Although I spend much of my time thinking about reptiles and amphibians, if you were to ask me if I could be classified as a “herper”, my immediate answer would be no. When I go for hikes, my objective is to reach the summit and take in the view- I’m not generally looking to offroad and go slow. I recently compiled a list, however, of all the herps that I have found during my outdoor adventures this year and was shocked to realize that I’ve encountered 31 species of wild turtles, snakes, frogs, and salamanders. Of those, I had the intention of locating 13 as part of my seasonal field assignments for CWF- the rest were all incidental finds. Moreover, despite the period in question being rather lengthy, it was very easy for me to parse apart which species were really 2023 observations versus some other year. And I can recall where I was and what the individual was doing in each case.
It’s always fun to learn the collective names for groups of animals. For example, in the amphibian and reptile world, we have an army of frogs; a congress of salamanders; a bale of turtles; and a lounge of lizards. I wonder what quippy term could describe a group of herpetologists- the folks who spend their lives studying the armies, congresses, bales, and lounges? Perhaps… a partnership?
In that case, a partnership of herpetologists from as far south as Virginia all the way up to Maine descended upon Middletown, Connecticut last month. Not to cross some rare species off their life list (though coincidentally, I crossed two off mine), but rather to attend the annual Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) conference, hosted at Wesleyan University.
CWF biologist, Christine Healy, holds a ribbon snake that was located during a NEPARC field trip along a powerline.
This year, CWF embarked on a new, ambitious project to monitor and characterize the previously understudied population of American oystercatchers nesting along the Delaware Bayshore. Since so little is known about this breeding population, we had a lot of ground to cover this first field season, both physically and metaphorically. One of the goals of the project is to characterize threats to oystercatcher nest success on the bayshore, whether it be predators, flooding, or something else entirely. It sounds straightforward, but when you consider the span of the project (35 sites across approximately 45 miles of bayshore), monitoring nesting pairs gets a bit more challenging. That’s where game cameras come in.
.CWF biological technician Caroline Abramowitz deploying a trail camera to monitor an oystercatcher nest.
Game cameras are an extremely useful tool for wildlife monitoring. Cameras deployed at nest sites can provide valuable information about oystercatcher behavior, predator presence, and nest fate (whether the nest hatched or was lost prior to hatching). This is especially important for our Delaware Bay sites, many of which are remote and cannot be monitored as frequently as other locations. Game cameras enhance our in-the-field monitoring and can pinpoint the true cause of nest loss that would otherwise be difficult to determine in the field. Accurate knowledge of nest fate and predator presence is crucial for understanding which factors significantly impact oystercatcher success along the bayshore.
Three young osprey chicks found themselves without their parents after a utility pole nest caught fire at the National Guard Training Center (NGTC) in Sea Girt, NJ. Osprey often choose utility poles as nesting structures because of the 360° view they offer. Fires caused by the nests, composed mostly of dried sticks and seagrass, aren’t uncommon. Because of the safety hazard imposed by the nest, it was removed from the utility pole at the NGTC with three healthy chicks inside. The chicks were approximately a week to ten days old when removed from the nest and were brought temporarily to The Raptor Trust in Millington by Charles Appleby, Chief of the Environmental Bureau of the NJ Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NJDMAVA) to be cared for while a new nesting platform could be built. Reuniting the chicks with their parents in a safe nest box would give them their best chance at survival.
Three young osprey chicks were removed from a hazardous nest.
NJ Eagle Project Volunteers monitor nests during the nesting season. Since they spend a lot of time observing the nest and eagles behavior they get to see some pretty interesting things and many of them are able to document with photos. I asked volunteers to send me their three favorite photos from the eagle nesting season. Thank you to all the eagle project volunteers for their dedication
Enjoy the slideshow.
Manville-The Hatch @ Rose Joy
Adult bringing a fish to Junior at the Mercer Co. nest @ Kevin & Karin Buynie
Alloway E, nestling @ Clare Luisi
“Back together with our mentor (Kim Korth) @ Kevin & Karin Buynie
photo by: Blake Alan
photo by: Blake Alan
Bull Island, “This pair worked diligently during the early months,then abandoned this nest which had been productive for at least a decade! @ Barb McKee
Denville-fledgling returning to nest@Margaret & Chuck Blewett
Duke Farm May 5th @ Diane Cook
Duke Farm, Family Time May 13th @ Diane Cook
Difficult challenges for the Atlantic City nest, high power lines and nearby windmills. This nest had successful last year but was unsuccessful this season@ Bill Reinert
Eagle Point_Red Bank nest@ Rick & Tina Clegg
Eagle Point_Red bank @ Rick & Tina Clegg
Cape May “Family Portrait @ John King
Higbee “good luck kiss from Mom before Junior’s first flight” @ John King
Group who renested the two Princeton eaglets
“Double trouble” @ Blake Alan
Linden @ Tony Gregorio
Lower Patcong-single fledgling @ Bill Reinert
“male returning with Herring Gull” @ Rich Nicol
Manville- “fledged for four weeks” @ Rose Joy
Manville Mom feeding triplets @Rose Joy
Duke Farms March 2nd @ Diane Cook
Merrill Creek eagle after trying to catch a fish@ Louis Schwarz
Merrill Creek pair@Louis Schwarz
Mt. Airy “Woohoo-Ready to fly@Barb McKee
Overpeck juvenile@ D. DeSantis
Overpeck@ D. DeSantis
Overpeck adult @ D. DeSantis
Pine Tavern pair @ Clare Luisi
Princeton chicks (H38 & H39) back in their new nest built by John Heilferty
Quinton B trio@ Clare Luisi
Rainbow Lake fledge (Kathy Clark & Heiki Poolake) @ Donna Poolake
School House pair with chick @ Poolake’s
Schoolhouse nest @ Poolake’s
South River’s fledgling pair joined by a Great Blue Heron @ Bill Reinert
Audubon nestling @ Spence Bennett
Audubon @ Spence Bennett
Audubon pair @ Spence Bennett
Three Bridges eagle cam Feb. 7th @ Mary Ellen Hill
Three Bridges eagle cam, Kestrel Jan, 24th @ Mary Ellen Hill
Three Bridges eagle cam @ Mary Ellen Hill
Woodschurch nest-two chicks, within days of fledging @ Barb McKee
Depending on where you look and who you talk to, the fate of many osprey nests might bring tears to your eyes. Since a nor’easter impacted the coast with strong onshore winds for several days, young ospreys have been dying of starvation in plain sight. Over the past week, several reports of adults who abandoned their nests with young have been received. This year, weather has impacted the availability of fish and outcomes of nests in the Garden State.
