Tag: peregrine falcon

Endangered Falcons are Doing Well this Year!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

So far this has been a good year for peregrine falcons. Almost all known nest sites have produced young, even the natural nests on the New Jersey Palisades, which are prone to failure from strong winds and driving rain associated with Nor’easters in early spring. One successful site is at Bayside State Prison. The nest there is on top of a 120′ water tower. The pair of falcons nests in a nestbox that was installed several years ago after a old hacking tower was decommissioned on the coastal saltmarshes along the Delaware Bay. For the past two years the site has been active and productive. This year two young eyases were produced (one was produced in 2014). Last week we joined Kathy Clark and John Heilferty with the NJ Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered Species Program to band the two young falcons.

We climbed the 120′ tower to access the nest and band the young. As we climbed the tower the adult female was calm but as we got to the half way point she became aggressive towards us to defend her nest and young. We were wary of her the whole time and spent as little time as possible on the tower while banding the young to minimize the stress to her from constantly flying and dive bombing us, which she did. We were lucky to have a steel railing to protect us (and helmets), as she came very close to us. At times she would perch behind me or John on the railing. Once we were done banding we climbed down and she returned to her nest to find that her young were not harmed.

Banding is a critical tool for avian biologists to learn a lot about birds. For New Jersey falcons we tag them with a black USGS federal band and a bi-color / alpha-numeric band, which allows us to be able to identify each individual bird. It also provides more valuable information including nest success, age, site fidelity, and the turnover rate in the population. At all nest sites in New Jersey, after we have successfully identified the breeding pair, we continually monitor each nest or eyrie until the young are old enough to band (approximately 3-4 weeks old). In 2014 there were 29 active nests in New Jersey (up from 26 in 2013). The core of the population continues to nest on towers and buildings throughout the state.

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Peregrine Falcon Monitoring Project

Monitoring for hatching at Peregrine falcon nests

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

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!

---

 

Meeting our goals…we can only hope!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

In 1993-94 six young peregrine falcons were released at 20 West State Street (Mary G. Roebling Building) in Trenton to help bolster the population of urban nesting falcons in the area. Currently the closest nest is 20 miles away at the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge (where they also have a camera at the nest). Twenty years later and we may finally get some nesting falcons in Trenton! It all started when Jean Bickal, a worker in the building, noticed a falcon that often perched on the building ledges. From there Kathy Clark, a Zoologist with New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife made a site visit and took measurements to see if we could fit a nestbox (dog igloo) out a window on the 10th floor, which also had a roof on it. It appeared one would fit so we setup a date to install the new nestbox.

 

Cities and urban areas actually provide suitable habitat for falcons. Urban areas usually have lots of ledges under bridges or on buildings for them to nest, and abundant prey, in the form of pigeons and other songbirds. In New Jersey we have three other pairs that nest on buildings in Jersey City, Elizabeth, and Atlantic City, plus pairs that nest on the Tacony-Palmyra, Walt Whitman, Betsy Ross, and Burlington-Bristol Bridges.

 

On February 5th we helped install a new nestbox on top of a roof at 20 W. State St. We’re hoping that the falcon seen that day will find a mate and use the nestbox to raise young. Fingers crossed that we get some good news soon!

 

Learn more:

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Online Field Guide: Peregrine Falcon
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Peregrine Project

Ben Wurst is the Habitat Program Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

The success of Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ to manage and protect our rare wildlife depends greatly on our dedicated volunteers. Our volunteers construct and maintain osprey nesting platforms, perform road patrols to reduce terrapin road kills, count bats, install fencing to protect beach nesting birds, protect beaches for critically endangered shorebirds, and help amphibians cross roads safely on rainy nights. They also dedicate much time to watching bald eagle nests with the Bald Eagle Project. This past year they spent an amazing 3,500 hours monitoring eagle nests throughout the state of New Jersey!!  We wouldn’t be able to work with as many different species and accomplish all that we do without help from these dedicated volunteers. We’d also like to thank all of our members and donors for helping us complete our mission of “Keeping New Jersey’s Wildlife in our Future.”

