Category: Wildlife Protection

Viewing Wildlife and migration studies

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Fall migration is underway! Ospreys are headed south for the winter. Juveniles will spend the next two years in their wintering areas in northern South America. Rob Bierregaard, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has been tracking ospreys from Martha’s Vineyard since 2000. Currently twelve ospreys are fitted with satellite transmitters. Rob uses the data to study migration patterns and the local dispersal of juvenile and adult ospreys. Check out maps from this seasons birds by clicking here. A great place to view ospreys as they travel south is at Cape May Point State Park. Go after a cold front has passed and you should see high numbers of raptors including ospreys on migration.

Red knots, black belly plovers, dunlin, and ruddy turnstones are beginning to show up on beaches along the coastline. Many hop-scotch their way south to their wintering grounds in South America. Great places to view them include Brigantine Inlet, Avalon, Stone Harbor Point, and North Wildwood. Many of these shorebirds are banded with an alpha-numeric color band. If you have a high power spotting scope, then you should be able to read the band. You can contribute your sightings to the International Shorebird Project by submitting your sightings.

Another great website that tracks avian (bird) migration patterns over New Jersey is www.woodcreeper.com. It is run by David La Puma who uses Doppler radar to track movements of birds as they take off on migration, most at night. He is predicting that a large number of birds will take off Wednesday night/Thursday morning after a cold front with winds that prevail from the north passes through. He expects large numbers of migrants to arrive here to “rest and refuel” on Thursday/Friday. Check out this cool graphic of some Doppler radar where you can see birds moving behind the passing cold front (with precipitation).

Get out this weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and watch some of the amazing natural events that take place in New Jersey. Learn key locations to view wildlife by visiting our wildlife viewing map.

Osprey numbers continue to rise

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Ospreys are currently listed as a threatened species in New Jersey. They were first listed as endangered in 1974 after the state population declined to only 50 pairs, from over 500 prior to 1950. Ospreys have made a remarkable recovery in New Jersey thanks to biologists with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) and many volunteers. Surveys that help monitor the population were conducted in late June and early July.

Volunteers and biologists surveyed all major nesting colonies from Sandy Hook south along the Atlantic Coast to Cape May and west to Salem County. Ospreys almost exclusively nest on man-made structures including platforms designed specifically for them, cell towers, duck blinds, channel markers, and boat lifts. Surveyors visited these nest structures to observe whether or not they were occupied. If they’re occupied, then the number of young were recorded and the young were banded for future tracking with a USGS bird band. Preliminary results show that productivity rates are up for all nesting colonies except one (Sedge Island WMA). Since ospreys are predators, they are at the top of the food chain. They are considered to be an indicator species, or a species that is sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and can serve as an indicator of an unhealthy marine ecosystem. Basically, a healthy osprey population means a healthy marine ecosystem.

The climate during this summer has been the complete opposite as last year. It was hot, dry, and calm, with only a few severe storms with high winds that caused some nests to fail. Otherwise, fish stocks are plentiful, especially menhaden. This year many out-of-state commercial fishing boats have started fishing for bunker off New Jersey waters. This is mostly due to declines in herring stocks in New England and the high demand for bait for use in lobster pots. State legislators have introduced a bill that would limit boats from catching bunker for use as bait. Read more here and this press release from the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Full results from this years survey will be published soon in our annual newsletter. Here is last year’s newsletter.

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by Larissa Smith Volunteer Coordinator & Biologist

Every year starting in the late fall/early winter the bald eagle project volunteers start to monitor their eagle pairs. This dedicated group of 60 volunteers monitors each nest at least once a week during the nesting season which goes into July.  Observers record all data including number of birds, courtship or nesting behaviors, incubation, feeding, hatching and fledging. Volunteers notify CWF/ENSP staff immediately if any unusual or threatening activities are seen around the nest site.  The eagle project volunteers are the eyes and ears of the program.  They form relationships with landowners, neighbors and educate the public about eagles in NJ.

So far in 2010, 23 eagle project volunteers have reported volunteering at total of 1,312 hours!  This is a significant amount of time and will increase as more volunteers report their hours for the year.

On Saturday August 21st a get-together was held for the eagle project volunteers. Not only was this a way to thank volunteers it also  gave them the opportunity to discuss the nesting season with fellow volunteers and staff.  A power point presentation was shown featuring photos from the nesting season taken by volunteers.

THANK YOU to all the dedicated eagle project volunteers!

