Tag: endangered species

2015 Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest Winners announced at Awards Ceremony

By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

 

Today, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey celebrated and recognized the winners of the 2015 Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest, a statewide educational contest open to all fifth-graders, which encourages students to become wildlife biologists through their research and artwork on the endangered and threatened wildlife species in New Jersey.

 

“The vibrant artwork and passionate essays that we received from fifth-graders across the state reveal just how much these talented children poured their hearts into the Species on the Edge contest,” said David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation Executive Director. “We are so thrilled to help connect the next generation of New Jersey conservation leaders with the natural world around them. Through their art and essays, all of us can see the wonders of nature – and the many challenges that we must overcome to help rare wildlife survive in our densely populated state.”

 

Students were asked to draw a picture of one of New Jersey’s 83 endangered and threatened wildlife species and compose an essay about how the animal became endangered and what can be done to help protect it. The Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest encourages students to learn about local environmental issues, express their concerns for the world around them, think creatively about ways to improve it, and to consider how their actions impact the natural world.

 

Abby Miller, a student at T.P. Hughes Elementary School in Union County believes that it is important to protect wildlife in New Jersey because “everything deserves to be saved when they’re endangered.”

 

This year’s ingenious group of winners was honored at an awards ceremony which was hosted at the New Jersey Education Association, in Trenton, New Jersey. The contest was sponsored by PSEG, NJEA, GAF, Atlantic City Electric, Church & Dwight, ShopRite and Six Flags Great Adventure. Mercer County Wildlife Center brought a live Bald Eagle to the event.

 

The statewide contest drew over 2,000 entries from across the state. Since 2003, over 10,000 children from across New Jersey have entered the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest.

 

For more information, visit Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s website.

 

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

Warming weather brings out one of New Jersey’s most misunderstood species

By: Michael Davenport, GIS Program Manager

I recently had the opportunity to accompany Kris Schantz, a biologist with the NJ Endangered and Nongame Species Program, to search for timber rattlesnakes (and northern copperheads) emerging from their dens in northern New Jersey.

Many New Jersey residents are surprised to learn that we have venomous snakes within our state, the most densely populated state in the U.S. We have two venomous species, in fact.

The timber rattlesnake is an Endangered species in New Jersey, while the northern copperhead has a status of Special Concern. To learn more about venomous snakes in New Jersey, please read my blog entry from May 13, 2011 and visit our online field guide:

• Timber Rattlesnake
• Northern Copperhead

 

CWF Releases its First Annual Report Ever Using a Story Map Format: “2014 Annual Report“

By David Wheeler, Executive Director

Technology has proven to be vital to Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s work protecting rare wildlife species over the years. Our biologists depend greatly on modern technologies to band, track, and share online the journeys of wildlife. Our webcams broadcast the most intimate behaviors of nesting birds and bats across the web. And we seek out ever-evolving communications technologies to spread the word about the inspiring stories of wildlife, from social media and infographs to e-books and Story Maps. These technologies offer newfound abilities to share complex data on multiple levels, while still incorporating the awe-inspiring photography and videos that bring wildlife’s stories to life.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is excited to offer our 2014 Annual Report in a unique format that utilizes one of those technologies – Story Maps. In the past year, we have explored the wonders of American oystercatchers with our first Story Map – and now the annual report allows all of our projects to be highlighted in this interactive format.

Visit the multiple pages within this Story Map to learn about Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s many projects and partnerships in 2014, and the imperiled wildlife species in need of our help. Find examples of the innovative and dedicated leadership of our biologists and volunteers. And take an online journey across the state to learn how our projects made a difference in all corners of New Jersey in 2014 – a great year for wildlife in the Garden State!

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By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator

Pairs of piping plovers — small, critically endangered shorebirds that dart along the sand in search for food — dropped to a record low in New Jersey this year. Just 92 pairs nested in the Garden State, down from 108 last year, BUT the beach-nesting birds spawned a high number of fledged chicks — 1.36 per pair, the third-highest figure since 1986 and above what’s needed to grow and maintain their population in the long-run.

Last week, Asbury Park Press Reporter Todd B. Bates discussed the issue with Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager Todd Pover.

