Tag: 2015

CWF Biologist and Volunteers Find Foster Home for Osprey Chick

by Meghan Kolk, Volunteer

On July 6, I had the opportunity to participate in an osprey banding project with Larissa Smith (Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Manager) and her husband Matt, who have been banding ospreys for many years. I was thrilled that Larissa invited me to tag along because I knew that it would be an amazing experience, but I had no idea it would be a day that I would never forget. I was expecting to get some good pictures and maybe even get to hold an osprey, but we came upon a situation that would make the day so much more rewarding.

About half way through the day as Matt approached an osprey nest and got ready to climb up, he noticed a young osprey chick lying on the ground below the nest. It appeared weak and dehydrated, but uninjured. The nest above contained two older and larger chicks, and it became evident to us that the young runt was most likely pushed out of the nest by it’s competitive siblings. Our first thought was to put the chick back in the nest, however we knew that it would ultimately suffer the same fate, especially in it’s weakened condition. Our second thought was to take it to a rehabilitation facility, but since it did not appear to be injured we thought it would be best to keep it in the wild if possible. This brought us to our third option…find a foster home.

 

We offered the chick some much needed water and carried it back to the boat. I had the pleasure of holding and comforting our chick on the boat ride as we searched for the perfect nest. We came upon an empty nest holding three eggs which never hatched. The parents were lingering nearby and still seemed interested in parenting. We decided to give it a try. I was really enjoying my time with the chick and quickly grew attached, but I knew we had to get it into the care of some adults as soon as possible. Reluctantly, I climbed the ladder and placed the chick into it’s new home and said goodbye. We got back in the boat and watched from a distance to observe how the adults reacted.

 

One adult circled the nest many times observing from a distance. After several minutes it landed on the edge of the nest to get a closer look. I can just imagine the surprise and confusion it must have felt, but I was hoping that it was happy to see the little bundle of joy. After a few more minutes the partner joined in the nest, and we continued on with our banding to give them a little time to adjust.

 

Before finishing for the day, we went back to check on the nest. We were relieved to see both foster parents in the nest, and already protecting their adopted chick by swooping at us as we got close. It seemed as though they had already accepted the chick as their own.

 

Two days later Matt went back to the nest to check on the foster family. The chick looked stronger and had a full crop. This made it clear that the parents were feeding it since the crop was completely empty on the day we found it. About three weeks later, at the end of July, he checked on the nest once more and found our foster chick in good health and growing. I was so elated to hear the news and to know that our rescue mission was a success and this wonderful bird got a second chance at life.

This experience was so rewarding for me because even though we had to intervene, we were able to let the natural instinct of the osprey take over to raise this abandoned chick in need. I now have an even greater respect for ospreys because they will care for young that are not their own. This is an important characteristic for a threatened species to have in order to keep the population growing.

 

This particular chick experienced both the competitive instincts of it’s siblings fighting for survival, and also the protective instincts of it’s foster parents who put all of their energy into raising it. I feel so thankful to have been a part of this success story, and it reinforces all the reasons that I will continue to be a volunteer. Being able to make a difference even to just one individual is all the reward I need.

 

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Osprey Project
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Online Field Guide: Osprey

 

Meghan Kolk is a Volunteer for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Build Bat Houses with CWF at the New Jersey WILD Outdoor Expo

by Ian Johansson, Eagle Scout Candidate and Conserve Wildlife Foundation Volunteer

I first met Liz Silvernail when my sister and I were given the unique opportunity to hold an eaglet while biologists from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) took data. This took place in Brick, New Jersey. After speaking with Liz and explaining that I was beginning to consider what I should do as my Eagle Scout project, she was gracious enough to offer her assistance helping me find a project that I could complete with Conserve Wildlife Foundation.

 

After introducing me to Stephanie Feigin, I was offered the chance to take on the project of building bat houses. The bat houses will be donated to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey to put up before bats are evicted from attics, eaves, and buildings, so they can easily find a new place to roost. The bat houses will then be set up around the state to provide more suitable homes to bats that would otherwise be living in places that they were not welcome in or did not properly meet to their habitat needs.

 

Bat houses provide necessary roosting locations that cannot be provided in houses and buildings that bats inhabit if a proper living space is not readily available. Bat houses also provide spaces to raise young and hibernate, which is imperative for maintaining healthy bat populations.

