Osprey 52/K. September 5, 2022. Photo by Chris Kelly.
In 2014, we began to band osprey nestlings produced at nests within the Barnegat Bay watershed with auxiliary bands. This was an effort which came about from the interest of Jim Verhagen, a LBI resident and wildlife biographer. He wondered why young ospreys were not banded with color, field readable bands, like some endangered raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons. This spawned Project RedBand, an osprey banding and re-sighting project. The goal of the project was to learn more about ospreys when they are alive while engaging coastal residents in their management. Just under 500 young ospreys were banded with red auxiliary bands from 2014-2020 from nests all along the Barnegat Bay estuary.
When CWF biologists encounter an injured bird while doing field work, we usually turn to Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research for help. A recent visit to the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research facility located in Newark, Delaware provided great insight into the efforts that go into ensuring that injured and oiled birds have a second chance in the wild. Their mission is to provide professional, compassionate rehabilitation to native injured and orphaned wild birds and contaminated wildlife, and to promote their stewardship through education and humane research.
The facility has two programs, the Wild Bird Clinic and Oiled Wildlife Response. With more than 40 years of experience, the Wild Bird Clinic provides expert medical care, housing, and diets to injured, orphaned, and oiled native wild birds.
Inside the Oil Response Center you see large buckets to wash birds and other wildlife. Hoses hang from the ceiling to provide easy access and to avoid hazards.
Biologists Leah Wells and Meaghan Lyon banding a Big Brown Bat
Since 2018, CWF has partnered with the USFWS New Jersey Field Office in completing summer mist netting surveys for bats in the Pinelands. The goal of these surveys is to capture the federally threatened Northern long-eared bat and track these bats to maternity roosts.
Holgate, a unit of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, is having another record year for piping plovers. A total of 49 pairs have nested at the site this year, up from 46 pairs in 2021, which was also a record, by far, from the previous high for the site. Since Superstorm Sandy devastated much of the New Jersey coast in October 2012, the number of piping plovers nesting at Holgate has increased fourfold.
Hurricane Ida. Hurricane Irene. Superstorm Sandy. These weather events represent three of the four most devasting storms recorded in New Jersey history. Though data dates back 218 years, all 3 have occurred within the past 11, substantiating concerns over the effect of climate change on tropical cyclone severity. Therefore, taking measures to safeguard communities from devastating floodwaters is more important now than it ever has been. But who said helping people can’t, in turn, help wildlife?
Since 2003 Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been coordinating the Delaware Bay Shorebird Stewards. Shorebird Stewards are posted at the beaches with restricted access during the shorebird season. This is done so that the shorebirds can feed undisturbed on horseshoe crab eggs. The beach restrictions are from May 7th to June 7th. The Delaware Bay is an important stopover for these birds on their way north to their breeding grounds. Stewards educate the public about the need for the beach restrictions. Once most people learn about the connection between the horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, they are more than happy to accept the restrictions. This season there were thirty-one stewards on 10 beaches in Cape May and Cumberland Counties. They are dedicated and on the beaches despite the weather, bugs and sometimes lack of shorebirds. Stewards are on beaches through Monday, so stop by and say “hello”.
Thank you Shorebird Stewards
Shorebirds on Thompson’s Beach, photo by: Matt Tribulski
Rainy nights with evening temperatures edging into the mid-40s or above. Seems easy to plan for rescue nights, doesn’t it? Certainly not this year!
CWF’s Amphibian Crossing Project targets the earliest breeders in northern New Jersey, including wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and Jefferson salamanders. These vernal pool obligates must find their way from forested winter habitat to ephemeral wetlands each spring in order to successfully reproduce. Snowmelt and warm, moist air signal individuals to resume activity after a long winter’s brumation (hibernation for ectothermic “cold-blooded” animals) underground. As soon as they emerge, they head to the pools which, in our increasingly fragmented world, often means entering into a real-world game of Frogger. The stakes are incredibly high and many do not make it out alive.
Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
To combat this problem, our team of devoted volunteers has been braving the elements for the last 20 years, ferrying slow moving amphibians across busy roadways during the earliest wave of the annual migration. Their efforts not only increase survivorship and breeding potential, but also raises awareness and contributes valuable data to justify the construction of long-term solutions. This season, 103 participants were involved in the project, working across three CWF managed roads in Byram, Liberty, and Hampton Twps. and one site in Hardwick Twp. organized by Blaine Rothauser, a senior ecologist for GZA GeoEnvironmental and Dennis Briede, stewardship manager at the Land Conservancy of New Jersey. All together, we assisted with the movement of 2,456 amphibians of 9 species, 26% of which represented species of concern.
Wildlife Biologist Ethan Gilardi poses with a Wood Frog before helping the frog safely across a busy roadway.Amphibian Crossing Project manager Christine Healy shows off a Wood Frog rescued from the busy roadway.
Without a doubt, these numbers are impressive, however, I can’t help but reflect on this season with agitation. Late February and March featured dramatic temperature swings, characterized by sunny days in the 70s followed by cold snaps with snow and ice. Freezing conditions can damage amphibian egg masses and fluctuating weather may punctuate and elongate the migration, making movement difficult to predict. Lightning storms and heavy wind kept us off the roads during a few of the seasons peak nights, though based on the results of morning mortality surveys, the same cannot be said for drivers…
While amphibian rescue events do localized communities a lot of good, seasons like this one really highlight the need to remove a dependence on humans from the survival equation, especially as global climate change continues to cause deviations from “normal”. We’re anticipating the first frog/salamander-specific wildlife passage in NJ to break ground at our Byram Twp. site in the summer of 2023, after years of planning by the Endangered and Nongame Species program and many partners.
We can’t wait to see the impact this project has on the population of amphibians reliant on New Jersey’s largest vernal pool and how it inspires similar projects in the future.
Shorebirds along Delaware Bay: photo by Shorebird Steward Bob Bocci
May is wonderful time of year at the Delaware Bay. Horseshoe crabs are spawning and shorebirds stopping over on their migration to feed on the eggs. One of these shorebirds the red-knot, is a federally threatened species. Beaches along the Delaware Bay in New Jersey are extremely important stops in their migration. Many of these beaches have been restricted from May 7th to June 7th to allow the shorebirds to feed undisturbed. They need to gain enough weight to be able to fly non-stop to their breeding grounds in the artic.
photo by Shorebird Steward Dom Manalo
People come from all over to view this natural phenomenon and the Delaware bay is a popular tourist destination. It’s important to have Shorebird stewards on these restricted beaches to educate the public about the crabs and shorebirds. Shorebird stewards support beach restrictions by being present at closed beaches during shorebird season to ensure that resting and foraging shorebirds are not disturbed. This job includes educating beach visitors as to why the beaches are closed and the importance of the beaches to horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds.
Stewards are needed short term in May at beaches along the Delaware Bay in Cape May County from the Villas north to Reed’s Beach and beaches in Cumberland.
Please contact Larissa Smith at Larissa.Smith@conservewildlifenj.org for more details.
As I write this there are two fluffy little chicks in the Duke Farms nest. They will have an audience of millions of eagle cam viewers watching them as they grow and fledge. As the adult eagles step around the nest, look closely and you will notice that one of them is banded. The male is A/59 and he is twenty-two years old. Twenty-two years ago I began my career with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation working with the New Jersey Eagle Project. In March 2000, A/59 hatched in a nest located in Greenwich, Cumberland County. When he was two weeks of age, he was fostered into a nest along the Rancocas River in Burlington County. The Rancocas pair had failed to produce their own young for a few years and fostering a healthy chick into the nest would help to keep the pairs fidelity to the nest site.
On May 15, 2000, he was banded and a radio transmitter was attached with a harness which was designed to eventually fall off. A/59 fledged on June 3 and was tracked until the transmitter’s signal was last recorded on October 22. You can read more details about the telemetry in the 2000 Bald Eagle Report.
February 7, 2022
In 2000, when he hatched and I started working with eagles there were 25 nesting pairs of eagles that fledged 29 young. Compare that to last year’s numbers of 247 pairs we monitored and 296 young fledged. As the number of eagles increases in New Jersey so does the competition for nest sites. A/59 has been able to defend and hold onto his territory at Duke Farms since 2009.
It’s very interesting to know the history of this eagle. I feel a bond with him since we both started our “eagle” journey at the same time.
