Tag: eagle

by Larissa Smith, CWF Biologist

The following was written by NJ Eagle Project volunteer, Daniel Kroon. He monitors this nest along with several other dedicated volunteers whose photos are featured in this blog.

The Three Bridges (Hunterdon County) eagle nest is located on the top arm of an electric transmission tower. This pair has successfully nested on the tower for the past five years. This line of towers is scheduled to be replaced with new monopoles and the work on it has recently begun. PSE&G is cooperating with the NJ Bald Eagle program to move this nest to a new pole platform. Unfortunately, the pair is already on territory and have been observed bringing a stick to the old nest. It is an interesting story of how these eagles are adapting to the human-created environment and how we are trying to accommodate them.

On November 4, PSE&G removed the top of the tower, keeping the nest intact, and lowered it to the ground where they carefully removed the nest from the tower structure. The nest is stored in a shed and will be re-installed on a platform affixed to the new tower when it is erected. We hope the eagle pair accept their remodeled home.

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The evening of the nest removal, volunteer Mary Ellen Hill observed the pair sitting together on the adjacent tower.

We will follow up with part two of this story once the new monopole tower is installed and the nest is placed back up on the platform. We thank all the nest monitors, PSE&G and everyone involved to make this as successful as possible.

by Ethan Gilardi, Assistant Biologist

The return of Bald Eagles witin the United States has been one of the greatest wildlife conservation success stories of the past few decades. Once a rarity in New Jersey and the rest of the U.S., these majestic raptors have undergone an amazing recovery to once again become a staple in the skies over our rivers and streams. But our work is never finished, as great success leads to new problems and new questions to ponder.

Earlier this year in Bogota New Jersey, at a two story home located along the Hackensack River and the congested traffic of River Road, a pair of bald eagles bucked conventions and decided that this was the place to raise a family. It isn’t out of the ordinary to see an eagle fly over that area on the prowl for a meal, but nesting in such a busy, human dominated area was a big surprise.

Continue reading “It Takes a Village: Neighborhood Unites to Help Bogota Eagles Start a Family”

We are nearing the end of the New Jersey Bald Eagle nesting season. This season we are monitoring 210 active pairs, 33 of those are newly recorded nesting pairs. Two-hundred and eighty chicks have been reported in nests and eight chicks have fledged. These numbers will change as NJ eagle project volunteers continue to report on their nests.

As with every season there have also been nest failures. Some nest failed due to storms damaging the nest tree or nest, while cause of other failures are undetermined.

On May 5th a eagle chick was found on the ground in Bridgeton and taken to Tri-State Bird Research & Rescue in Delaware. The chick was examined and found to be in good health, so the next step was to plan to re-nest. The chick was found near the Sunset nest located on private property. The next day a second chick was found on the ground in the same location. Unfortunately, this second chick did not survive it’s injuries from the fall. It was determined that the nest had partially fallen from the tree. The homeowner did see the adults still in the area of the nest.

Plans were made to install a temporary platform in which to place the surviving chick. She was 8.5 weeks old, so still a few weeks away from taking her first flight.

The chick was banded NJ E/92 and placed in her new “home” for the next few weeks. We were very pleased when we saw one of the adults fly down low over the platform area. As of May 17th, the nest monitor reported the chick was still on the platform .

Thank you

• Tri-State Bird Research & Rescue and Dr. Erica Miller
• The Miller family for being caretakers of the eagle’s nest
• CWF volunteer Matt Tribulski for constructing the platform.

by: Larissa Smith

Duke returns to his nest site

We have been following “Duke” on NJ Eagle Trax, since he fledged from the Duke Farms nest on June 15th, 2019. He spent January in the Chesapeake Bay region. February and March he was ranging around northern MD and southern PA. On March 21st he made a big move up to NJ and was very close to his old nest. The points show him at Bradley Gardens at 4:42pm and the next point, to the southwest, at 4:59. We don’t know where he was between those two points but was certainly close enough to pass over his old nest. He spent the night at Round Valley Reservoir and the headed south on March 22nd.

Oran: Alive and Well

Continue reading “Eagle Trax Update”

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ in partnership with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered & Nongame Species Program, is releasing results of the 2019 NJ Bald Eagle nesting season.

2019 was a record year for NJ eagles with the highest number of active nests and young fledged in the history of the project.  This year, 238 eagle nests were monitored, of which 189 were active (laid eggs) and 248 young fledged.  This is the highest number of fledges ever, surpassing the previous high of 216 in 2016.

