The Delaware Bay beaches are a busy place right now and not with sunbathers and beach goers, but with horseshoe crabs and birds! The horseshoe crabs are coming up onto the beaches to spawn and the shorebirds are arriving to feed on their eggs. It’s a great time to take a trip to the beaches to watch all the activity. The Delaware Bay is the Western Hemisphere’s second-largest spring concentration of shorebirds. The shorebirds arriving on the beaches include red knots, sanderlings, ruddy trunstones and semipalmated sandpipers. People come from all over the world to view this natural phenomenon taking place right here in NJ.
Beach access is restricted on critical beaches from May 8th through June 4th to allow the shorebirds to feed undisturbed. But there are still plenty of viewing areas. In Cape May County Reed’s Beach has a viewing platform that has a great view down the entire beach. Cook’s, Kimbells, Norburys and the Villas beaches all provide areas for viewing the shorebirds. In Cumberland County, Fortescue is another wonderful viewing spot. Please use the designated viewing areas and bring binoculars or a telescope so you can get a good look at the birds.
While you are out visiting the beaches you might run into one of CWF’s shorebird stewards. These dedicated volunteers are located at the closed beaches educating the public about the shorebirds. CWF had a new brochure printed this year, Spotting Shorebirds, Along the Delaware Bay, be sure to ask the steward for a copy of this so you can practice your shorebird ID. The stewards can also let you know on which beaches shorebirds have recently been spotted.
It really is worth the trip to see this spring migration, you won’t be disappointed. To find out the best beaches to view migratory shorebirds, check out our exclusive Wildlife Viewing Map.
Last week Senators Kerry and Lieberman released a draft of their new Senate energy bill called “The American Power Act.” At the heart of this bill is an effort to develop new American energy, create American jobs and protect American communities. These are all laudable goals made even more laudable when placed against the job loss and community damage occurring in the Gulf right as a result of our continued reliance on old energy.
“The American Power Act” is a serious effort to address global climate change and thanks to the hard work of a national coalition called “Teaming with Wildlife,” of which Conserve Wildlife Foundation is a member, it contains language that not only promotes better energy policies but also the need to help our natural resources during these times of changing climate.
The bill, like its predecessor passed by the House of Representatives, seeks to set aside funding to protect and restore species, habitats and ecosystems threatened by the impact of climate change. It also proposes programs focused on water systems, floods, wildland fires and coasts.
“Climate change is impacting our wildlife populations now and will impact our populations in greater ways as the changes in climate become more pronounced.”
These inclusions are very important because they recognize the impact of a changing climate on our natural resources – the lands, plants and animals that add value to our lives, both economic and intrinsic.
The inclusion of this language happened because of the strong coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to wildlife and natural resource protection in this country but the timing of the funding leaves a lot to be desired. In the Kerry Lieberman bill, allocations (funding) for Safeguarding Natural Resources/Community Protection, doesn’t start until 2019. Allocations start at 0.75% in 2019, increasing to 3% by 2030. It is unclear how this translates in to actual dollars, but most importantly there is no funding for nearly a decade. This is unacceptable.
The other worrying part of this draft bill is whether the funding to establish programs to address impacts to natural resources is dedicated or not. This is unclear in the bill’s current wording and is also unacceptable.
Climate change is impacting our wildlife populations now and, under the most conservative scenarios, will impact our populations in greater ways as the changes in climate become more pronounced. New Jersey species at risk include the shorebirds that are already teetering on the edge of extinction due to the decimation of their stopover food source; beach nesting birds like the piping plover that is already fighting for beach space as sea-level rise continues to threaten its habitat. Other species like the bog turtle and eastern salamander are threatened by loss of habitat from changing seasonal patterns and endangered raptors face losses every breeding season from storm events that used to happen every 100 years and are now much more frequent.
Senators Kerry and Lieberman should be thanked for introducing this important bill but they, and all other Senators, should be encouraged to remove the ten-year delay for wildlife and natural resources and insist that such funding should be dedicated to help our natural systems adapt to a world where a changing climate could spell extinction if steps are not taken to mitigate where possible and allow adaptations where necessary.
If you’ve a minute today, contact your New Jersey Senator and tell him we can’t put off for ten years what needs to be done today.
