Tag: bald eagle

By Barbara McKee, NJ Eagle Project Volunteer

Seven months ago, I learned that “Duke” had flown back to Somerset County in central Jersey, and was perched along the Raritan River not far upstream of his natal nest at Duke Farms.  He was also very close to my home on the Millstone River in Hillsborough.  Thus began my shared adventure with Duke, the 2019 fledgling who was outfitted with a satellite transmitter at banding (E/88) that May. I wrote a CWF blog, “Duke’s” Homecoming in January about those months during the fall and winter, of following and photographing Duke as he explored areas I knew well from bicycling and volunteering for the Eagle Project. I am very grateful and humble to have “found” Duke on quite a few occasions throughout November, December, and January.  The trees were bare of leaves, and Duke’s full attention was on keeping himself fed.  I gradually learned his habits and noted he tended to stick with several favorite roosts, perches, and hang-outs!  It took patience, persistence, and a lot of luck! January 19, 2021, was the last time I saw Duke reasonably close, photographed and videographed him on a field in Hillsborough owned by Duke Farms.  

Following that frigid, breezy, gray day in mid-winter, January 19, Duke headed north to Tewksbury where he spent most of his time on large, private farms and estates not conducive to allowing access to a wandering, eagle-watching, trespassing photographer!  I could imagine he was finding prey in the fields, along the creeks, and in the occasional farm pond.  I took many photos of bucolic scenery to share with others who were interested in Duke’s travels. At the end of January, central Jersey got snow storms which dumped an estimated accumulation of more than 2 feet of snow on the ground.  Animals seemed to vanish.  Even road kill was scarce.  I worried that Duke would starve….that is, until while scrutinizing Google Earth, I realized he had settled on a hunting preserve that raised game fowl!  He simply perched near the pens, let the hawk do the hunting, and no doubt “stole” from the smaller raptors!  I stopped being so worried! For the entire snow-covered month of February, and half of March, Duke remained in Tewksbury.  A couple times he dashed back to Duke Farms (approximately 20 miles to the south) and the Raritan River nearby.  On one of those quick visits to his natal “home” he even visited me, perching again near our landing on the Millstone and downstream near the confluence with the main Raritan. 

Continue reading “Playing Hide and Seek with an Eagle”

by: Larissa Smith, CWF biologist

In part 4 of this blog series the Three Bridges eagle pair had returned to the newly installed nest platform. We are happy to report that incubation began on February 24th.

Nest monitors have reported that hatching was occurring on April 2nd. Since nest monitors can’t see into the nest they go by the adults behavior to indicate hatching. The adult will start sitting higher on the nest, looking down more often and moving around. The eggs hatch in the order in which they were laid, so there could be a chick, while the adult continues to incubate any remaining eggs. The adults will feed the chick and a steady supply of food will be brought into the nest. Unfortunately the cam is currently not operational. It will require access to the pole to diagnosis the problem. A visit isn’t possible at this point, due to the nesting pair.

• Read blog posts about this project: Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3 & Blog 4
• For updates on the Three Bridges pair see the Three Bridges web page.

by Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist

It looks like the Duke Farm’s nest will only have two chicks this season.

One egg remains in the nest bowl and is still being incubated, but based on when the second chick hatched, March 1st, it should have hatched by now. We won’t know for certain why the egg didn’t hatch, but one theory is that it was the first egg laid.

There had been intruder eagles at the nest and fights between the adults and intruders. At one point both adults were off the nest for 20 minutes while an immature was in the nest. Perhaps something happened to the egg during these incidents.

The egg will eventually get buried in the nest or shoved to the side. The adults are busy bringing food to the nest for feedings and both chicks are getting plenty of food.

Watch the LIVE Duke Farms Eagle Cam by clicking here.

Read more about the New Jersey Eagle Project by clicking here.

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By: Larissa Smith, CWF Wildlife Biologist

The drama continues at the Three Bridges eagle nest. When I last wrote about this pair in part 3 of the blog series, they were busy working on a nest in a tree and had not been sighted at the newly installed tower with the nest platform. Eagle Project nest monitors have been keeping a close eye on both the new tree nest and the platform. The pair had been busy bringing sticks to the tree nest.