We owe the incredible amount of information about NJ eagle success to the NJ Eagle Project nest watchers.  An extremely dedicated group of approximately 85 volunteers monitor nests during the season, recording the important dates and watching for possible issues at nest sites.

This season two eagle cams were available to watch on the CWF website:  one at Duke Farms and another at Mercer County Parks.  The Duke Farms nest produced two chicks, and one was outfitted with a satellite transmitter; the movements of this eagle are on CWF’s Eagletrax website . 

More details on the 2019 nesting season will be available in the annual eagle report to be posted by December.  The report will include individual nest data, state totals, and eagle recoveries and resightings.

CWF partners with PSEG, the Mercer County Park Commission, Mercer County Wildlife Center, and Wildlife Center Friends and Duke Farms to protect bald eagles in New Jersey. Thank you to the Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite Markets, Wells Fargo, Chemours and the American Eagle Foundation for additional eagle program funding.

• NJ Eagle Project
• 2018 NJ Bald Eagle Project Report
• Adopt a Species- Bald Eagle

By: Larissa Smith, CWF Biologist

The male at the Duke Farms nest is banded with a green NJ band, A/59. He is nineteen years old this season.

On March 24, 2000, at 2 weeks of age, A/59 was fostered from the Greenwich nest in Cumberland County to the Rancocas nest in Burlington County. On May 15, 2000 he was banded, a backpack transmitter attached and fledged on June 3. ENSP’s staff tracked A/59 until the transmitter’s signal was last recorded on October 22. You can read more details in the 2000 Bald Eagle Report. A/59 started nesting at the Duke Farms nest in 2006 and has been in the public eye ever since on the Duke Farms eagle cam.

“Tiny” C/94: Update

We have an interesting update on one of A/59’s offspring, “Tiny” C/94, who has been nesting in CT since 2014. “Tiny’s” original mate was a Massachusetts banded female. In 2017 nest monitor Cyndi Pratt Didan, reported that he had a new mate with a green NJ band on her right leg. Cyndi was recently able to get a photo of the females band and we could read the code as D/15.

In 2010, D/15 was one of two female chicks banded at the Duke Farms nest. Yes, she is Tiny’s sibling. Tiny was banded in 2009. It is interesting that two eagles from the same nest in NJ ended up as a pair nesting in CT and that we are able to know this information via bands and the Duke Farms cam. Cyndi has not yet found where the pair is nesting but will keep us updated.

• Duke Farms Eagle Cam: 2019 Nesting season
• NJ Bald Eagle Project

Eagle Viewing Event at Mercer County Park ~ Feb. 8 from 1-3pm

This breeding season, the Mercer County Park Commission is pleased to announce that two pairs of bald eagles have chosen County Parks for nest sites, continuing their expansion in New Jersey and the greater mid-Atlantic region. To celebrate the resident eagles, the Park Commission, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF), PSE&G and the Wildlife Center Friends have launched a partnership to provide bald eagle-themed programs.

The first free public event will be at Mercer County Park at the West Picnic Area on Friday, Feb. 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. Participants will meet with naturalist staff and walk to the viewing site, where interpretation on eagle nesting will be offered. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view eagle activity through a spotting scope and binoculars.

• Learn more

by: CWF biologist Larissa Smith

We keep track of all re-sightings we receive of NJ (green) banded eagles. This information is important as it lets us know where eagles raised in NJ go after leaving the nest and eventually where they end up nesting. In 2017 we have had NJ banded birds sighted in NJ as well as PA and VT.

On April 15, 2017 Mary Dunham photographed NJ banded D/18 near Lake Como in Belmar, NJ.  The female was banded in March 2011 at the Manasquan Reservoir, Monmouth County. She was with another smaller adult, assumed to be a male. While Mary  watched a third adult eagle came into the area and the pair chased it away. This is an indicator that D/18 was paired up and perhaps was nesting in the area.

In August we received a report that D/18 was sighted once again. This time she was up near the NY- Canada border. We don’t know much about the movements of nesting eagles so we can only speculate why she made such a big move north. Perhaps she went north with a recent fledgling or maybe she was kicked out of the pair by an intruder eagle and headed north?

In March we were contacted by Reid Hoffer who monitors an eagle nest along a reservoir in Rockland County NY.  He was able to get a photo of a green band, D/40, she was banded May 2011 at Newton Reservoir in Sussex County. Mr. Hoffer reports that unfortunately the pair did not produce any offspring this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Telemetry

We are also currently tracking three NJ eagle with transmitters attached.  The New Jersey Bald Eagle Tracking project shows the movements of all three of these birds as well as their history.