 

Bats in New Jersey are the primary predators of night flying insects. They consume many of the pesky mosquitoes that swarm our backyards. Some bats can consume up to 4,500 insects nightly! A great way to help the bat population in New Jersey grow, is to build a bat house with us at the New Jersey Wild Outdoor Expo this weekend! The workshop is free. Materials are available on a first come, first served basis.

 

Stop by CWF’s tent at the Expo to learn more about bats and other imperiled wildlife species. You can always pick up plans to buy materials and make bat houses on your own.

 

Join us for the New Jersey WILD Outdoor Expo:

• Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13 from 10-5 PM
• Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in Jackson Township, Ocean County
• For online mapping directions and GPS navigation systems, use the address: 299 East Colliers Mill Road, New Egypt, NJ 08533

 

Ian Johansson is an Eagle Scout Candidate and Conserve Wildlife Foundation Volunteer.

Celebrating World Shorebirds Day, Sunday, September 6

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

As a bird nerd, I’d often look on enviously at photos of biologists posted online holding shorebirds in their “bander’s grip” – the bird’s head in between their index and middle finger, using their thumb and pinky to steady the bird, while allowing its feet to dangle freely.

 
I always wondered: I wish I could do that! Hold a bird in my hands. Yet I never once thought: Wait, how did the bird end up in their hands in the first place?

 
I certainly hadn’t thought biologists run all over the beach chasing after shorebirds like a farmer chasing chickens – I just never thought the process all the way through.

 
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to become part of that process and learned exactly how a shorebird ends up in a biologist’s bander’s grip. The system may surprise you, but the steps have been mastered over nineteen years of practice, each one with shorebird safety as the top priority.

 

Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF)’s Delaware Bay Shorebird Project celebrated its 19th year this summer. The team members, led by Drs. Larry Niles of CWF working with Amanda Dey of New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, are all extremely passionate about what they do and care deeply for the shorebirds they are studying and protecting.

 
I arrived at the team’s house on Reeds Beach, along the Delaware Bayshore, early in the morning. Dr. Niles was concerned about the wind and had scoped out the safest beach for the banding that day. Our group of scientists, volunteers, supporters, interns and staff caravanned to Villas and joined our partner, American Littoral Society, at the site. We all picked up large, colorful plastic tubs, which had cloth covers that fit securely over the top of the box. The cloth cover had a Velcro pocket. We were told that these boxes would help in the shorebird “catch” that day. Larry and Mandy gave us instructions for how the banding day would go, safety tips and background information on the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project. We all listened intently and couldn’t wait for the day to begin!

Well, we waited a bit before the day truly started. Dr. Niles and his team had binoculars with them and sat down in the sand, watching the shorebirds from afar for about an hour and a half. We waited by the cars up near the houses along the beach. The reason for the long wait? Dr. Niles and his team were waiting for the perfect moment to fire the net over top of the shorebirds along the coastline.

Cannons with gun powder charges fire heavy projectiles that carry the net over the birds only at the perfect moment – when birds are catchable and none in danger. Luckily, it was not a “wet catch,” that day, as the net did not go into the water. As soon as the cannon was shot, we all spirited single file carrying our tubs down the beach, following the biologists. The biologists immediately knelt at the base of the net and started picking up birds and shouting their identification and passing them to us, as they went they rolled the net away to reveal more birds.

 
It was very exciting! The idea was to get the birds out from under the net and into our carrying boxes and sealed in with a Velcro flap, as fast as possible, for the safety of everyone involved.

 
Each bin became devoted to the same bird species, so if the first bird that was handed to us was a sanderling, we kept putting only sanderlings in our bin. Once we had several birds in our bin, our pace completely changed. We walked very slowly away from the net, keeping the bin level at all times, towards the path in the sand at the beginning of the beach, to make the journey as safe for the birds as possible. There, biologists had burlap “keeping cages” for the birds to wait in. Birds were also sorted by species into these cages.

 
When every bird was taken out from under the net, and sitting in their temporary burlap enclosure, we formed “circles.” Each circle was composed of about 6 volunteers led by a core banding team member. Once formed birds were handed to us and finally, I learned how to safely hold a shorebird in my very own bander’s grip!

Each bird received a metal band with a federal identification number, and a green tag with a three letter code. One person in the circle put the band on the bird and passed the bird to the next person, who placed the green tag on each birds’ leg and glued them shut. A recorder took notes on the band number and tag letters. Next, the birds’ wingspan and other data points were measured by other members in the circle. Lastly, the bird was weighed before it was released. During my trip with the banding team, we caught a large number of sanderlings and a few ruddy turnstones, federally listed red knots, and semipalmated plovers.

