by Larissa Smith: CWF Biologist
Some of New Jersey’s eagle pairs are getting an early start on the 2019 nesting season. Eagles in NJ will begin incubation anywhere from January through March. NJ Eagle Project volunteers usually report eagles back and working on the their nests in the late fall/early winter. But some pairs have already been spotted sprucing up their nests in preparation for the upcoming nesting season.
Guest Blogger, Diane Cook: NJ Eagle Project Volunteer & Duke Farms nest monitor
Nature can be awe inspiring and beautiful. Watching a powerful bald eagle gently offer food to a newly hatched chick is amazing. Cheering awkward chicks walking on wobbly legs, and holding your breath when they take that first flight are the events live cam viewers look forward to year after year.
We are reminded of the harsh realities of nature too. Nest fails can and do happen. Many things can go wrong: storms, predators in the nest, or conflicts with other eagles and territorial disputes. Watching it happen live, can be heartbreaking. Every event is a learning experience for us all.
There is a sad ending this year at the Duke Farms nest. It was hard to see the adult pair defending their nest from younger interlopers again. Harder still was actually witnessing the failure of both eggs. Hatching is a complicated business. We’ve been fortunate to have many years of success. As watchers, we must take the good with the bad. This is nature after all.
So what do we do now? My love of nature and the bald eagle will have me seeking out other live cams, but missing my local wild family. I will remember the successes of past years. I will stare in amazement as I look up into the sky to watch a bald eagle soaring overhead.
Life will go on. The cycle will continue, if not in “my” nest, in another. Nature will find its balance. Thank you to Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ for bringing us the live cam. Thank you to the state biologists who work every day to preserve and protect the wildlife in our state.
See you next year for a new eagle nesting season.
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”
Incubation!
By: Larissa Smith, CWF, Wildlife Biologist
The NJ Eagle season has officially begun. Nest monitors reported incubation on January 15th at two bald eagle nests in Burlington and Salem Counties.
Now is the best of time of year to see eagles in New Jersey since there are both resident and wintering eagles around the state.
The Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival
CWF will be at the festival on February 3rd. There are presentations, walks, viewing sites and exhibitors. It’s a great way to learn about NJ’s eagles and other raptors.
To learn more about the NJ Bald Eagle Project
By Larissa Smith: Wildlife Biologist
The fall is a great time of year to spot a bald eagle anywhere in New Jersey. Eagles that nest and live further north are migrating south. Many will be staying to spend the winter months in NJ where there is usually warmer weather, open water and a supply of food. We’ve had a report of an eagle with an orange band sighted in Burlington County, NJ. The orange band means that the bird was banded in Massachusetts and the plumage shows the bird to be a first year bird banded this past season.
NJ nesting pairs are here year round and we’ve had reports of pairs already sprucing up their nests for the nesting season.
New Jersey eagles also travel out of state, a green banded eagle (NJ) was spotted down at High Rocks Lake in North Carolina October 16th by Carolyn Canzoniere. The code on the band wasn’t readable, but going by the plumage the bird was banded in 2013. This bird hasn’t yet reached sexual maturity, perhaps it’s checking out the area for future nesting in North Carolina.
Telemetry
CWF and NJ ENSP have been tracking two eagles outfitted with transmitters. The telemetry maps on the CWF website are currently being updated and redesigned to allow for easier viewing of “Nacote” and “Oran’s” movements. We hope to have the new maps up and running in the next few weeks.
Nacote D/95 continues to spend time around Cape May and Atlantic Counties.
He was photographed by Peggy Birdsall Cadigan on 10/23/2016 at Forsythe NWR, near his old nest site.
“Oran” E/17: From July 18th until September 21st Oran was out of cell range. His last known location was near the Quebec/Maine border and then on the September 21st came back into range along the Maine coast. He made his way back down to southern New Jersey and was at Dennisville Lake, Cape May County on October 3rd. Mid-October he made a trip to Delaware and came back to NJ a day later and has been foraging and roosting in Cumberland County.
