that you might be surprised to see listed there. A few of these that you might be familiar with include: Green Heron, Purple Martin, Northern Diamond-backed Terrapins, Bottlenose Dolphins, and the Monarch Butterfly.

A fact that is even more surprising than this precious butterfly being listed as Special Concern is that ALL bat species in New Jersey are now on the list, Yikes! If you happen to encounter on any of these precious bat species injured, please contact a NJ Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator who treats bats. If you would like to learn more about how New Jersey Fish and Wildlife are combatting this, you can read all about it on their website NJDEP| Fish & Wildlife | Bat Conservation. 

Lastly, if you encounter any wild animal, please treat them with respect and ensure your safety first before attempting to assist it. To view the full list of endangered species, click here: NJDEP| Fish & Wildlife | New Jersey’s Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species. To view a comprehensive guide to New Jerseys Endangered and Threatened Species, click here: Rare Species Field Guide / Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ

Over the past twenty years, I’ve had the privilege of watching New Jersey’s osprey population more than double—from roughly 400 nesting pairs to over 800. While our work to protect and expand nesting habitat has played a role in their comeback, the true foundation of their recovery has been a healthy marine ecosystem and an abundance of prey.

In recent years, however, that picture has shifted. Brood reduction and declining productivity are becoming increasingly common, tied directly to the reduced availability of Atlantic menhaden in nearshore waters. Menhaden have a long history of heavy exploitation, and their scarcity today is once again testing the resilience of ospreys.

Continue reading “Ospreys and Menhaden: A Shared History of Abundance and Decline”

by: Larissa Smith, CWF Senior Biologist

The New Jersey Bald Eagle nesting season is finished for the year, so both the eagles and volunteer nest monitors now get a few months rest.  Conserve Wildlife Foundation and the NJ ENSP hosted the annual eagle volunteer get-together at the Assunpink WMA this past Saturday.  Forty-five volunteers attended and enjoyed discussing the season with fellow nest monitors and NJ eagle project staff.

On behalf of the NJ Eagle Project we thank all the 160 nest monitors who are dedicated to monitoring and protecting the NJ bald eagle population.

Thank you to Barb & Rick McKee for providing sandwiches and everyone who generously brought delicious side dishes and desserts to share.

Since 2006, the Women & Wildlife Awards have honored powerful voices in conservation—from scientists and educators to policy advocates—who have helped restore bald eagles, brook trout, golden-winged warblers, and more across New Jersey. These leaders have preserved thousands of acres, launched statewide education initiatives, and inspired countless others to act.

Continue reading “Honoring Powerful Voices in Conservation: 2025 Women & Wildlife Awards”

Since my last post on June 25, where I said this year was shaping up to be a “terrible one” for ospreys in New Jersey has held true. Since then I’ve watched as nestlings are abandoned and left to starve by their parents and die from starvation via live streaming cameras. It is heartbreaking. We’re seeing nest failure rates higher than they have ever been in most coastal colonies. Even worse, many others monitoring ospreys in surrounding states are reporting similar outcomes. Atlantic menhaden—typically a staple in the osprey’s diet—are far less abundant this season.

Continue reading “Photo from the Field: Starving at the Shore”

Northern diamondback terrapin nesting season may be coming to end, but Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Great Bay Terrapin Project volunteers are still hard at work. During the peak of their nesting season, in June and July, they drive up and down Great Bay Boulevard in Little Egg Harbor Township in search of terrapins crossing the road. 

Summertime is peak terrapin crossing season, with females coming to shore to lay their eggs in early to mid-summer and hatchlings finding their way back home in August. The problem is, they often end up on the road, where they run the risk of being crushed by passing vehicles. On Great Bay Boulevard, a coastal road with few speed limit signs and a great number of terrapins, this is especially troublesome. 

Continue reading “Ensuring More Terrapins Live to See Tomorrow”

Horseshoe crabs are ancient creatures, having first evolved hundreds of millions of years ago. Since then, they haven’t changed much, but the world around them certainly has. Human activity has taken a toll on horseshoe crabs- for years, people have been harvesting them for use as bait and in medical applications. New Jersey now has a moratorium preventing this from continuing, but their population is still lower than it should be. Luckily, something as simple as flipping a horseshoe crab off of its back can help to restore their numbers. I recently had the privilege of joining Larissa Smith, Senior Wildlife Biologist at CWF, on a trip to the Delaware Bay. In partnership with ReTurn the Favor, she regularly visits beaches that are rife with stranded horseshoe crabs and helps them get back to the water. At the nightly high tide, hundreds of crabs come up to shore to spawn, but when the tide goes out, many of them get stuck on their backs or buried in vegetation, unable to return to their habitats. Rescuing them can be as easy as turning them back onto their legs, but others need a bit more help.

On this day, we started with just a few unfortunate crabs that needed assistance getting off of their backs. We picked them up, flipped them, and off they went. But then, as we turned from the beach to a marshy creek, we were met with hundreds of crabs trapped in the grass. At first, it seemed like we were too late to save them, but as we went along, we found that almost every single one was still alive. So, we wrestled them out of the greenery and carried them back down to the water.

It was a lot of work, but we soon managed to rescue over 100 horseshoe crabs from that section alone. Most of them were females, as evidenced by their large size and pincers. Each one that survived represented a potential new generation of crabs. Female horseshoe crabs can lay around 80 thousand to 100 thousand eggs per year, most of which become food sources for other animals like laughing gulls, which were flocked heavily on the beaches that day. While it’s a bit unfortunate for the crabs, the loss of some of their eggs helps to keep the ecosystem running smoothly.

In just a few hours, we helped 198 horseshoe crabs return to the bay, and we had a lot of fun doing it. The effort to restore the populations of New Jersey’s horseshoe crabs is full of obstacles, but there is also so much hope. Just about anyone can flip an overturned horseshoe crab, and the feeling that comes along with doing so is wonderful. While the horseshoe crabs may not be able to thank us, we can always tell that they greatly appreciate our support.

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