Holding a shorebird in my bander’s grip was an amazing experience, but what I enjoyed most of all was taking part in the science of shorebird conservation. I placed the green tags on the shorebirds, which will tell other scientists who may recapture the birds that they once traveled to New Jersey. Our circle helped collect valuable data points, which will be combined with the data from the other years of the Shorebird Project, to assess the health of shorebird populations.

 
I wasn’t just holding a bird, I was helping the bird have a brighter future – and that is the best feeling any bird nerd can have.

 
Today is World Shorebirds Day! You can help shorebirds have a brighter future today by participating in the Global Counting Day Program. Join the hundreds of participants at over 93 locations that will count shorebirds and share their sightings online. Register today!

 

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Bay Shorebird Project
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Bay Restoration Project

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Our Team is using Science-based Methods to Elevate the Marsh and Restore the Balance of High and Low Elevation

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

To restore Thompsons Beach, along New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore, our team removed debris from the beach, removed rubble from the road leading to the beach, and placed over 40,000 cubic yards of sand (weighing over 9 million pounds) onto the beach. We were filled with pride when we saw sanderlings and ruddy turnstones feeding this August on horseshoe crab larvae on our newly restored beach. We were delighted to learn that this spring, Thompsons Beach had the highest abundance of horseshoe crab egg clusters out of all the beaches that our team monitors on Delaware Bay.

 
How do we keep the momentum going? How do we ensure our restoration work at Thompsons Beach yields long-term, sustainable results? The answer is clear: we protect the backbone that the beach sits on — the salt marsh behind the beach.

 

Learn more:

• Read the full blog post on RestoreNJBayshore.org
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Bay Restoration Project

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Why Should We Care About Endangered Species?

by Lindsey Brendel, Technician

As summer melds into early autumn, migration comes underway.  The nesting season for beach nesting birds is drawing to a close, and shorebirds can be seen feasting along the beaches as they fuel their bodies for their journey south. This was my first season working with endangered beach nesting birds.  Watching territory disputes and courtship displays early in the spring transitioned into nest searching and anxiously awaiting the hatch dates of our incubating pairs.

 

I feel an incredible sense of pride in the birds that have survived to fledge. It is impossible not to become attached when you spend weeks closely watching tiny chicks who take a tumble, are then brooded under their parents’ bodies, and finally mature into independent, fully feathered young birds, preparing for their first migration.

 

The start of fall migration also marks the reason I originally came to New Jersey one year ago, that being to study the monarch butterflies’ southward migration along the Atlantic coast. Last year was my first season as a field technician with the NJAS Monarch Monitoring Project, a research and education program that performs daily censuses of migrating monarchs, public tagging demos, and educational outreach. The project runs from September 1 through the end of October, and I will be back and working with the team again this fall.

For me, I see the monarch butterfly as the perfect gateway animal into the larger world of conservation.  Their widespread range in North America, and easy recognition means that many people are already familiar with this royal insect. Many school age children have learned about their life cycle in school, and may have even raised caterpillars and been witnesses to metamorphosis. Even if you have never learned about monarchs, their bright and bold appearance, sporting the warning coloration of orange and black, make them hard to miss.

 

That is one of the big differences I see between the beach nesting birds I have grown to love this summer and monarch butterfly. Cryptic and camouflaged are words that describe our beach nesters, specifically the endangered piping plover, who, when standing still, blends in perfectly with the sandy beach landscape. When I talk to people who have gone inside the fenced areas we have on the beaches for the nesting birds, a common response that serves as their rebuttal is that they “didn’t see” any birds, so they thought it would be okay. Situations like this happen frequently, and I have found that teaching, rather than scolding, is a better use of time. I love being able to show people the birds and highlight the fenced off areas as a family zone for our feathered friends; removing any mystery as to why these spaces are off limits.

 

Coming from a background in the arts, outreach is the arena I feel best suited for. I have had the pleasure of leading the beach nesting bird walks at Cape May Point State Park this summer. I love being able to share with others the life of a beach nesting bird, emphasizing that it really is a family affair, and a difficult one at that. The State Park will serve as a major hub for my work this fall, as that is where the Monarch Monitoring Project holds its butterfly tagging demos, and where we teach the public about the 2500-mile migratory journey the monarch butterfly undertakes to reach its wintering grounds in the mountains of Mexico.