By: Michael Davenport, Wildlife Biologist & GIS Program Manager
The northern diamondback terrapin is an imperiled species of turtle found in brackish coastal waters along the northeast coast of the United States. Within New Jersey, much of the nesting habitat once used by terrapins has been lost to development and rising sea level. What little suitable nesting habitat remains is often inaccessible to terrapins due to bulkheads or other construction and road mortality is a major cause of terrapin mortality as they cross roadways seeking nesting sites.
Turtle gardens provide suitable nesting habitat for diamondback terrapins where little natural suitable habitat remains or is inaccessible. By enhancing the existing habitat at a site within the terrapin’s range to meet their nesting habitat requirements, terrapins can more safely lay their eggs within an area specifically set-aside for them.
CWF recently partnered with the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) on a pilot project turtle garden on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. The newly released Turtle Gardens story map details this project.
LEARN MORE
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
We have an obligation to care for and protect our wildlife, and for me, that’s what drew me into my current position. Osprey nesting platforms have been a focus of my work over the past 10+ years. They are designed specifically for ospreys and if built properly, can withstand the impacts of severe weather, including coastal flooding, high winds, and storm surge. For ospreys these platforms protect their nests from predators and flood tides, but over time the extreme salt marsh environment takes its toll on them. With the added weight of the large, perennial stick nests it can shorten the life span of a properly built platform drastically. Over the years I’ve seen older nests topple, from the weight of the nesting material and aging hardware, during the middle of the nesting season during severe storms. This is hard to prevent at every nest, during every storm, which we know are becoming more and more frequent, but we are adapting and in turn, helping our ospreys become more resilient (and productive) in the end.
In the past we (myself and other volunteers who survey ospreys and help maintain platforms) used to visit a nest only once a year, during nesting surveys in late June and early July. At that time we would note the condition of the platform and if repairs were needed, schedule those for the seven month long non-breeding season. Those who have volunteered to help and worked with me, know the task at hand. Most tasks include using hand tools to construct nest platforms and perches and to install them. I always say the hardest part is getting the platform to the saltmarsh where they will be installed.
To help engage and inspire others to help care for our growing osprey population, we are looking for volunteers who live within the watersheds were we are planning to conduct repairs of osprey platforms. Tasks vary by watershed but most are to add new (stainless) screws to existing platforms, install predator guards/perches, clean off excess nesting material, and do any other repairs to platforms (including moving and replacing some). We are hopeful to meet some local baymen and fishermen who are looking to help keep the nesting population stable as it has been over the past 10 years.
The work will occur in mid-late October and will be carried out through these watersheds:
If you are interested in being notified when these platform construction and repairs occur, please email me. Let me know what you are interested in helping with and if you have a boat (and a ladder!) that can be used.
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Each year, while conducting osprey surveys by boat, our volunteer banders and biologists try to reach the majority of known osprey nests in the most densely populated colonies in New Jersey. The data that is collected (active nest, # of young) help to determine the overall health of the population. Since 2013, we have surveyed more than we have ever have, after releasing all of the known locations of osprey nests in New Jersey. All osprey nests can be viewed on our partners website, www.osprey-watch.org, which is run by the Center for Conservation Biology. It has helped us reach 80% of the known population. Publishing and mapping all the known nests was an attempt to engage citizen scientists (by them going out to observe ospreys) and save critical funding (for more endangered species of wildlife) while collecting data to monitor and manage our ospreys. So far it has proved to be an amazing tool for the future management of ospreys, who nest in very close proximity to humans. Continue reading “Calling all Osprey Watchers!”
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
It’s osprey season. Osprey Survey Season, that is. However, we never like to start the season off with these types of emergency surveys, but with the increase of strong storms and extreme straight line wind events, they are becoming an annual event. Ospreys nest on platforms in open areas near water, so their young can easily become victims during these types of storms. After receiving a text message from my colleague Kathy Clark yesterday evening about the intensity of the storms, she said we should try to do a survey of the affected areas. I had other plans but I knew that those could wait. Continue reading “Emergency Osprey Nest Surveys in Cape May, Wildwood and Stone Harbor”