by Meaghan Lyon
Since 2018, CWF has partnered with the USFWS New Jersey Field Office in completing summer mist netting surveys for bats in the Pinelands. The goal of these surveys is to capture the federally threatened Northern long-eared bat and track these bats to maternity roosts.
Continue reading “Summer Mist Netting Surveys for Northern long-eared bat Come Up Short Handed”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Surveys of osprey nests in New Jersey have occurred annually for the past forty five years. They are conducted to help determine the overall size and health of the population. The first aerial survey over Barnegat Bay counted only five active nests. Ten years earlier there had been over 50. The combined effects of DDT and habitat loss had taken their toll. No osprey nests were productive and the population at risk of being extirpated from the state.
“In 1974 there were only five active osprey nests on Barnegat Bay. Today there are approximately one hundred and fifty.”
After ospreys were listed as endangered an innovative effort to transplant viable eggs from the Chesapeake Bay to Barnegat Bay began. In addition, to help replace natural nest sites that were lost to development, man-made nest platforms were designed and installed away from human disturbance. Slowly osprey pairs became productive thanks to the die hard effort of State biologists like Pete McLain, Kathy Clark and many volunteers and partners. It’s encouraging for us to look back to see how far we’ve come in the statewide recovery of ospreys in New Jersey.
Continue reading “Ospreys Continue to Thrive in New Jersey”by Marissa Murdock, 2019 NJ Osprey Project Intern; Rider University ’21
This past summer I was lucky enough to work with Conserve Wildlife Foundation as a volunteer student intern. I worked alongside Ben Wurst, CWF’s Habitat Program Manager, helping with the New Jersey Osprey Project. My internship consisted of assisting with osprey surveys, banding young, and recording data so that we can estimate the health of the population in New Jersey.
Continue reading “My Summer Adventure with Osprey”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
On a brisk November morning, a couple dedicated NJ Osprey Project volunteers joined myself and CWF Biologist Larissa Smith to install an osprey platform on the coastal saltmarsh of New Jersey. The new platform was installed to replace a very old and unstable platform that fell this summer. The new structure is more than twice the size of the old one and will give the nesting pair, who return in the spring, a much more resilient nest site. As you can see from the video above, it takes a bit of strength to raise up a 16′ tall wood nest platform. We decided to slow it down when WCC Volunteer, Wayne R. gives it a final push. Continue reading “Video from the Field: Osprey Platform Install”
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Now that Northern diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are officially considered a nongame species, our work to help conserve breeding adult females is more justifiable. Before July 2016, adult terrapins, including egg bearing females, could be harvested during an open season from November to March. With that said, it was troublesome to know that a 15+ year old female that you helped safely cross a road in summer, could be harvested, shipped to Asia and eaten only a few months later… Now, we can rest (somewhat) easy knowing that the hard work of our dedicated volunteers will live on and help the population grow (there are still many threats to terrapins including collisions with boats, vehicles, poaching, drowning in ghost crab pots, etc…) Continue reading “Reducing Roadkills of Terrapins in S. Ocean County”
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Since we began to work more closely with ospreys in 2006, we have documented the population grow beyond the historic population estimate of 350-450 nesting pairs (Henny 1977) to a new historic milestone. In 2017, a total of 668 active nests were recorded during a statewide census of nesting ospreys, which is well above the post-DDT milestone of 500 nesting pairs, and show that the population continues to grow. This is the second census conducted without the use of manned aircraft since 2009 after all known osprey nests were released and mapped online in 2013. Despite the lack of aircraft, we’re still able to obtain an accurate representation of the size and health of the statewide population, while reducing the overall project cost. Continue reading “Osprey Numbers Surge Above Post-DDT Milestone”
Emily Heiser, CWFNJ Wildlife Biologist
For the 12th year in a row, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, in partnership with New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species, assisted in monitoring and managing the state’s Beach Nesting Bird Project. Four species are regularly monitored throughout the field season: piping plovers (federally threatened, state endangered), least terns (state endangered), black skimmers (state endangered), and American oystercatchers (state species of special concern). Statewide, piping plovers are of particular concern as their numbers continue to decline and federal recovery goals have not been achieved. Continue reading “2017: Piping Plover Nesting Season”
As a Principal Zoologist for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program, 2017 Women & Wildlife Inspiration Award Honoree Kris Schantz works with one of New Jersey’s most underappreciated and persecuted species: the timber rattlesnake. She earned her Masters of Science degree from Rutgers University based on a study of the rattlesnake and its habitat in northern New Jersey, and her passion in both learning and developing greater understanding of this species has helped improve its protection.
Ms. Schantz partners with academic and consultant biologists, as well as a number of reptile enthusiasts to accomplish the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s conservation mission. Her responsibilities have expanded to include other vulnerable snake species, such as the corn snake, northern pine snake, and scarlet snake. Continue reading “NJ DEP ENDANGERED AND NONGAME SPECIES ZOOLOGIST KRIS SCHANTZ HONORED FOR INSPIRATION”
As Director of Education & Outreach for Great Swamp Watershed Association, 2017 Women & Wildlife Education Award Honoree Hazel England has spent 24 years as an enthusiastic environmental educator and naturalist in New Jersey, bringing education programs to students and teachers of all ages about our local ecosystems and habitats. Her work focuses on providing powerful learning experiences for educators, encouraging youths to explore and understand New Jersey’s incredible biodiversity, and partnering with agencies to open up more environmental opportunities for students of all ages.
Since 2004, Ms. England has dedicated herself to developing, coordinating, and implementing a wide variety of educational and stewardship programs and activities at the Great Swamp Watershed Association as the Director of Outreach and Education. She currently focuses on creating programs about water quality and conservation, ranging from curriculum development, to watershed-wide issues, to local resident workshops. Continue reading “GREAT SWAMP WATERSHED ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR HAZEL ENGLAND HONORED FOR EDUCATION EFFORTS”
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
While removing our seasonal (better late than never!) terrapin X-ING signs on Great Bay Blvd. in Little Egg Harbor yesterday, we stumbled upon some tiny northern diamondback terrapin hatchlings. These little guys were hiding or trapped under a very large (and heavy) X-ING sign made from old pallets that someone knocked over (I say guys because they hatched later in the season and it was a very cool August, but some could be girls). At first I didn’t see anything, but upon closer inspection I saw several hatchlings in the vegetation. One, two, three, four, five, six. Then I dug a little with my hand and found two more. The sign had been atop a nest. Continue reading “Photo from the Field”