 

The beach nesting birds I have worked with this summer are endangered. Currently, the monarch butterfly is also under consideration to be listed as an endangered species. One question that comes up at both the bird walks and the butterfly tagging demos is, “Why would it matter if this species was gone?”

 

Sometimes it is asked with genuine curiosity, and other times it is said as a jab. Either way, it is a difficult question for me to answer, and I have to evaluate why I care. I think and worry a lot about the loss of milkweed, lack of nectar sources, and loss of wintering habitat for the monarchs all the time.  After working with beach nesting birds, I will never be able to enjoy a summer thunderstorm the same way again because I will always be picturing a tiny least tern or plover hunkered down on their nest trying to protect their eggs through the wind and the rain.

 

We protect things of value, but what value do these birds or this butterfly have? Why should we care about endangered species? One argument often made about rainforest deforestation is that there are possible undiscovered medicinal properties that could be cures for diseases. It is unlikely that piping plovers or monarch butterflies hold untapped medical value. So, why should we worry about their declining numbers?

 

For me, my fear is less about losing individual species, and more about the dangers of a widespread ideology where everything is treated as a commodity. I see this as the reason these two species have been pushed to dangerously low numbers and one of the hardest challenges conservation efforts have to face.  We live in a very “me centered” culture, and conservation asks us to acknowledge our place as just one of the many functioning pieces in the world around us. If we are going to be on the beach with our family, we need to understand that the least tern flying with a fish in its mouth is bringing food back for his family on that same beach. If we are going to invest in monoculture farms that heavily rely on herbicide use for our food, then we need to realize that we are taking away the food source for monarchs, and many other insect species.

 

Do I think compromise between humans and critical habitat for endangered species can be achieved? Absolutely. Indeed, one of my favorite parts about working with endangered species is letting go of my role as Supreme Being, and acknowledging that an insect or bird is doing something that I never could.  When a monarch butterfly emerges in the fall, regardless of the fact that it has never taken a long flight before, it starts off on more than a 2,000 mile journey to a place it has never been, but knows instinctively to navigate to. When an intruder gets too close to a plover’s nest, the adult will flop around pretending to have a broken wing, making himself look like the vulnerable and easy target, all in an effort to protect its eggs. Some of the best examples of determination and selflessness are happening right around us in the natural word, and we all have the invitation to expand, and learn, and watch it take place. That is the marvel. That is the mystery. That is where I feel the real value of protecting endangered species comes from.

 

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Beach Nesting Bird Project
• Fight for the Flight: Monarch Butterfly Status Under Review

 

Lindsey Brendel is a Technician with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, who worked with Todd Pover on our Beach Nesting Bird Project.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation Volunteers Survey For New Jersey Frog and Toads

by Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Manager

Each spring, our Calling Amphibian Monitoring Project (CAMP) volunteers drive along a fifteen mile route after dusk, stopping at ten established stops along the route. They are hoping to hear the calls of some of New Jersey’s 17 species of frogs and toads. If they are lucky they’ll get to hear a chorus of several different species, sometimes so loud it’s almost deafening. Other times, they strain to hear a lone call from far away and many times they only hear the passing cars. It takes a dedicated volunteer to spend the time surveying and hearing only a few or no calls. But even the negative data is important, amphibians face many threats in New Jersey and establishing a long term database is key to learning about the population.

 

This season, twenty-one routes were surveyed and 16 of the 17 New Jersey frog and toad species were heard. The Eastern Spadefoot Frog was not heard this season. This year, the American Green Treefrog was recorded on one route in Salem County. This species of frog was first discovered in New Jersey in June 2011 in Salem County. The Northern Spring Peeper was heard on 19 out of the 21 routes, with Green Frogs heard on 15 routes and Northern Gray Treefrogs heard on 14 routes.

There are 63 CAMP routes through out New Jersey. Currently 34 routes are available for the 2016 CAMP season. If you are interested in volunteering for the CAMP project, please contact Larissa Smith via email.