• Read the full article on USA Today.com
• Learn more about Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Beach Nesting Bird Project

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

“Beer, Birds and The Bahamas” Showcased the International Link
between the U.S. and The Bahamas for Piping Plovers

By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator

On Thursday, November 6, over 85 guests attended “Beer, Birds and The Bahamas,” a fundraising event organized by Flying Fish Brewing Company and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation biologists, Todd Pover and Stephanie Egger educated guests about the Piping Plover “Bahamas Project” and showed the connection between The Bahamas and the U.S. for the endangered beach nesting bird species. One-night-only Plover Pale Ale was served and guests had the opportunity to attend brewery tours and play Plover Quizzo. The winners of Plover Quizzo received prize baskets full of Conserve Wildlife Foundation and Flying Fish Brewing Company merchandise.

“Events like ‘Beer, Birds and The Bahamas’ fulfill the purpose of creating a community space inside the Brewing Company,” said President of Flying Fish Brewing Company Gene Muller. “Our audience and Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s audience go hand in hand. People who appreciate wildlife and the environment also appreciate sustainably produced beer.”

“This innovative project is based on partnerships in both New Jersey and the Bahamas – bringing together distant communities who still share a strong commitment to education and a personal connection to their beaches,” said Conserve Wildlife Foundation Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager Todd Pover. “In the same vein, the event at Flying Fish Brewing was an exciting partner-driven way to promote the project.”

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey’s Piping Plover Bahamas Project supports the recovery and long-term survival of Piping Plovers by identifying critical Bahamas wintering habitat for Piping Plovers and other shorebirds of concern on the islands of Abaco and Eleuthera, The Bahamas. Conserve Wildlife Foundation collaborates with a local Bahamas environmental group, Friends of the Environment, to engage the public and increase local awareness of the critical role played by the Bahamas in the full life cycle of the Piping Plover.

The Atlantic Coast population of Piping Plover has been federally listed as threatened in the U.S. since 1986 and endangered in Canada since 1985. Although migration and wintering protection is one of the five main recovery tasks in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Piping Plover Recovery Plan (USFWS 1996), until recently protection has primarily been focused on the breeding grounds. Furthermore, population monitoring is well understood on the breeding grounds, but winter use is not as well documented.

Over the past five years the importance of the Bahamas as a major wintering site for Piping Plovers has become increasingly evident.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and other partners aim to identify critical wintering habitat, provide education and outreach to school children and the public, and build local capacity for future surveys and protection of Piping Plovers in the Bahamas. For more information, please visit our website.

Flying Fish Brewing will donate proceeds from the sale of Plover Pale Ale to the Bahamas Project by Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

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

The New York Times Magazine ran this op-ed from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on passenger pigeons and current endangered species in their new State of the Birds report. To read the full article, click here.

• To learn more about CWF’s efforts to protect New Jersey’s endangered species, click here.
• For more information on extinct species of New Jersey, click here.

by Stephanie Feigin, CWF Program Coordinator

This marks the third story in Shorebird Week! Our first blog post, on Tuesday, introduced the film “A Race Against Time” and directed you to a free viewing of the film on our website. Our second blog post, highlighted an incredible news story about a resighting of the iconic Red knot B95 on the Delaware Bay! And today’s blog post, will highlight volunteers incredible effort to save stranded horseshoe crabs!

This story illustrates the incredible efforts of volunteers for Conserve Wildlife Foundation and other conservation groups to save the stranded horseshoe crabs on Delaware Bay beaches. Horseshoe crabs can easily be flipped onto their backs by incoming tides, and they are not able to right themselves on their own. They also get trapped easily by tides and man-made obstacles, such as debris, which leaves them unable to return to the water leaving them to eventually die.

 

Return the Favor, a multi-group effort, has committed to rescuing as many horseshoe crabs as possible from South Jersey’s Delaware Bay beaches by regularly combing designated stretches of beach and helping to flip the crabs back on their bellies and redirect them back to the water. If possible these volunteers go out daily and rescue all of the flipped or impinged crabs. These efforts have been very successful so far, and they hope to continue these efforts and engage more about who want to volunteer.