A final report from our seasonal beach nesting bird steward at Stone Harbor Point

by Christopher Haxter, Seasonal Steward

Well as summer’s end slowly draws near, the beach nesting bird season has wrapped up on Stone Harbor Point.  All of the Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher chicks have fledged (i.e. reached the stage where they can fly).  In the past, this has often been a very depressing time.  Stone Harbor Point has a bad history of flooding, and many of the nests and chicks were destroyed; some years we only had a couple of chicks fledge.  This year, however, there is good news!  A total of 13 Piping Plover chicks and 10 Oystercatcher chicks have fledged, from 9 and 21 breeding pairs, respectively!  I owe this very successful year to the weather cooperating during the high spring tides; flooding was not a big issue this summer.  I also owe my thanks to the public for respecting the rules and staying out of the fenced areas, giving these beach nesting birds the room to successfully fledge their chicks.

This breeding season sure has had its ups and downs.  One low point that comes to mind is finding Oystercatcher nest after nest washed away from a high tide the night before (most of them luckily renested).  One of the greatest feelings is finding a chick on its fledge date, knowing that it now has a much greater chance of survival.  We also had a Least Tern colony on Stone Harbor Point that fledged a good amount of chicks.

Our focus now has shifted to migration.  Thousands of migratory shorebirds are now congregating on Stone Harbor Point.  Most are on their way south from breeding up north in Canada and the Arctic.  Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers are also preparing to head south for the winter.  They are currently gathering in huge roosting flocks before their departure.  This gives us ample opportunity for band resighting and to conduct surveys, estimating the population sizes of these shorebirds.

Since the season is just about over it means my job (as Seasonal Steward) is just about over.  Words can’t describe how much I love this job and what I have learned over the last four months.  The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ is truly making the difference for wildlife all over the state, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it!

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Counting bats or the lack thereof

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

It is clear to me that White-nose syndrome (WNS) has decimated a large portion of the bat population in New Jersey, or at least at a site where I count bats for the Summer Bat Count. In 2008 (before WNS), I counted 261 bats at the Chatsworth General Store in August. Counting bats may seem like a daunting feat, but at dusk (when there is still a little light) the bats fly out of their daytime roosts. Sometimes, 1-2 at a time or in bursts of 3-4 or more. In August 2009, I counted 169 bats at the store. This past Sunday, I only counted 23 bats. To say the least these results are alarming. I hope that at other locations in New Jersey people are still seeing bats and I hope that WNS does not continue to decimate the population.

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Juvenile eagle released back into the wild

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Last Tuesday I met with Debra and Gail, volunteers with The Raptor Trust in northern New Jersey to help release a juvenile eagle. The release was coordinated by Kathy Clark with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program and Cathy with the Raptor Trust. They transported the eagle for more than 2 hours to see it return to the wild. I was merely there because I have experience with handling birds of prey (in case anything were to happen).

The eagle was found on Gunnison Beach in late June inside Gateway National Recreation Area on Sandy Hook.The eagle was spotted by park visitors on the beach. The eagle was distressed but had no injuries. Jeanne McArthur–Heuser, NPS transported the eagle to the Raptor Trust, located in Millington, New Jersey.

Many juvenile raptors or birds of prey are not 100% successful at catching prey. Some rely on their parents for food until they learn the skills to catch prey that they will use for the rest of their lives.

The eagle was rehabilitated at the Raptor Trust for 6 weeks. It was a male and was banded with a federal USGS bird band for future tracking. At the Raptor Trust it got plenty of rest and relaxation under their care. I met Gail and Debra in Millville where we traveled south towards Newport. We released the eagle at a location determined by Kathy Clark in Cumberland County at Nantuxent Wildlife Management Area. The release was uneventful (which is good!!!). We basically stood behind and to the sides of a large dog crate and opened the door. I held the door open and lifted up the back to try and encourage the eagle to leave the crate. After about 45 seconds, the eagle hopped out of the crate and immediately took off into the distance with a strong flight.

Without the care of the National Park Service, The Raptor Trust, and the Endangered and Nongame Species Program, this eagle might not have survived! This is a clear example of how we are all connected and how delicate the balance of nature is! We hope this eagle lives on and is able to flourish in New Jersey!

• Click here to read a news release from NPS when the eagle was found.
• Learn more about bald eagles in New Jersey.
• Bald Eagle Project Information.
• Adopt a Bald Eagle today!

To the internet, not wildlife!

By Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

The office where I work, inside Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in northern Cape May County, recently lost its connection to the world wide interweb. The office is home to the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife staff and three CWF employees. Since the demise of our connection to the world wide interweb the office has been ghostly quiet. Some have chosen to work at home, use some vacation time, or get some field work done. I just wrapped up my primary field season surveying osprey nests along the Atlantic Coast of NJ so I chose to be constructive, literally. I started constructing some artificial nesting platforms for ospreys. Normally I do this in the winter when field work is very limited, but finishing these now will give me a chance to install them this fall. Late summer and fall are the best times to install platforms. The water and air are warm and the winds are calm, so boots and bulky clothes aren’t required. So, I’m glad the internet is down because it gave me a reason to construct these platforms earlier than usual.