 

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Calling Amphibian Monitoring Project

 

Larissa Smith is the Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

A Closer Look at Project Terrapin, a Growing Initiative that Focuses on Diamondback Terrapin Conservation

by Kiran Sinha, 2015 Project Terrapin Field Team Member and Wildlife Conservation Intern

Diamondback Terrapins are a species native to coastal marsh areas in New Jersey. Terrapins are an interesting species, in part because they are the only native New Jersey turtle that has adapted to marsh habitats. Diamondbacks have been spotted all over the Great Bay area, increasingly so in the Manahawkin-Long Beach Island area. Although their shells are extravagant and beautiful, sometimes it is hard to notice them in the water, especially when it is dark and murky. Terrapins can travel by water and land; neither is safer than the other in the busy water and road ways of Barnegat Bay.

 

Diamondbacks in New Jersey have had a high mortality rate due to impact from cars and boats. In fact, only one in fifty hatchlings survive to a full-grown adult. One teacher and terrapin conservationist is trying to change that. Dr. John Wnek is a teacher at M.A.T.E.S High School in Manahawkin. Dr. Wnek is an avid terrapin conservationist and he incorporates it into his schoolwork as much as possible. For the past few years he has been rescuing terrapins in the Barnegat Bay area. Whether they are hit by a boat, a car, or trapped in a net, Dr. Wnek is there to help. He has many terrapins in his classroom, mostly those that he rescues. He introduced his love for terrapins to his students and they have joined in to help with a growing initiative, Project Terrapin.

 

For this project, Dr. Wnek and his students distribute over one hundred terrapin hatchlings to coastal high schools and colleges in New Jersey. These students and teachers keep their turtles in the classroom and take care of them for almost a full school year. At the end of May every year, the students and teachers from each school join at Island Beach State Park to release the hatchlings into the Barnegat Bay. When the turtles are hatched in the wild, they sometimes do not even make it to the marsh water or bay. Predators, such as seagulls, can pick them up easily when they are so small.

 

With the help from the schools, the terrapins are well fed and kept clean from diseases so they can finally be set free in their new homes. A very important part of maintaining the hatchlings while in the classroom is keeping track of them after they are released. Since the little turtles are too small to tag, we perform a procedure called notching. This process is like filing a human finger nail; it is quick, simple and painless. To notch a turtle shell, we use a filer to leave indents in the shell. As you can see from the pictures below, turtles have keratin plates that make up the shell, called scutes. In order to mark them accordingly to the year, we correlate each scute with the letter of the alphabet. This year we used the letters N and O, you can see the scutes that are marked on the hatchling and turtle. Once this process is complete, we finally set our little buddies go to where they can thrive and reproduce. The goal of this project is to help replenish the diamondback terrapin population, with the help of Dr. Wnek and his students, the next generation of terrapin conservationists.

Learn more:

• Project Terrapin
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Online Field Guide: Northern Diamondback Terrapin

 

Kiran Sinha is a summer 2015 Wildlife Conservation Intern with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and a 2015 field team member for Project Terrapin.

A Few Tips to Attract Bees to Your Backyard

by: McKenzie Cloutier, Special Events and Fundraising Intern

Bees are essential members of our community. Some organizations estimate that we rely on pollinators to produce about 75% of the food we eat including vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts and even coffee and chocolate! Nearly all of earth’s plants rely on bees. Conserving bees will help ensure food security.

 

Despite their importance, bees are currently threatened worldwide and as a result, their numbers are declining rapidly. The most prominent threats to bees include pesticide use, loss of habitat due to construction and human development, and an increase in invasive or nonnative plant species.

 

Thankfully, there is a lot that can be done to help bees regain their numbers, starting in your very own back yard:

• First, reduce pesticide usage in your yard. Pesticides are harmful because they affect the nectar that bees consume. Ideally, go pesticide-free!
• Next, create a habitat for bees in your backyard. Plant a garden with a variety of plants for bees to pollinate. Choose plants that flower at different times so that the bees will always have food accessible to them. Native plants are the most beneficial to bees. Bees will pollinate a countless number of different plant species, but they are more attracted to certain colors such as blue, purple yellow, white and violet. A few examples of their favorites include:
  • Foxglove
  • Heliotrope
  • Blueberry
  • Sunflower
  • Lavender
  • Squash
• Next, construct homes for bees. Different structures are beneficial for different types of bees, so you can research ways to help house the various types. For example, you could purchase a mason bee house to benefit mason bees. You can also build your own bee house! Start with a milk carton or wooden box and paint it a bright color, making sure to use a zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) or low-VOC paint. Insert and layer piles of brown paper nest tubes; you can find these at a garden store or construct them yourself.
• You can also build a bee bath. Bee baths should be shallow with landing spots available for bees. For example, use a plate or bowl and line it with rocks. Add only enough water that the rocks stay dry to serve as landing spots for the bees. Be sure to position the bath at ground level and to change the water on a daily basis.
• A few last tips include choosing to mow meadow areas of your lawn less frequently and leaving an area of dirt in your yard for ground-nesting bees’ tunneling.