• To read this full news article click here
• More information on how you can become a volunteer can be found on their website at www.ReturnTheFavorNJ.org.

And make sure to check out the film “A Race Against Time” which highlights CWF’s efforts to restore the Delaware Bay Shore beaches as well!

With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, summer is unofficially here for New Jerseyans. That means plenty of tourists enjoying shore, sand, surf, and sun – but it also means other types of annual summer visitors to our coast: bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, and whales. However, what may be inspiring sightings from a healthy distance can become tragic encounters when marine animals become stranded or entangled in nets.

This story marks the fourth of five blog stories spotlighting New Jersey’s marine mammals and sea turtles – and educating people how to help animals in need, rather than make a bad situation worse.

Part 1, on Monday, revealed the bottlenose dolphin die-off striking the Eastern Seaboard. Part 2, on Tuesday, featured a Question-and-Answer on the dolphin mortality event with NOAA’s MendyGarron. Part 3, yesterday looked at how people can safely help stranded marine mammals without making the mistake of being a “hero”. And Part 5, tomorrow, will reveal the importance of reporting sightings – both for live or dead marine mammals.

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MARINE MAMMAL & SEA TURTLE WEEK: Sea turtles navigate a dangerous path, from entanglements to cold-stunning

By Sara DeAngelo, Conservation Intern

Over 100 first responders along the coast of New Jersey attended Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s marine mammal stranding workshops this past month. Speakers and interactive discussions educated the first responders on how to handle a marine mammal or sea turtle stranding.

The term “stranding” is used for sea turtles and marine mammals that are found along the beach dead or alive. Their death or injury may be resulting from a predator, parasites, pollution, entanglement, etc. In most stranding cases, the cause of the animal stranding itself is unknown. Determining the cause of the animal stranding will help us understand what is going on in the ocean that may be harmful to certain populations.

Sea turtles, however, face a unique set of challenges. We have four species of sea turtles that may be found in New Jersey waters during the summer. Loggerheads are the most common, while green sea turtles and Atlantic leatherbacks – massive creatures weighing as much as a small car – are less frequently seen but not uncommon. Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the rarest visitors.

Most of these sea turtles come to New Jersey during the summer months and enjoy the warmer waters. Yet when our seasons change and the waters cool, some sea turtles may lag behind rather than returning south for warmer waters. These turtles can face “cold stunning”.

In colder waters, sea turtles do not have the capability of warming their own bodies. If a turtle is cold stunned, it looks as if it is dead because its heart rate decreases, it becomes lethargic, circulation decreases, and it may be in shock or have pneumonia.

This condition can even result in a common mistake of a passerby or first responder believing a turtle is dead, when it is actually just “cold-stunned”. Unless the sea turtle clearly looks like it has been dead for a while, it is best to report the turtle to a marine mammal and sea turtle stranding hotline.

Sea turtles can also get entangled in fishing nets. At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation workshops this month, first responders were informed to, upon sighting of an entangled or stranded animal, immediately call the Marine Mammal Stranding Center located in Brigantine, NJ, by calling 1-609-266-0538. They could also contact NOAA’s Northeast Region Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding and Entanglement Hotline by calling 1-866-755-6622.

Boaters who encounter an entangled sea turtle should try to remain near the turtle until help arrives if possible. On shifting seas, it could be hard for the expert responding to the call to locate the animal without the initial person spotting it standing by to direct them there.

One warning was made very clear in the workshop: boaters should never get into the water with a sea turtle or stranded marine mammal. It is extremely dangerous for both the responder and for the animal.

Should the sea turtle be on the beach itself, other tips are helpful for the first responders. While waiting for the trained rescue staff, the first responders were urged to secure the scene, try to keep people at least 100 feet away, and not to touch the animal. Keeping curious beachgoers distant from the animal will minimize stressing out the animal even more. The responders were told that calling the local police department may help enforce the directions to keep back from the animal.

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Green Turtle
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Leatherback
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Loggerhead
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Kemp’s Ridley Turtle

 

D & R Greenway exhibit brings wildlife to life

By Jen Smith, CWF Outreach Intern

The D&R Greenway Land Trust’s “Wild Creatures: 40 Years of Protecting Endangered Species” exhibit is being featured at the Johnson Education Center in Princeton, NJ.  It is a vivid art-viewing experience that celebrates the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the wildlife it has sought to protect since its inception.