This past week nest monitors saw a pair of eagles on the transmission towers and mating on the platform! The volunteer’s have been trying to figure out if this is one pair or two separate pairs. On February 12th, a pair was seen at the tree nest and in the afternoon a pair was seen on the nesting platform, mating. Since then eagles have been sighted at both the nest tree and the nest platform.

It isn’t uncommon for eagle pairs to build more then one nest and perhaps the Three Bridges pair is deciding which nest to use. But the possibility remains that there could be a second pair in the area. The Three Bridges pair laid their eggs on February 23rd last nesting season, so they should start incubation in the next week or two. Dedicated nest monitors will closely monitor the situation to see which nest is used and when eggs are laid.

• Duke Farms Eagle Cam
• NJ Bald Eagle Project
• Blog post: Part 1: An eagle nest removed
• Blog post: Part 2: An eagle nest reinstalled
• Blog post: Part 3: Where are the Three Bridges Eagles Nesting

by Barbara McKee, NJ Eagle Project volunteer

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As a volunteer nest observer working for New Jersey’s Bald Eagle Project under the guidance of Kathy Clark and Larissa Smith, I watch and report on six nests in central and northern NJ. When the Duke Farms eagle cam first went online in 2008, I loved watching the adult pair and their nestlings whenever I was at home on my computer! Web cams give us an intimate look into the lives of eagles. By observing close up, so much can be learned about eagle behavior, and this nest was only five miles from my home in Hillsborough. These were my eagle neighbors! In May of 2019, during the annual banding of the two eaglets at the Duke Farms nest, the younger male (banded E/88), was outfitted with a satellite transmitter and became part of the research program “Eagle Trax” to discover where fledglings go when they leave the nest.

Duke first went online Sept 17, 2019, after he had left the nest area, beginning his journey to adulthood as an independent eagle. Although Duke has made short trips over to PA and even a couple times returned briefly to NJ, to his natal nest area, he spent most of his time in Maryland on the lower Susquehanna River and upper Chesapeake Bay.

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Then, early last November, I got an email from Kathy Clark. Duke had once again returned to NJ and was in Hillsborough, very close to our home on the Millstone River. I hustled right out with my scope and camera to see if I could spot him. If I was ever going to see Duke “in the wild” it would be now, with no foliage to block the views, while he was just a few miles away! As I searched the small patch of woods that corresponded to the last tracker location, I realized how challenging it would be to find this “eagle in the hay-stack”! Even with experience in spotting eagles, and having some ideas about the behavior of juveniles, where they might perch and what sorts of terrain they might be attracted to, actually seeing Duke would take a lot of patience and persistence, but most of all luck! To find him with good light in a spot where photos are possible, would take even more luck—what were the odds? Although through his transmitter he is being tracked, the data downloads only once every 24 hours, so I only knew where he had been, not where he was in real time!

I have been blessed to have seen Duke about a dozen times in the last eleven weeks. There have been many other times when I was probably looking right at him without seeing him and this is supported by the information from the tracker! A human playing “hide and seek” with an eagle is definitely at a visual disadvantage! I have learned that young eagles prefer wooded cover, small valleys with tiny streams where they might find a rodent or reptile. They tend to perch near water, not large rivers, but rather small creeks in narrow gorges or beside farm ponds. In winter, the best find for a hungry young eagle is a road-killed deer or other animal in a farm field that is fresh, but already immobile. A find like this keeps Duke perched and roosting close by until the food is consumed. I have seen many competitors for this precious winter commodity: vultures, other eagles, pesky crows, and at one site, even a coyote!

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I also realized early on that Duke is just as likely to perch low and be almost invisible as he is to perch in a high tree top silhouetted against a light sky. Twice I flushed him off his perch because I was looking up not down. I learned that Duke has a favorite roosting spot where he has spent almost half of the nights he has been in central Jersey, but also discovered that he spent two nights within 100 yards of his natal nest in a small wooded area at Duke Farms!