From all of the staff at CWF, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving and a happy holiday season!

 

Jersey City Magazine and the Hudson Reporter spotlight CWF’s beloved Falcon Cam in this month’s issue. The webcam, on the roof of  101 Hudson Street in downtown Jersey City, boasts countless dedicated viewers who just can’t stop watching!

• To read the full article in the Jersey City Magazine, click here and visit page 15
• Learn more about the Jersey City Falcon Cam

New cart needed to carry remote, motion activated camera to nests

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Each spring we work with NJ Fish & Wildlife Biologists to deploy a remote, motion activated camera at coastal peregrine falcon nests. The camera is set at the entrance to nestboxes or Dog Igloos to capture video of the adults as they enter and exit the nestbox when they are incubating eggs. As the pair exchanges incubation duties they go in and out, past the small camera. Most adults where leg bands (that they were given before fledging): one USGS band (silver or black:NJ, and one auxiliary color band with an alpha/numeric code). The data that’s collected helps biologist to keep track of the population and also allows us to find out the age of adults, their origin, nest site fidelity, and turnover rates.

To carry this wonderful camera to nest sites we use a small cart (made by Wheeleez, Inc.) transport it over the saltmarsh environment. Why is the Wheeleez cart important? Well, the cart has huge tires with low ground pressure. This helps us to leave a small footprint on our coastal saltmarshes. It glides easily over spartina covered marshes and fits perfectly over extension ladders that we use to cross small ditches on our way out to falcons nests that are on old hacking towers. There are around 10 towers where we deploy this camera and the cart is crucial to this project!

The current cart is over 10 years old and is falling apart. It’s wheels fall off and now it’s being held together with cable ties… We could carry it by hand, but there’s a heavy battery inside the Pelican Case that houses the camera system. We also carry a 16 or 20′ ladder to access nests, which are on 30-40′ towers. Carrying both by oneself would be extremely difficult, especially considering we sometimes walk long distances to a nest (and often cross many ditches). We’re asking for your support to help us purchase a new cart. We need to raise $300 within the next 14-21 days.

• Donate

 

New webcam launches today!

• View the Jersey City Falcon Cam!
• Read the press release

To unveil the Jersey City Falcon Cam!

For now, enjoy these stills from the new Jersey City Falcon Cam.

 

First glimpse from the new Falcon Cam at 101 Hudson St.

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Yesterday we made the trip to 101 Hudson St. to install the new digital camera system at the Jersey City peregrine falcon nest.  I was joined by Kathy Clark, Supervisory Zoologist with ENSP, Charlene Smith, CWF and Paul Tarlowe, NJDFW, who all helped to remove the old system and to install the new one. Our main goal was to complete any work that took place outside, so if we needed to go back we would not disturb the nesting pair. Last year they laid their first egg on April 4th. After being there for over 5 hours we managed to get two new cameras installed. One camera (a pinhole) gives us an eye level perspective from inside the nestbox. The other (pictured above) will allow us to zoom and pan to see everything on the roof of the building, including the nestbox and the NYC skyline.

We were surprised that the nesting pair, who were present the whole time we were there, were quite passive. These birds, especially the female, are quite aggressive and are known to dive bomb and hit biologist on the head if you go near the nestbox! We were very careful as to not be causing any stress to the birds while there.

The camera is not online yet. We need to go back to the site next week to configure the network settings so that we can stream the camera feed(s).

Thank you to everyone who supported our Save the Jersey City Falcon Cam campaign. Although we have not yet reached our initial $10,000 goal, we believe that fans of the Falcon Cam will give once the camera goes live! So to be clear – contributions are still desperately needed. Please help support the Falcon Cam!

Bonus shots from Zoologist Kathy Clark with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program: