For the past two summers, Victoria Rosikiewicz has worked for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey at the Long Beach Island Foundation (LBIF) of Arts and Sciences. LBIF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “promote the arts and sciences on Long Beach Island and the surrounding communities by enlightening, educating, and stimulating thought and discussion about current trends in the arts and sciences through educational and cultural programs for all ages.” We began working with LBIF in 2015 to help encourage ospreys to utilize a nest platform on their 20 acre preserved saltmarsh. Over the years, our relationship has grown and we have worked to improve science based programming and environmental features on site. From enhancing their Nature Trail and installing the live streaming LBIF Marsh Cam, building the Osprey Blind, and creating terrapin nesting habitat. Victoria has helped to expand environmental education through leading LBIF’s Discovery Days public walks, CWF’s wildlife summer camp, and conducting wildlife surveys. This work has been funded through a grant from the Osprey Foundation.
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 had a busy summer at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences (LBIF), having launched a new partnership this year to help strengthen their science programming through a grant from the Osprey Foundation. A number of offerings targeting both adults and kids, highlighted by three week-long science camps for ages 7-9 and 10-12, were developed and led by CWF’s staff. The LBIF facility, with its close proximity to both the ocean and bay, is an ideal location to feature New Jersey’s coastal species and their unique conservation challenges.
Campers watch as summer intern Victoria Rosikiewicz moves a clutch of terrapin eggs to a safe new nest.
Over the past several years, I have worked with LBIF to help guide their efforts to provide habitat for wildlife on their property in Loveladies. We have always wanted to establish another, larger “turtle garden” for nesting female N. diamondback terrapins, since they are a common visitor during summer months. This spring we received a small grant from the Garden Club of Long Beach Island to establish a new turtle garden at LBIF. Late last month we ordered 15 tons of mason sand from a local supplier, which provides excellent nesting habitat, with small grain size and little organic matter. Myself and Jeff Ruemeli, who is the new Director of Sciences at LBIF, worked to install coir logs to hold the sand before spreading it out by hand. I followed up with planting around 30 seaside goldenrod plants at the site to help stabilize sand and provide foraging habitat for pollinators.
Ready to release Chump. RIP, Chump! photo by Northside Jim.
I thought long and hard about sharing this news, hence the delay in this post. In late October, we received news that a young osprey I banded this summer was re-sighted. It turns out that this bird was not your average young osprey, out of the 892 produced this year. This young bird hatched at a nest behind the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, around June 11th, a nest referred to as home to “LBI’s Most Famous Osprey Couple, Jack & Wendy.”He was banded, along with his nestlings, on July 5th. He was tagged with a red auxiliary “field readable” band: 78/D, as part of Project RedBand, which allows fellow biologists and citizen scientists the ability to identify the bird while still alive (most osprey band reports occur during mortality based events). At the time of banding, he was also given the name Chump, by Northside Jim.
If we all reduced the amount of lawn that we maintain and planted native, then in turn, our local environment would benefit. With the native plant sale at LBIF, we stress the need to plant native to help provide habitat for wildlife and reduce runoff to Barnegat Bay. If we all do a little, then our combined efforts will make an impact.
The perennials, shrubs, and trees that we sold were hand selected for their environmental benefits and aesthetic beauty. Without being sure what people wanted, we sold out some some species very quickly, so we are looking into holding a follow up sale at LBIF next month.
If you missed out on the sale and are still interested in purchasing some plants, here is what we have left:
Perennial wildflowers
Quantity left
Solidago sempervirens
Seaside goldenrod
7
Quart
Quarts = $5
Baptisia tinctoria
Wild yellow indigo
0
Quart
#1 = $10
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Common boneset
3
Quart
#2 = $15
Solidago canadensis
Canada Goldenrod
0
Quart
Helenium autumnale
Common sneezeweed
10
Quart
Liatris spicata
Dense blazing star
0
Quart
Lobelia siphilitica
Blue lobelia
0
Quart
Rudbeckia laciniata
Cutleaf coneflower
8
Quart
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
New York Aster
3
Quart
Shrubs
Baccharis halimifolia
Groundsel tree
2
#1
Iva frutescens
High tide bush (marsh alder)
0
#1
Prunus maritima
Beach plum
0
#2
Rhus copallinum
Winged sumac
2
#2
Trees
Cercis canadensis
Eastern red bud
0
#2
Acer rubrum
Red maple
0
#2
Betula populifolia
Gray birch
1
#2
Pinus virginiana
Virginia pine
0
#2
Quercus phellos
Willow oak
0
#2
Scientific name
Common name
Size container
All plants are available for pickup in the S. Ocean County/N. Atlantic area. Please email Ben Wurst if you are interested in purchasing any of these plants!