Two platforms will be going up in Lavallette, one near Tuckerton, and the other has yet to be determined (possibly Sea Isle). Stay tuned for more updates and photos!

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Roads are barriers to wildlife

By Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

This year we started a new project to try and help reduce the amount of road kills of northern diamondback terrapins along Great Bay Blvd. in southern Ocean County. Great Bay Blvd. is a 5 mile long paved road that extends into the coastal saltmarsh. The road leads to the Rutgers Marine Field Station and the old Fish Factory on Seven Island. We were able to fence a small portion of the road, install three crossing signs along the road, and develop an educational brochure (that is available at marinas in the area).

Unfortunately, terrapins are still hit by motor vehicles along other portions of the road. This is inevitable. Fencing the whole road would almost be impossible and very time consuming to maintain. This fall and winter I am going to work with the town (Little Egg Harbor) and NJ Fish and Wildlife (who owns the land around the road) to come up with a plan to minimize road kills along the road. A viable option would be to install speed humps to reduce the speed of motorists along the road and for the town to post and enforce a reduced speed limit (25mph) along the road.

We are committed to preserving this incredible species and would like to thank everyone who has helped fund this project.

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Banding American Oystercatchers

By Christopher Haxter, Seasonal Steward

The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliates) may not get as much attention as some other species since it’s not listed as endangered or threatened in New Jersey. However, it is listed as a species of special concern because the population is thought to be in decline. On Stone Harbor Point, the site I mainly monitor for my job, I spend a good deal of time finding oystercatcher nests and chicks. Together with Piping Plovers and Least Terns, oystercatchers constitute a large portion of the beach nesting birds found on “the Point”.

Oystercatchers are hard to miss; they stand nearly one and a half feet tall, are boldly colored, and have very loud calls. On average, they lay three eggs per nest, and incubate their eggs from April-June and care for their chicks from May-July. They tend to have much more trouble with predators and flooding during the egg laying stage. Once hatched, the chicks tend to have better survival rates. As of right now on Stone Harbor Point we have at least ten pairs of American Oystercatchers with offspring. One pair is still incubating a nest, nine pairs are brooding a total of thirteen chicks, and one pair has successfully fledged two chicks.

One of the ways to track these birds year after year is to put colored bands on their legs that are marked with letters and numbers so individual birds can be identified. Tom Virzi, one of our research partners (from Rutgers University), has been studying oystercatchers in New Jersey since 2004. Last week I had the privilege of helping two of his interns, Jason Pietrzak and Allison Anholt, band some oystercatcher chicks on Stone Harbor Point.

The first step was to capture the chicks. Since the chicks can’t fly yet, all we had to do was surround and grab them. Sometimes easier said than done – the two chicks we went after were already a month old, so they were quite fast. Once captured we inspected the chicks, making sure they were healthy and their legs were fully grown. The band that goes around the leg of the chick is a small orange plastic cylinder with a black number/letter code (each state participating in this banding project has a unique color). After banding, we took measurements, including beak/head/wing length, and then collected a few feathers so the chicks could be sexed using DNA analysis.

The chicks were surprisingly calm throughout the process and the parents stood near us watching carefully. When we were finished we released the chicks back to the parents and kept an eye on them to make sure the parents accepted the chicks.

Adult oystercathers are also banded, but because they can fly the process is much different and involves some trickery. To try to capture the adults we set up a decoy, played some oystercatcher calls, and placed a board lined with many tiny nooses in the sand to capture the foot of the bird. When the adults defend their territory and fight with the decoy they get caught in the trap. We did attempt this but were not successful this time.

When a banded bird is re-sighted, and the code is observed and recorded, we are able to follow them for years. The data gathered from banding oystercatchers is essential in studying their long term habits, population trends, chick survival rates, and movement patterns.

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An osprey nestling lays low in a nest

By Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

The iris is the thin colored part of an eye that is responsible for controlling the size of the pupil and the amount of light that enters the pupil. As a hatching the iris of an osprey is blood red in color. As a nestling (pictured below) they turn to an amber or orange color. The eye color and plumage of juveniles help distinguish them from adults, which have a yellow iris. Juvenile ospreys also have “buff” or tan feather tips on their contour (body) feathers. This helps camouflage them before they can fly and it also helps distinguish them from adults, who have dark brown body feathers.

To see more photos of ospreys and their young, click here. Check out the slideshow at the top of the page.