Two of the transmittered birds  fledged from Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County, NJ. Harmony 2, has spent the last four years in a 100-mile swath of western Connecticut and Massachusetts. She fledged in 2012 making her a 5th year bird and breeding age. We suspect she’ll nest in the same area next season.  Haliae fledged in 2013 and has spent the past three years mostly around the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Perhaps she’ll stay in that area to nest? So two birds from the same nest, but one has settled to the north and one to the south.

Nacote, a male from the Galloway nest in Atlantic County, has stayed more “local” to his home area. He’s spent the last three seasons in Atlantic, Cumberland and Cape May Counties. He favors the CMC landfill and local sand pits where other eagles are known to roost and feed.

All this information helps us to locate roost and foraging areas and protect them.  It’s also fascinating to know where NJ eagles go after leaving their nest area, especially when they begin nesting. Why do some head north, others south and yet others stay near their “home” range? We don’t know, and that’s ok, it’s what makes them wild!

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To learn more:

• NJ Eagle Nesting in PA: Jersey Girl
• NJ Eagle Tracking Project
• NJ Bald Eagle Project
  

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CONGRATULATIONS, KAYLEIGH YOUNG AND HOWIE WILLIAMS!

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

Earlier in 2016, Conserve Wildlife Foundation launched the “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest. Our photography contest was meant to showcase the love for and need to protect the endangered and threatened wildlife that call New Jersey home. We encouraged youth and adult photographers across the Garden State to submit photographs in the following categories:

• New Jersey’s Rarest Residents: Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Wildlife Species Only
• The Garden State: New Jersey Landscapes
• Experiencing Nature: People Enjoying the Outdoors
• Wild New Jersey: All Animals in the Garden State

We were blown away by the amount of submissions we received! Over 1,470 entries were counted! New Jersey wildlife photographers, CWF board members and staff poured over the entries to choose our winners. Today, we are thrilled to announce both second place winners.

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Youth Photographer: Kayleigh Young
Cresskill, New Jersey
Golden-crowned kinglet

Kayleigh was happy to share more about her image with us! She said, “after placing third in CWF’s 2015 Species on the Edge 2.0 Multimedia Contest, I was invited to join a birding trip on which I took this picture. I’ve always loved photographing wildlife, because I absolutely love nature, hiking, and the outdoors. I don’t think I can choose a single favorite species because I truly do love all animals; if I had to, I would say a fox maybe.”

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Howie Williams: Adult Photographer
Oceanville, New Jersey
Mobbed Eagle

Howie Williams has been photographing nature, especially raptors, for over 8 years. Peregrine falcons are his favorite bird (because of their raw speed), followed by ospreys, and eagles are a close third. Howie was hooked on photography after watching an osprey family at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) several years ago. He watched the chicks grow from when they were two weeks old to their first flight!

 

Howie frequents Forsythe NWR, which is where his winning photograph was taken. A juvenile eagle was sitting on an osprey nest platform. Howie heard a screech and a yell, looked up and saw another juvenile eagle fly in and land on the platform too. He took the above photograph at that moment! Howie couldn’t get both eagles in the frame. In the original shot, you can see just the talons from the other eagle, but he cropped them out for the image he submitted for our contest.

 

Howie is retired and spends five days a week photographing raptors. He often posts his photographs in the “visitor post” section of our Facebook page. Howie told CWF, “what’s the point of taking pictures without sharing them with people? Where’s the fun in that?”

 

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Stay tuned as we announce the second place winners of the “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest over the next few days!

 

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

‘Jersey Girl’ and Her Mate Rebuild Nest for the 2016 Nesting Season

by Larissa Smith, wildlife biologist

We continue to follow the story of “Jersey Girl” B-64. She was banded in Hopewell, Cumberland County, New Jersey in 2004 and this is the fifth season her and her mate have nested in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In 2015 after successfully raising three chicks, their nest collapsed due to rain and wind at the end of June, but luckily the three chicks had already fledged.

 

Nest observer Lind Oughton reported, “Well our great ‘Jersey Girl’ and mate have done it again. They built a brand new nest in the same tree but about 15 feet lower that the first nest. It is much more secure where it is now.” She reported incubation on February 12th and hatching around March 18th. On April 1st, she saw one chick in the nest. We will continue to follow “Jersey Girl’s” story and keep you updated.

 

Learn More:

• Successful Nesting Season for “Jersey Girl”
• New Jersey Banded Eagle “Jersey Girl” Makes the News
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Bald Eagle Project

 

Larissa Smith is a wildlife biologist for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.