Credit: The National Wildlife Federation’s analysis of the bill informed this article.
Osprey pairs are very busy this month. Females are hunkered down in nests while incubating their eggs. They must keep their eggs at a temperature of around 99 degrees Fahrenheit. They must maintain this temperature for over 32 days and up to 43 days! Warm air temperature and normal precipitation are crucial during incubation. If there are periods of extended rain and cool temperatures, then the success rate at raising young decreases.
Eggs are incubated immediately after they are laid. This is referred to as asynchrony. This ensures that during times of low prey availability at least one nestling will survive to fledge or leave the nest. Disturbance is critical to incubating females now. If they must leave the nest, then the eggs are very vulnerable to the suns radiation, cool air temperatures, and predators. Females do 70% of the incubation duties.
While females are sitting there, incubating those eggs, males are mostly on the wing or perched near the nest. They provide almost all of the food to the female. They can fly a few miles from the nest, or only a few hundred feet to find prey (live fish). This is why ospreys nest near water, their source of food. The males ability to provide food to the female is also crucial to the success of the pair at raising young.
The young hatch (in the order that they were laid) and are born semi-altricial, or blind, feathered, and completely helpless. They are totally dependent on their parents to keep them warm and to provide them with food. They need very close parental care during the first week of life. After the first week the nestlings begin to more around more and begin exploring the surroundings in their nest. At three weeks of age (pictured at right) the nestlings can easily walk around the nest and often raise their heads to look around. Their contour (body) feathers and flight feathers begin to emerge from their protective sheaths during this time. The coloration of their feathers (dark brown with a buff feather tip) give them remarkable camouflage in the nest. Their coloration is very close to the nesting material ospreys use which consists of sticks, seaweed, marsh grasses, and human garbage like plastic bags, fishing line, and other trash.
I find a lot of ribbon from Mylar balloons every year. Some nestlings become entangled in the ribbon. If I do not get to the nest in time and remove the ribbon, then some may lose a limb or even die. It is not clear why adult ospreys choose to use fishing line and ribbon as nesting material. It may be because it is fairly common (unfortunately) in marine and estuarine ecosystems.
Keep an eye for hatching to begin two weeks from now. Females will not be sitting as much and they will be more aware of those eggs that are hatching beneath them. In late June and early July, volunteers throughout coastal areas will perform surveys by boat to determine the health of the population. I’ll post more updates soon on this in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, if you’d like to help, participate in coastal clean-ups or if you’re out for a walk or hike, bring a small trash bag and pick up some trash!
On May 13th, I got the chance to visit a peregrine nest site to perform a “nest check.” The purpose of the visit was to count the number of young, determine age and sex, and check for any other issues (like infestations of a wingless parasitic fly).Over the past few years, the wingless flies have caused nests to fail to produce young. Over the winter, we treated gravel at nest sites to help get the parasites in check. I only observed 3 parasites on the nestlings.
There were three nestlings at the nest site. They are approximately 17 – 20 days old. Age can be determined by the size and feather development of the young. Sex can be determined by the size of the nestlings and the length of the culmen (upper mandible or bill). It looked like there were two males and one female.
Most peregrines nesting in New Jersey are resident birds that remain near the nest site throughout the entire year. Peregrine nests, known as an aerie, have a simple depression in a gravel substrate, called a scrape. Peregrines nest in urban areas on buildings, under bridges and on old “hacking” towers along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey.
The young are totally dependent upon their parents until they are ready to fly in approximately seven weeks after hatching. Upon fledging, or leaving the nest, the young remain dependent, to a degree, on the adults until they master their flight and hunting skills.
You can view the live interactions of a pair of peregrines at a nest site in Jersey City by tuning into our Peregrine Cam. Check it out today!
During Earth Week, I planted dozens of shrubs. Viburnum, bayberry, spirea, clethra, sumac, etc… They were planted inside Bass River State Forest in Bass River Township, Burlington County, NJ at a habitat enhancement site called Ballanger (pronounced Baaa-lan-ger) Creek. The project is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The project is being managed by CWF and Duffield Associates, a environmental consulting firm that we hired to help us carry out the project.