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I have taken hundreds of photos of Duke. The light isn’t always the best, and Duke is usually quite far away, but my photos and videos have shown a healthy and thriving almost-two-year-old who has learned to hunt and to defend his prey! He has also learned to be patient and careful, and to wait his turn, most notably when “sharing” a meal with much larger and thus more assertive young female juveniles!
I have seen him scatter and chase the competition off his food on fields. I saw him try to “steal” something from a hawk in the air. I have seen him in flight, a sight I never tire of! I even saw him perched over the Millstone River in my own back yard, probably searching for fish! That was truly memorable!

Will Duke decide to stay here in central NJ? Will he eventually mate, build a nest, and have nestlings of his own here? I hope so! Evidence suggests that eagles do return to an area not that far from the area where they fledged and began the challenging journey from fledging to maturity. I hope to share Duke’s adventures for many years to come.

• Duke Farms Eagle Cam
• New Jersey Eagle Trax
• NJ Bald Eagle Project

by: Larissa Smith, wildlife biologist

It is always exciting to receive a report of a New Jersey banded eagle, especially when it is from Duke Farms eagle cam. D/99 was resighted two years ago during the winter of 2019. The blog post Duke Farms Alumni D/99: All Grown Up, has all the details of those sightings.

D/99 has been sighted again, this time in Freehold, Monmouth County. He was seen for several days feeding on a deer carcass along with a few other eagles.

D/99 was the youngest of three chicks in the 2014 Duke Farms nest. It’s amazing to see the “before” and “after” photos. The little fuzzy wobbling chick is now a full grown majestic adult.

D/99 is now seven years old and could possibly have a mate and be nesting in the area. We hope to get more resightings of D/99 in the future to know that he is doing well and raising his own family.

• NJ Bald Eagle Project
• Duke Farms Eagle Cam
• 2020 NJ Bald Eagle Project Report

by: Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist

In part one and two of this blog series we followed the Three Bridges eagle pair. The transmission tower where they had previously nested was replaced and a new nesting platform installed. The question was: would the pair return and use the new nesting platform? Eagle Project volunteers have been closely monitoring the tower and surrounding areas for the eagle pair. The eagles have not been seen at their old nesting tower. At one point it looked like they were building a nest on an adjacent tower, but the amount of sticks never increased. Then a new eagle nest was found in a tree about a mile away from the tower location.

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After many observations by nest monitors it is believed that this is the Three Bridges pair. While we can’t be 100 percent certain, the fact that they haven’t been seen at their old nest location and that this new nest is close enough to be in their territory. It is not uncommon for eagle pairs to relocate their nest if there is disturbance to the nest site. While it is disappointing, the new nest platform might not go to waste. Nest monitors have seen immature eagles perched on the newly installed tower and nest platform.

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As the number of eagles’s nesting in NJ continues to increase, it only makes sense that a pair will eventually use the nesting platform in the future.

• Duke Farms Eagle Cam
• NJ Bald Eagle Project
• Blog post: Part 1: An eagle nest removed
• Blog post: Part 2: An eagle nest reinstalled

NJDEP & CWF REPORT RECORD NUMBER OF BALD EAGLE NESTS, WITH EAGLES CONFIRMED IN ALL 21 NJ COUNTIES

by Ethan Gilardi, Wildlife Biologist

2020 was a record breaking year for Bald Eagles in New Jersey. Going from just one recorded nest in 1980, New Jersey’s Bald Eagles hit three major milestones this year in terms of new nests, locations and total nests monitored.

A record 36 new eagle nests were found in 2020. 22 nests were found in southern New Jersey, seven in northern New Jersey, and seven in central New Jersey.

This means that Bald Eagle are now confirmed to nest in every county in the state!

An astounding (and record breaking) 220 nesting pairs of eagles were also monitored in 2020. These pairs produced a total of 307 eaglets, with an additional 28 nesting pairs tracked to nests, but laying no eggs. Of the 210 known-outcome nests, an average of 1.46 young were produced per nest, exceeding the productivity rate necessary to maintain a stable population of 1.0 young per nest.