Complete the lyrics: Nothing else matters in the whole wide world when you’re in love with a…
If you said Jersey Girl, then you’d be correct! Coincidentally, that’s also where volunteers and supporters alike gathered last month to show their love for amphibians. Jersey Girl Brewing in Mount Olive, that is.
Two years ago, we partnered with Jersey Girl to host a trivia event to raise awareness for our Amphibian Crossing Project, an initiative that seeks to reduce mortality among populations of frogs and salamanders whose migratory pathways are bisected by roadways. We chose the location based on its proximity to our largest crossing site, Waterloo Road, in the hopes that many of our hardworking volunteers could attend. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun. Following several requests, we decided to bring it back this year for round two.
Participants, including former CWF intern, Nicole Bergen (who helped write and host our first trivia event) pause during answer deliberation to smile for the camera.
Lots of familiar faces were in the crowd at Jersey Girl, including CWF’s Founder, Linda Tesauro, trustees Steve Neumann, Rick Weiman, and Amy Greene, former amphibian crossing leads MacKenzie Hall and Allegra Mitchell, former CWF intern, Morgan Mark, and many new and seasoned volunteers, like Barb and Rick McKee, without whom, this project could not succeed.
With about 50 pairs of both piping plovers and American oystercatchers nesting this year at Holgate, a unit of the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, CWF’s seasonal staff that monitors breeding activity for the Refuge has been working at a non-stop pace. We asked them to take a short break from their field tasks to reflect on their season, for some this is their first experience with beach nesting birds. Specifically, they were asked about their favorite and most surprising things about the birds, so far. Read their responses below, including a little twist of the “least favorite” thing in one case.
CWF’s 2023 beach nesting bird monitoring crew for Edwin B. Forsythe NWR and Horseshoe Island. Morgan Phillips, Gianna Canale, Audrey Randazzo, Amy Kopec, Dakota Bell (l to r).
Kelly Scott, Resource Interpretive Specialist 3, NJ State Park Service holds Bayley before releasing her into the wild.
This past Monday I joined several partners to release a very special northern diamondback terrapin back into the wild. This adult female terrapin had been illegally collected and sold into the black market pet trade. Over the past couple years we have been working on a plan to get her back the wild.
Each of these partners, including Dr. John Wnek, MATES/Project Terrapin, Kelly Scott, NJ State Park Service, Brian Zarate, NJDEP Fish & Wildlife played an important role in her successful release (you can read about each of their roles in a story by Dr. Wnek below). We gathered in the parking lot of a former marina which CWF & NJDEP Fish & Wildlife converted into suitable nesting habitat for female terrapins. For all of us, I think it’s safe to say that it was bittersweet to see her swim off into the brackish water. She was home.
Princeton eaglets in their new nest; photo by John Heilferty
The Princeton eagle nest collapsed sometime between Friday June 2nd and early Saturday June 3rd. The Princeton pair had two chicks that were ten weeks old and close to fledging. NJ Eagle Project volunteers, Kevin and Karin Buynie monitor this nest and went out as soon as they were notified. When they arrived one chick was perched up in the tree and one was on the ground. The grounded chick was taken to Mercer County Wildlife Center for evaluation. The next day Kevin returned to the nest site and found the second chick now on the ground, so that chick was also captured and taken to MCWC. Both chicks were found to be uninjured and ready to return to the nest. A plan was formed to build a new nest in the tree and renest the two chicks. On June 11th, a group of volunteers and staff from Mercer County Wildlife Center met at the nest site. John Heilferty, retired ENSP Chief, climbed the nest tree and built the nest as volunteers helped to send up the needed materials. Diane Nickerson with the MCWC brought the two chicks, which were banded with Green NJ band H/39 and H/38 and silver federal bands. The chicks were then placed back up in the nest. One of them decided to fledge and the other perched on a branch near the nest. The recently fledged chick did return to the nest that evening and the second chick fledged June 16th. Thank you to Karin and Kevin Buynie, Diane Nickerson and volunteers Daniel and Hope with Mercer County Wildlife, John Heilferty, Kim Korth, and Roger Smith.
Scroll through the slideshow to view photos from the renest.
Princeton nest after collapse
Remains of nest
eaglets at Mercer County Wildlife Center
eaglets at MCWC
Nest tree
nest building materials
John Heilferty climbing tree
John working on nest platform
nest construction
platform finished
adding sticks
finished nest
Kevin Buynie with eaglet
Diane Nickerson, Kevin Buynie and Karin Buynie band the eaglet