The shrub planting was the first phase of this enhancement project. Approximately 1,500 shrubs were planted inside a deer exclusion fencing to help protect the shrubs from being browsed. Volunteers from the public, Bass River State Forest, and CWF came out and helped us plant all the shrubs. We had a great turn out for the event and I am thankful for all the help from all the volunteers!
The second phase is the seeding of native wildflowers in an old field. The wildflowers will provide food to bees and butterflies in the form of nectar.
The final phase will be the enhancement of the freshwater wetland edge, where a lot of old fill and debris was dumped before the state acquired the property. The fill will be removed along with some exotic invasive species (Common reed) that have colonized the site. The project will be finalized after we install a series of educational interpretive signs that showcase our work and the site.
It has already been a very busy Spring season. Finding the first piping plover nest of the year is always a highly anticipated moment and for our staff it came a little earlier than normal when it was found last week at Stone Harbor Point. And our nest wasn’t the first one found in New Jersey this year – honors for that go to the staff at the National Park Service, who found a nest a on April 11th at the Coast Guard base at Sandy Hook. In the same vein, our colleagues up at Massachusetts Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program found a nest on April 13th; the earliest ever recorded in Massachusetts!
So is there a trend going on? Perhaps the impacts of global climate change?
Well, it is definitely premature to make that conclusion. New Jersey’s earliest nest was recorded on April 6th, nearly a decade ago during the 2000 breeding season. And there doesn’t seem to be any clear trend to when our first nest was found looking over the past 25 years, although the third week of April is more typical.
It has been documented that some bird species are arriving on their breeding grounds and/or initiating nesting earlier, but we think the early start to piping plover nesting in New Jersey this year is the result of weather conditions. In this case the long run of relatively warmer than normal temperatures in late March and early April (including several days over 80 degrees), likely account for the early start, essentially jump starting the hormones of the birds. We often observe more active breeding activity on warm days during the early part of the season, but in a typical spring, cold spells slow things back down.
Regardless of what kicked the season off early, our seasonal monitors are definitely off and running. Piping plovers began arriving in New Jersey in March and with the help of dedicated volunteers and our partners at other federal agencies, we have already protected nesting areas with fence and signs at nearly twenty sites. And that is just the start.
On April 17th, volunteers helped install 4,000 feet of barrier fencing along Great Bay Blvd. to prevent Northern diamondback terrapins from being struck by motor vehicles. This initiative is similar to those found along other coastal roads in southern New Jersey in Margate, Ocean City, and Stone Harbor.
Terrapin conservation is new to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ. It was easy to establish a need for the conservation work. Terrapins are listed as a Species of Special Concern in New Jersey. Several scientific studies have documented the threat of motor vehicles to terrapins and their impact on the local population. And it is heart-wrenching to see a large female terrapin that was struck by a motor vehicle.
Terrapins begin nesting activities in mid-late May. In the coming weeks we will be installing more “Terrapin Xing” signs along the road with help from Little Egg Harbor Township. A brochure is in the works and will be finished soon.
Over the past two weeks in New Jersey, the hills have awakened! This is the time of year when a quiet resurgence of frogs, salamanders, and toads takes place as the ground finally thaws, releasing them from their subterranean slumbers. They’ve spent nearly half a year in hibernation, and the amphibians are anxious to begin the serious business of breeding!
The earliest amphibians to head above ground are the ones that breed in temporary springtime (vernal) pools. In north Jersey these include the spotted salamander, jefferson salamander, wood frog, and the endangered blue-spotted salamander. The females emerge full of eggs…as many as 2,000 per frog and around 200 per salamander…and a lot is riding on those eggs. They are the next generation. They are our algae- and insect-eaters. They are food for other animals like garter snakes, thrushes, and bears; members of the web of life.
Helping Frogs and Salamaders Cross the Road
In areas where roads divide the woods from the water, traffic can take a huge toll on these amphibians every year. We’re doing what we can to identify amphibian road-crossing “hot spots” and to help our small, slow, slimy friends make it safely to their destinations.
Across most of NJ, the 2010 amphibian migration began on Friday, March 12th, with the first post-snowmelt rain storm of the season. The nor’easter came in early on Friday and
pummelled us with chilly rain until Monday the 15th…while we humans were holed up in our houses, those frogs & salamanders were celebrating the weather they’d been waiting for.
At one high-density crossing site in northern Warren County, we worked in teams of 5-10 people throughout Friday night to usher amphibians across the road and record what we saw (this project has been active since 2002, when the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, NJ’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, and NJ Audubon Society partnered to create the volunteer-based effort). Over the course of 9 hours, we tallied more than 1,800 amphibians! The procession included 405 spotted salamanders, 644 wood frogs, and 742 spring peepers, with a few other species in the mix. A total of 59 vehicles passed through during that time; by reasonable estimate as many as a quarter or more of those road-crossing amphibians might not have made it without our help.
Ten of us braved the whipping storm on Saturday, March 13th, to again chaperone amphibians across the road. We stayed for a few hours (about 7:00-10:00 pm, to cover peak traffic time) and counted nearly 400 more amphibians. The vast majority of them were spring peepers, cute little tree frogs only an inch or so long. Despite the storm – with flood warnings and 40 mph wind gusts – people were still on the roads, and 27 vehicles traveled through our corridor during the 3-hour rescue survey.
After the storm finally passed, we sun-loving people got a sweeeeeeet reprieve with 6 days of bright skies and basking-quality temperatures in the 60s & 70s F. I just didn’t even know what to do with myself, I was so excited (…shorts? flip flops? laying in the grass? happiness overload!!!). The point is, whatever snow had been left in far northern NJ, and whatever ground was still frozen in the hills, wasn’t anymore.
Volunteers Count Our slimy friends
So as the next rain storm rolled in on Monday, March 22nd, another round of amphibians were ready to move. Our “drive-around” survey volunteers in Sussex, Passaic, and northern Warren & Morris Counties all reported big amphibian migrations in their areas and collected data that will help us identify the spots that warrant protection – whether in the form of rescue surveys, road closures, or an attempt at installing amphibian culverts. At our Warren County rescue site, one hardy & heroic volunteer offered to check things out around dark, and ended up staying until 1:30 in the morning when he found that amphibians were again moving in mass (you’re awesome, George!!). He tallied around 600 more amphibians, including 154 spotted salamanders, 56 American toads, countless peepers, a handful of four-toed salamanders, and even a brown snake! All of the 67 wood frogs he saw were moving away from the wetlands – their breeding and egg-laying were complete.
Amphibians will continue to be present on the wet roads all spring and summer. You can help keep them safe by limiting your driving on rainy nights and by keeping a watchful eye when you are on the road in those “froggy” conditions.
If you know of a spot where amphibians cross the road in large numbers, or if you’d like to volunteer for our project next year, please email MacKenzie Hall.
If you enjoy spending time on the beach, bird watching, and interacting with people while helping to make a difference, then the shorebird steward project might be the right volunteer opportunity for you! The Delaware Bay in the spring time is a great place to be!
In 2003, New Jersey began restricting beach access on critical shorebird feeding beaches. With fewer horseshoe crab eggs available it is more important than ever to protect shorebirds as they search for food on Delaware Bay beaches. Shorebirds are very
sensitive to disturbance. If birds are disturbed while they are resting on the beach or feeding, they may not build-up the necessary fat reserves to make it to their Arctic breeding grounds.
Shorebirds at Fortescue Beach on the Delaware Bay, Cumberland County. (Monica Pepe)
The shorebird steward project was put in place to have a presence at these closed beaches during the three-week closure period in May through early June. In 2009 thirty-three stewards patrolled nine beaches along the Delaware Bay in Cape May and Cumberland Counties. Their main goal was to ensure that resting and foraging shorebirds were not disturbed. As beach goers are encountered, stewards engage them in conversation, and distribute brochures and other educational materials. Stewards direct people to designated viewing areas. People visiting the Delaware Bay leave with a better understanding of biodiversity, species interaction, and an understanding of what they can do to help.
In 2010, stewards will be needed the following dates: May 8th, 9th & May 15th through 31st.
Interested applicants must be available to work at least two full days, 7-8 hours a day. A shorebird steward training will be held on May 1st.
If you are interested in learning more about the program please contact Larissa Smith at (609) 628-0402 or Email.