But time is running out to catch this unique blend of science and art!

“The response to the exhibit has been overwhelmingly positive with visitors who are simultaneously delighted by the whimsical creatures, reverent of their noble struggle, and inspired by the recovery efforts undertaken across the globe to save them,” said Diana Moore, curator for the exhibit.

Eight local artists were featured for their work, including Tricia Zimic’s foreboding mobile entitled “A Cautionary Tale.” Henslow sparrows, a Bobolink, and a Peregrine Falcon struggle in an all-to-lifelike storm of fishing wire, plastic and debris. Annelies van Dommelon’s playful yet informative work is also not to be missed. Filling up an entire room with her breathtaking “Bestial Alphabet” viewers can glimpse the A to Z of creatures aided by the Endangered Species Act, many of those depicted being native to New Jersey. More than one viewer compared the exhibit to watching an Aesop’s Fables book come to life.

“This creative exhibit highlights just how special our wildlife is in New Jersey – and why so many species continue to need our protection,” noted David Wheeler, CWF Executive Director. “Each artist brings a unique vision to illustrating the challenges that so many wildlife species face, and to capturing the extraordinary beauty possessed by each species.”

D&R Greenway Land Trust’s mission is to preserve and protect the permanent network of lands they have ensured remain open spaces and to create conditions for a healthy and diverse environment to flourish. In creating public access to these open spaces, it is D&R’s goal and hope that people will develop a greater appreciation for the natural world, and be inspired by conservation ethics and education.  D&R President Linda Mead was honored this past December at Women & Wildlife by CWF for the Greenway’s leadership in protecting wildlife habitat in a region of the state that desperately needed that protection.

“Wild Creatures” will be running now through March 21st. The Johnson Education Center in Princeton, NJ is open 10am – 5pm on weekdays. You can call ahead for availability (609)-924-4646 or visit www.drgreenway.org for more details and driving directions.

More information about Tricia Zimic’s artwork can be found at www.triciazimic.com.

Hurry now before this rare showcase comes to an end!

A productive nest on the Navesink River needs a helping hand!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

UPDATE: We have learned that the pole has been straightened!! Thank you all for the support!!!

Many North American ospreys have already departed from their wintering grounds in Central America, N. South America, and the Caribbean and are on migration to their summer breeding grounds. In New Jersey, most ospreys nest along the Atlantic Coast, from Sandy Hook to Cape May and arrive in mid-late March. One nest (083-A-007) is on a decommissioned channel marker (#21) on the Navesink River, off Fair Haven. The nest was first found in 2006 and in 2013 the nesting pair successfully produced three young. Considering the current condition of the nest pole, they were really lucky to produce any young at all!

This platform was one of many that sustained damage by Superstorm Sandy. We pledged to repair any and all platforms that were reported as damaged by the Storm and did; however, we don’t have the equipment or boats to repair a leaning platform in open water, like 083-A-007. Since it was damaged we have been contacted by many concerned citizens who watch the pair that nests here. We’re sharing this story to help garner support to repair the nest pole.

Ospreys mate for life and return to the same nest site, year after year.  They will build their nest at an angle to compensate for the lean, but young are still in jeopardy of falling out of it. Our goal is to get it fixed before the pole falls over. Lastly, this is an important nest site in the region. There is very little preserved open space in this region of Monmouth County and very few osprey nests.

We need your help!

Last year we tried reaching out to local marine construction and bulkheading companies but had no luck getting anyone to even return our calls. Then we contacted the Bureau of Coastal Engineering’s Aids to Navigation and they did not have equipment in the area to make the needed repairs last fall (we’ve since called them again to get their assistance and are waiting to hear back).

Do you know any local bulkheading or marine construction companies who work in the Fair Haven/Rumson area? If you do, please see if they can provide some assistance so this pair of ospreys have a safe place to nest!

• View the location of the nest

Contact us if you know anyone who can help:

• Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
• ben.wurst@conservewildlifenj.org
• 609-628-2985