Over the past 3 months, CWF biologists along with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) New Jersey Field Office staff have been working late into the night to survey for bats in the Pinelands. Each survey begins just before sunset with the setup of large, nearly invisible nets stretched across wooded corridors. As night falls, bats emerge from their day roosts and fly through the sky to their foraging grounds. From sunset until 2 am, the team checks the nets every 10 minutes, carefully extracting any bat captured in the net for identification, weighing, and measurement.
by Rachel McGovern, Communications and Outreach Manager
CWF’s Wildlife Science Summer Camp on Long Beach Island has wrapped up for the 2024 season. This camp was produced by CWF in partnership with the Osprey Foundation and the Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts & Sciences (LBIF). This year, we offered two distinct weeks of camp, both with hands-on activities and nature exploration.
Our first camp week was “Junior Wildlife Biologists,” which served children ages 10-12. Our intention for this week of camp was to introduce campers to the wildlife studies that are done in New Jersey, learn some of the methodologies used in the field, and witness wildlife data collection.
Campers had the opportunity to work with our wildlife biologists during the week to learn about their areas of expertise. Wildlife Biologist Christine Healy came in for a day of camp to help campers understand land use and its impact on salamanders and to explore how she uses GPS trackers to study turtles.
Wildlife Biologist Christine Healy helps campers design a salamander-friendly town.
CWF has been teaming up with partners from the USFWS New Jersey Field Office and JB MDL’s Natural Resources department to survey the installation’s forest for birds throughout the year. These surveys allow us to get an inventory of bird species found throughout the large expanses of protected natural areas within the base’s boundaries. So far this year, we have documented a diverse array of bird species passing through during migration and some resident species that stay year-round. During the springtime, we got to see warblers such as the black-and-white warbler, pine warbler, common yellowthroat, and American redstart.
Six of the forest bird species documented at the base are State-listed as either threatened or of special concern. The red-headed woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, is a state-threatened species. They prefer open woods, both upland and wetland that contain dead or dying trees and sparse undergrowth. The Northern parula, Setophaga americana, and hooded warbler, Setophaga citrina, are both species of special concern during the breeding season. Both breed in mature forests, with the Northern parula nesting in trees and the hooded warbler nesting in shrubs. Wood thrush, Hlyocichla mustelina, is a species of special concern during the breeding season. The wood thrushes breed throughout mature deciduous and mixed forests. Ideal habitat for them includes trees that are over 50 feet fall, a moderate understory of saplings and shrubs, an open forest floor with moist soil and decaying leaf litter, and water nearby. The brown thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, is a species of special concern during the breeding season. This species is often found in woodlands with dogwood, pitch pine, or scrub oak. Lastly, the eastern whip-poor-will, Antrostomus vociferus, is another species of special concern here in NJ during the breeding season. These birds breed in dry deciduous or evergreen forests with little or no underbrush, close to open areas.
The remote coastal salt marshes of the Delaware Bayshore harbor a unique and seldom observed ecosystem, boasting a rich natural history and diverse wildlife. To help prevent the loss of these valuable habitats and their inhabitants, CWF is participating in a partner-driven, multi-year project led by Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to enhance habitat quality and restore natural hydrology to salt marshes in Delaware and New Jersey. CWF is actively involved in the second season of biological monitoring at select Bayshore salt marshes targeted for restoration efforts designed to revegetate mudflats existing on old salt hay farms (read more about salt hay farming impacts here). At this stage of the project, our role is to gather important pre-restoration data to evaluate the anticipated impact and effectiveness of restoration techniques.
A view from one of our survey points at Dix Wildlife Management Area. Photo courtesy of Emmy Casper, CWF Wildlife Biologist.
The 2024 NJ Bald eagle nesting season is winding down and so far 221 young eagles have fledged from nests throughout the state. We know that these eagles have fledged due to the eagle project volunteers who monitor all known eagle nests in New Jersey. Being a nest monitor can be a joyful experience when all goes well and the pairs successfully fledge young. But, it can also be heartbreaking when a pair fails to hatch eggs and when adults or chicks are lost during the season. Despite the ups and downs of monitoring eagle nests the volunteers continue to be dedicated to the eagle project. I asked the Eagle Project volunteers to send me their two favorite photos from the season.
Please enjoy the slideshow.
All photos were taken by trained volunteers from a safe distance using high powered scopes and cameras.
CWF has played a major role in helping monitor breeding American oystercatchers in New Jersey ever since surveys were initiated in the state just over two decades ago in the early 2000’s. Most of the statewide effort, conducted by a variety of partners, has been focused on pairs nesting on the sandy barrier beaches of the Atlantic Coast, in conjunction with efforts there to monitor and manage other beach nesting birds, such as piping plovers and least terns. These sites are often those beaches that are highly recreated and most used by beachgoers, public beaches where these species need added protection to hatch nests and raise their young chicks.
Aerial view of an empty osprey nest. Little Egg Harbor, NJ. June 2024.
So far it has been an usual year for nesting osprey in New Jersey. This spring, the pair that has nested at our osprey cam in Barnegat Light, who arrived on time, the female did not lay any eggs. Then I heard from a woman who watches a nest near the southern end of Long Beach Island who reported the same — pair present but incubation was never observed. Another report came in from an osprey nest watcher on the Mullica River (to the southwest of LBI) who reported the same — no incubation observed. We put out a call on social media for osprey nest watchers to report anything odd like this to us (while also reporting osprey nest activity online via Osprey-watch.org). Some people reported seeing the same behavior..
Leah grew up in Sussex County, where she enjoyed spending her time as a child and adulthood outside in nature. She graduated from Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources. In 2019, Leah joined Conserve Wildlife Foundation as an intern, in 2020 she then became a part-time employee and this past March became a full time wildlife biologist.
My name is Kaiulani and I am the newest beach nesting bird crew member for CWF this year! I was super excited to get back in the field and this job offered a great opportunity to gain experience working with new birds, as well as help with the conservation efforts to protect their breeding habitats.
Twenty-nine Shorebirds Stewards were posted at Delaware Bay beaches in Cumberland and Cape May Counties during the annual shorebird migration in May. Stewards help to protect the feeding shorebirds by keeping disturbance to a minimum. Shorebirds birds need to feed and fatten up on horseshoe crab eggs for their journey north to their breeding grounds. Stewards educate the public about this phenomenon and the reasons for the restricted beaches. The 2024 shorebird season went smoothly, the crabs spawned throughout May, so there were plenty of eggs on the beaches. This season the shorebirds were using many of the beaches with restricted access to the public. These beaches had stewards present and viewing areas, allowing people to witness the multitudes of shorebirds, especially the Red-knot, a federally listed species. Thank you to all the stewards for making this a successful shorebird season.
photos by Shorebird Stewards
photo by Dom ManaloShorebird Steward Susan Rashphoto by Susan Rashphoto by Luke Tanphoto by Luke Tanphoto by Susan RashShorebird Steward Neil Olfusen; photo by Dom Manalophoto by Susan Rashphoto by Luke TanCWF inter James O’Rourkephoto by Dom Manalophoto by Larissa SmithShorebird Steward Jill Connellphoto by Barb Bennettphoto by Barb Bennettphoto by Kat Codyphoto by Chris HeimerShorebird Stewards Dan & Cheryl Alexanderphoto by Barb Bennett