 

For more tips on how to help pollinators, visit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.

 

McKenzie Cloutier is the summer 2015 Special Events and Fundraising Intern for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

 

Wrapping up the 2015 Piping Plover Chick Mortality Study

by Emily Heiser, Biological Assistant

The tail end of the breeding season always brings a mix of unsettled emotions. There is a German word that perfectly describes this feeling, zugunhrue. It’s a compound word: ‘Zug’, describes movement or migration and ‘Unhrue’, describes anxiety or restlessness. You can almost see this feeling dripping off of the birds as they move around, fighting over the best foraging spots to bulk up and snuggling up to one another in the perfect roosting spot. They rely on weather cues and dwindling daylight to determine the best time to depart. To some extent, we find ourselves doing the same. It is a significant changing of the seasons as summer fades into fall for the beach nesting bird staff. We pack up the equipment, take down fencing, polish data and shift mindsets from breeding to migration.

Michelle Stantial, of the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry departed on her own migration last week, wrapping up the 2015 piping plover chick mortality study. Michelle and I had a whirlwind summer of traversing the coast, trapping birds, collecting data and finding time to sleep somewhere in between. Ironically, New Jersey bolstered one of its better productivity seasons in years during the chick mortality study! Overall, the study was a resounding success. We worked with wonderful partners to achieve optimal results and hope to move ahead with future seasons. In total, we collected information from 29 breeding pairs of piping plovers and 62 of their chicks, deployed nine nest cameras and hiked many miles of beach looking for predator signs.

This season had all sorts of surprises waiting for us. While we took our losses hard, we celebrated our victories even harder. The information from the nest cameras was vital in our efforts to identify predators and in sourcing the issues that piping plovers face here in New Jersey. We watched fox, crow, gull and mink eat nests and it broke our hearts along the way. On the other hand, we watched how determined these birds were in sitting on their nests through downpours, lightning storms, high winds and tides. We had not one, but TWO double clutches this season. A double clutch is a rare event in a piping plover’s life cycle and has been documented sparingly over the years along the entire Atlantic Coast. The two pairs that double clutched laid their first nests, successfully reared their chicks to fledge and then laid another nest, ultimately fledging those chicks as well! It was a true delight to watch all four of these broods succeed this season.

 

As the weeks pass, the number of migrating piping plovers slowly dwindles and our seasonal staff departs for new adventures. It is always a bit sad to watch them leave, but it is reassuring to know we have made life long friendships and that the birds will undoubtedly be back next season! We only have to get through the doldrums of winter. Enjoy the fall and good luck on migration, our fine-feathered friends!

 

Learn more:

• The Pitter-Patter of Tiny Plover Feet
• Pondering the Plovers
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Beach Nesting Bird Project
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Online Field Guide: Piping Plover

 

Emily Heiser is a Biological Assistant for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

CWF to serve as “Scout Central” and Host Bat House and Rain Barrel Workshops at this year’s WILD Expo

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

 

The 2015 New Jersey WILD Outdoor Expo, a free event designed for visitors to discover ways to appreciate and enjoy the outdoors, will be held on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in Jackson Township, Ocean County.

 

This year, Conserve Wildlife Foundation will be holding two exciting and worth-while workshops, “Build a Bat House” and “Make a Rain Barrel.” Help us provide safe roosting and maternity sites for bats being evicted from buildings through our “Build a Bat House” workshop! The bat houses built at the Expo will become part of an Eagle Scout Service Project benefiting Conserve Wildlife Foundation.

Join us in our activity tent for Conserve Wildlife Foundation merchandise, discounts on membership and activities for Boy and Girl Scouts. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation tent will serve as “Scout Central” at this year’s event. Stop by for important scout information, handouts and activities. For a list of Boy and Girl Scout activities at this year’s Expo, visit our website.

 

Learn more:

• 2015 New Jersey WILD Outdoor Expo
• Free Boy and Girl Scout Activities at the 2015 WILD Expo
• 2015 WILD Expo Event Schedule

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.