Tag: banding

Contest winner to help band EagleCam chicks at Duke Farms next month

By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator

Copper Hill School computer teacher Diane Cook was recognized by Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation for winning their EagleCam lesson plan contest earlier this week. Cook will join wildlife biologists to help band the new Duke Farms EagleCam chicks next month.

 

The EagleCam Lesson Plan contest, jointly organized by Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation, called on educators to submit lesson plans incorporating the Duke Farms EagleCam into their classrooms. Installed in 2008, the Duke Farms EagleCam, a web cam on a tree adjacent to a Bald Eagle nest, has provided a streaming look into the daily lives of the eagle family for over 10 million viewers.

 

Diane Cook submitted three creative lesson plans for the contest and is working with the Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation EagleCam team to expand the camera’s potential as an educational vehicle.

 

“Duke Farms is delighted to support dedicated teachers that bring nature to life in their classrooms. Diane Cook’s winning lesson plan featured innovative strategies to teach digital citizenship through student observations of the nesting eagles,” explained Michael Catania, Duke Farms Executive Director. “Her participation in this year’s banding of the Duke eagle chicks will be a highlight for our staff.”

 

The EagleCam has been a staple of Diane Cook’s classrooms since the webcam was installed in 2008. Cook began blogging about the eagles in 2011 and allows students in grades kindergarten through four to share their thoughts, observations or questions on what they see happening in her computer literacy class. Cook also live streams the EagleCam in her classroom for her students to watch. Her first graders use the webcam as a part of an internet safety unit and her third and fourth graders use the EagleCam to learn how to write blogs themselves.

 

“Watching the EagleCam gives us all, adults and students, the opportunity to experience nature happening right before our eyes. It opens the way for meaningful discussions and great questions, both at school and at home as families watch together,” said Computer Literacy Teacher and Contest Winner Diane Cook. “This year, I am using the EagleCam to teach how to write a thoughtful and meaningful comments in social media forums. Fourth graders are learning how to blog. They are excited to write about a topic that excites them.”

 

“As a dedicated and inspiring teacher, Diane Cook is helping us realize the incredible potential for connecting our kids with the natural world around us,” stated David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation Executive Director. “The amazing comeback of Bald Eagles across New Jersey mirrors the recovery that our state has made from the devastating legacies of unchecked pollution. Teachers like Diane Cook work so hard to make sure the next generation of leaders understands first-hand how much all of us – humans and Bald Eagles alike – depend on a clean and healthy environment.”

 

Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey, Cook now resides in Ringoes. She has been an educator at Cooper Hill School in the Flemington Raritan School District for 19 years, teaching first grade, second grade and now computer literacy. Cook gets outside as often as she can, and she enjoys gardening, birding or looking for other wildlife, hiking, walking, fishing, and learning her newest craft of photography.

 

“I’m hoping to instill in all who learn about the EagleCam in my class a sense of wonder, appreciation for our natural world, and a desire to take care of our world,” explained Cook. “Environmental science is one of my passions. I want to pass along a small part of that to others.”

 

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

Three nestlings produced at the Osprey Cam nest are banded for future tracking!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

In the late afternoon of June 24, 2014, I kicked off the 2014 Osprey Nesting Surveys by banding the three nestings at the Osprey Cam nest. I was joined by Ann Marie Mason Morrison, with Friends of Forsythe NWR, our founding partner with the Osprey Cam, and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service interns, Jessie and Kirsten who helped bring out all the equipment needed to the nest (two 20′ ladders).

This is one of the most difficult nests to reach in all of New Jersey! It either takes a boat (at high tide) or two 20′ ladders (at low tide) to cross a 15′ wide ditch on the coastal salt marsh. Anyone who has crossed the ditch can attest to how difficult it is. Now you can watch and see what when into banding these three nestlings. A portion of the video was cut when I was attempting to repair the sound at the camera equipment box. At the same time the nest was cleaned of harmful plastic debris that the birds used as nesting material. A total of 3 balloons and a plastic bag were removed from the nest. The three young were banded with USGS bird bands (1088-04358,59 & 60) for future tracking. Check out a photo that I got of “the runt.” Enjoy!

BANDING GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS

By Michael Davenport, Marine Species & GIS Programs Manager

Conserve Wildlife Foundation Intern, Nelson Melendez, and I recently had an opportunity to assist Endangered & Nongame Species Program Biologist Sharon Petzinger in her research on golden-winged warblers, a species just added to the state’s list of Endangered species this year.  We were banding males which had been observed previously and had already claimed breeding territories.  They were being banded in order to obtain data regarding their distribution and habitat use, as well as other life history information.

Only males were being targeted for banding.  Males are territorial during the breeding season and do not tolerate the presence of other male golden-winged warblers.  Therefore, in order to catch a male, we would use their own territorial instincts to lure them into a mist net (a mist net looks a little like a volley ball net with much finer netting which becomes invisible to birds if set-up properly).

Once a mist net was set-up near a known golden-winged’s territory, Sharon used a custom-painted “toy” bird to play the role of an unwelcome male visitor.  She also used a call play-back, a recording of a male golden-winged’s song.  The song would lure the male near the net, and the decoy should bring him right into the net.

We went to several locations in northwest New Jersey where golden-winged warblers had been observed earlier in the year to set-up the mist net.  On this particular day, however, luck was not with us for no golden-winged warblers were caught.  Several other species were captured however, such as a veery, chestnut-sided warbler, and a Brewster’s warbler.  The Brewster’s warbler is actually a hybrid of a golden-winged warbler and a blue-winged warbler.  Another hybrid form between those two species is known as Lawrence’s warbler.

The veery and chestnut-sided warbler were released from the net unharmed.  Before the Brewster’s was released, a small aluminum band was placed on its leg and measurements such as wing length and weight were taken.

Warblers are often an overlooked group of birds by some birdwatchers due to their small size and relative difficulty in observing.  They are stunningly beautiful however, which becomes apparent when you have the opportunity to view them up-close.  They are a very diverse species group with a variety of interesting life histories.  There is currently one species (the golden-winged) listed as Endangered in the state and 11 additional species listed as Special Concern.  To learn more about them, please visit our on-line field guide links below.

 

NJ’s Rare Warblers

Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera)
Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)
Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens)
Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis)
Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea)
Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)
Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus)
Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla)
Northern Parula (Parula americana)
Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum)
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

 

Eagle population fairing well with mild winter

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Here are a series of photos from a recent bald eagle banding trip at a nest in southern New Jersey.

TRACKING THEIR PATH AS THEY HEAD SOUTH FOR THE WINTER

By Allison Anholt, Field Technician, (NJDFW) and Emily Heiser, Field Technician, (CWFNJ)

Throughout the fall, there is a remarkable sight to see along New Jersey’s coastline.  Thousands of shorebirds group together in huge flocks, using our state’s coastline as a migration stopover point to rest and feed.  One particularly interesting shorebird is the American oystercatcher, which is listed as a species of special concern in New Jersey.   At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, we work with biologists from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to survey these birds throughout the fall season.

The oystercatcher is an especially easy bird to survey during fall migration due to its distinct features. Not only do they stand apart from other shorebird species with their unique orange bill and striking coloration, but color bands help us determine individuals as well.  Banding efforts have been underway in New Jersey since 2004 in order to give insight to researchers regarding the
oystercatcher’s breeding habits, pair behavior, and migration patterns. About 300 oystercatchers have been banded in New Jersey to date, including a significant percentage of the state’s estimated 400 breeding pairs. Continue reading “AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS TAGGED AND READY FOR MIGRATION”