I recently attended my first career fair at Stockton University. When asked if I would attend, I felt like I couldn’t say no, as I am currently seeking at least 5-6 student interns or seasonal field technicians to assist with several wildlife conservation projects. At first, I wasn’t sure what I could display to draw attention to our table and prospective summer jobs working with rare wildlife.. Then it hit me. I bring what I use when working with wildlife in the field!
photo by NJ Eagle Project Nest Monitor, Paul Lenzo
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish and Wildlife have released the 2022 New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Report. The 2022 eagle nesting season was a record year for New Jersey’s nesting eagle population with 250 active nests identified.
The 250 active nests (meaning the nests produced eggs) represent an increase of 28 active nests since 2021. Of those nests, 83 percent were successful and collectively produced 335 offspring. The productivity rate for nests with known outcomes was 1.42 young per nest, which is above the range required to maintain healthy population numbers. The 2022 NJ Bald Eagle Report includes details on the nesting season, resightings and recoveries.
One of the three fledges from the 2022 Manville nest: photo by NJ Nest Monitor, Rose Joy
These numbers could not have been achieved or documented without the dedicated efforts of the 150 New Jersey Eagle Project volunteers who conduct the majority of the nest-observation work vital to tracking the population and nest distribution of our state’s Bald eagles in all 21 counties. CWF is honored to manage these volunteers in partnership with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program and thanks them for their invaluable service.
CWF would also like to thank our partners, who make our bald eagle conservation work possible, including PSE&G, Wells Fargo Advisors, Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite Stores, Mercer County Parks, Wildlife Center Friends, the American Eagle Foundation, and the Zoological Society of New Jersey.
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.
It’s always a good day when we get a resighting of a NJ banded eagle, especially if it was one that had a transmitter attached. On November 1st, 2022 “Oran” was resighted in Stone Harbor, Cape May County, NJ by John Kauterman. This is about 22 miles from where he had fledged along the Delaware Bay in Cumberland County in 2015.
E/17 November 1st, 2022: photo credit, John Kauterman
On May 18th, 2015 a remote eagle nest on the Delaware Bay was visited by biologists with the NJ Bald Eagle Project, from both the NJ ENSP & CWF. There were two eight week old chicks in the nest both and we banded both. The male, banded NJ Green band E-17, was outfitted with a transmitter and he was named “Oran”.
An osprey nest with hatchlings on May 16, 2022. One of many nests that eventually failed to produce young this year.
Whenever we look at how ospreys are faring, weather is always taken into account. When we summarize and report on the results of our summer osprey nesting surveys, we also look at the local climate. Being situated along the Atlantic coast, our weather is influenced by the ocean. As aerial predators of fish, ospreys are reliant on favorable water conditions to forage.
Preliminary results of the 2022 New Jersey Osprey Project Census show that the osprey population was not as productive this year as they have been over the past ~20 years. This was largely due to a low pressure system (nor’easter) that stalled off the coast in early May — when the majority of pairs were incubating eggs. The strong onshore winds caused moderate coastal flooding, windy conditions, increased wave action and water turbidity, which made it more difficult for ospreys to find and catch prey in coastal waters. Males do 100% of the foraging from the onset of egg laying until young begin to fledge, so when they are unable to provide food, females must abandon their nests and eggs to forage for themselves. The nor’easter in May appears to have affected the outcome of many coastal nests and in some cases, complete colonies. Of course there are many other causes for nest failure but this year weather played a major role.
An empty osprey nest on a sandbar located on Barnegat Bay.
In the coming weeks CWF staff, NJDEP Biologists, and a handful of dedicated volunteers will descend onto the coastal saltmarshes of New Jersey to conduct a census of nesting ospreys. The last census was conducted in 2017 when 668 nesting pairs was recorded. They will survey remote areas of back bays by boat. Nests are surveyed in a variety of methods, with ladders being the traditional method, which allow for closer inspection of nests and banding of young for future tracking. Other nests are surveyed from a distance using optics or cameras with telephoto lenses, a mirror, smartphone or GoPro on an extension pole and a sUAS (when operated by a FAA licensed unmanned pilot). The goal is to recorded the total number of nesting pairs throughout the State.
Over the past several years, I have worked with LBIF to help guide their efforts to provide habitat for wildlife on their property in Loveladies. We have always wanted to establish another, larger “turtle garden” for nesting female N. diamondback terrapins, since they are a common visitor during summer months. This spring we received a small grant from the Garden Club of Long Beach Island to establish a new turtle garden at LBIF. Late last month we ordered 15 tons of mason sand from a local supplier, which provides excellent nesting habitat, with small grain size and little organic matter. Myself and Jeff Ruemeli, who is the new Director of Sciences at LBIF, worked to install coir logs to hold the sand before spreading it out by hand. I followed up with planting around 30 seaside goldenrod plants at the site to help stabilize sand and provide foraging habitat for pollinators.
Another season of growth and new life is here! As many species are beginning their annual life cycle to reproduce, some peregrine falcon pairs already have young. The eyases (young falcons) at the Union County Falcon Cam are a prime example. They are now a little over a week old and have been examined and treated for a pigeon borne disease, called trichomoniasis, which adult falcons can transfer to their young. If young falcons would get trich., then they could perish. Kathy Clark, NJDEP Fish & Wildlife Supervisory Zoologist, UC staff and colleague Cathy Malok, w/ The Raptor Trust visited the site to ensure the survival of this brood.