These numbers could not have been achieved or documented without the dedicated efforts of the almost one hundred volunteers with the Bald Eagle Nest Monitor program, managed by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ in partnership with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program. These volunteers conduct the majority of the nest-observation work vital to the Endangered and Nongame Species Program in tracking the population and nest distribution of our state’s Bald Eagles.

“The comeback of the bald eagle in New Jersey ranks among the most inspiring recoveries of endangered wildlife species anywhere,” said David Wheeler, Executive Director of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ. “The bald eagle’s return illustrates what is possible for many other rare species when you bring together proactive wildlife management, strong public investment, and the unparalleled dedication of biologists and volunteers.”

CWF thanks our dedicated volunteers and partners who make our bald eagle conservation work possible, including PSE&G, Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite Stores, P&G, Wells Fargo, Mercer County Parks, Wildlife Center Friends, the American Eagle Foundation, and the Zoological Society of New Jersey.

Click here to read the full NJDEP press release.

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Learn more about CWF’s Bald Eagle Project & read the annual Bald Eagle Project Reports by clicking here.

Learn about tracking Bald Eagles through New Jersey EagleTrax by clicking here.

Learn more about Bald Eagles in CWF’s Field Guide by clicking here.

by Larissa Smith, CWF Biologist

None of us could have predicted what would happen in 2020, and that’s certainly true for New Jersey’s bald eagles.

When our eagle volunteers joined me at our kick-off training in February, we prepared as usual to monitor known nests and educate landowners and the public about the importance of minimizing disturbance to our breeding pairs.

We never imagined how important eagles would become to so many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of you shared the wonder you felt in seeing eagles fly overhead, some for the first time. Eagles became a sign of strength and resilience for those staying at home, as well as those venturing out to do essential work.

And New Jersey’s eagle population soared – both literally and figuratively – breaking records with more than 200 active nests (with eggs) and 300 young fledged – up from just one pair in the early 1980’s.

We can thank our devoted eagle volunteers for this year’s success, as well as the individual, foundation, and corporate supporters who came through with funding to support our tireless efforts.

Unfortunately, not everyone who gave in the past, or who expected to give this year, donated as planned. And we recently learned that we’re losing our largest project funder for the coming season.

That is why I’m asking you to donate today to help CWF raise $10,000 to help cover the shortfall. Two generous donors have each put up a $2,500 match, which means that the first $5,000 donated will be matched dollar for dollar.

While having the best season on record is exciting news for all of us, important work remains to be done. Eagles still face serious threats of habitat loss and disturbance. The increasing population will require an even larger team of trained volunteers to observe nesting behavior and determine egg laying, hatching, and fledging dates. It also means an increase in the number of injured eagles which will need help. All of this takes time and resources.

For my part, I’m happiest when I’m outside working with bald eagles as I have for 20 years. After all, I’m a biologist, not a fundraiser! But in this case, I’m reaching out to ask for your support for the Eagle Project. We have overcome financial challenges in the past with the help of people like you. Whether you have always supported this project, or have newfound appreciation for these majestic raptors, please help us to ensure that this incredible success story continues to inspire all of us!

Thank you and stay safe.

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Learn more about CWF’s Bald Eagle Project here.

Learn more about New Jersey EagleTrax here.

Watch the CWF/Duke Farms Eagle Cam here.

Blog written by Eagle Project volunteer, Frank Budney

On June 15th, 2020 a juvenile Bald Eagle was rescued in a most unlikely location; on a major highway, located in an industrial area of Union County. At first glance stories like this usually have an unfortunate ending, considering the location, but the timely arrival of a local Police Officer on patrol saved the day.

This is only part of the story. The eagle in question was one of two nestlings that hatched from a nearby nest back on March 24. Its sibling fledged sometime in late May or early June while this individual remained on nest, branching next to it but never attempting to fly. By June 14, the juvenile in question was still perched next to the nest with no indication that it was about to fly until the following morning when it was rescued.

Continue reading “Rescue of a Juvenile Bald Eagle”