Impacts from Severe Weather minimal

Nesting ospreys fared well from June 23rd storms on B. Bay

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

We had some pretty insane weather blow through on Tuesday evening. I saw it first hand while driving to Long Beach Island to visit some relatives in town. The storm front brought high winds and driving rain to the area. The National Weather Service has even declared that there was even a water spout in Brant Beach (which was right where I was driving on the LBI Blvd. southward). Winds gusted to 70-80mph blowing all sorts of debris (and lawn furniture) across the road. I immediately pulled over to where I was protected from the wind. While I sat there I thought of all the osprey nests out on the bay with young in them…

Photo by Ben Wurst
One is better than none! Photo by Ben Wurst

At this time of year almost all nests have young. They range in age from only hatchlings to 4 week old nestlings. Some can be easily blown from shallow or weakly built nests and can be easily blown from the top of nesting platforms. This has happened in the past (in 2012 when we had a “derecho” blow through the area in late June) and almost half the young present were blown from their nests (in Absecon).

To get a better idea of what we experienced, I asked Jonathan Carr, with Weather NJ, what we saw. This would also give me a better idea of what to expect when conducted post-storm surveys. “What we saw in SNJ on Tuesday was a bow echo as evident by radar signature. A macroburst hit SWNJ which generated substantial straight line winds that fueled the system all the way to the coast. In addition, multiple rotation signatures were picked up via velocity analysis which sparked the tornado warnings in perfect alignment from PA through SWNJ and ultimately the Jersey Shore. The NWS officially ruled the incident near Brant Beach a waterspout but little damage was done from such. All damage across SNJ was again, from straight line wind gusts which reached 80mph in several locations. Harvey Cedars actually clocked a 92mph wind gust. I wasn’t surprised given that instability and wind parameters were screaming for this to happen in the prior 24 hours, especially with the cold front trigger moving through. These type of winds are disastrous for any coastal wildlife or nesting grounds with open exposures.”

With that news on the weather front, I knew we’d have young ospreys on the ground. On Wednesday I got my first report from Osprey watchers Ray and Leslee on Cedar Run Dock Rd. They noticed the adults acting funny, who were now on the ground and not on the nest (where they were before the storm). I gave Leslee permission to walk out to the nest. She found two 3 week old young on the ground. I had plans that day so I couldn’t make it there until 9pm. But when I met Leslee and Ray the nestlings were still on the ground. We picked them up and put them back into the nest (and we also fed a good amount of mosquitoes!!)

Four stripes!! Photo by Ben Wurst
Four stripes!! Photo by Ben Wurst

The following day we rallied to get out on our boat to conduct some more “post-storm surveys,” the first of the season. We checked nests from Bonnet Island to Loveladies and Barnegat. A total of 18 active nests were surveyed. At the first nest we checked we found four young (this nest has failed to produce young for the past two years, amazing!)!! The second had two nestlings in the nest and none were found on the ground. GREAT! But, as the clouds moved in the survey took a darker turn… The next nest we checked was empty but had the remains of a very young osprey. Then the next one had two alive in the nest and one dead on the ground (a 14 day old). The next two nests had 2 and 3 young in them and they all looked very healthy. Then at the next nest we saw the whole nest down on the marsh. When we dug through it we found the bodies of two young. They were instantly crushed under the weight of the nest. So sad. The adult female was still sitting on the nest, surely hoping they were found alive. 🙁 It is now too late to get out to other areas to rescue young. I have learned that young are NOT fed when they are grounded. So there is little chance that any young would still be alive if found on the ground. Future surveys will determine how many other areas were affected by the strong storms.

Despite the gloomy outcome, nests in this severely impacted area had overall good results. We counted a total of 27 young from 18 active nests which gives us an average productivity rate of 1.5 young (per active-known-outcome nest). This is almost twice the level needed to sustain the population. Most young were around 17 days old. Only five were banded for future tracking.

It’s too early to tell how the entire population will fare this year. It could be a down year, with reports of no large schools of menhaden that are close to shore. Menhaden (bunker) are one of the most crucial food sources for many coastal species, including osprey.

Photos from the Survey:
Photo by Ben Wurst
Remains of a young osprey. Photo by Ben Wurst
Photo by Ben Wurst
One. Two. Three. All in the nest! Photo by Ben Wurst
Female on her nest. Photo by Ben Wurst
Female on her nest. Photo by Ben Wurst
Photo by Ben Wurst
The oldest in this historic nest got a little feisty. Photo by Ben Wurst
Female hovers over her nest to check on her young (3) after we surveyed her nest. This is one of the oldest nests in NJ. Photo by Ben Wurst.
Female hovers over her nest to check on her young (3) after we surveyed her nest. This is one of the oldest nests in NJ. Photo by Ben Wurst.
Photo by Ben Wurst
Young that were found on the ground were decomposing very quickly. We moved them out of sight from the adults. Photo by Ben Wurst
Photo by Ben Wurst
An empty nest off Loveladies. Last year this nest was productive. Photo by Ben Wurst
Photo by Ben Wurst
A week old chick and an egg on a channel marker nest of LBI. Photo by Ben Wurst
Photo by Ben Wurst
A four week old nestling that was banded with a red auxiliary band for future tracking. Photo by Ben Wurst

New Jersey Ospreys Banded for Scientific Study at All Time High

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey Releases Results of 2014 Osprey Report

By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator

Three Osprey Young Wearing Red Bands. Photo by Ben Wurst.
Three Osprey Young Wearing Red Bands. Photo by Ben Wurst.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) today released the 2014 Osprey Project Report, highlighting the number of nesting pairs, active nests and nest productivity for the raptors throughout New Jersey with data collected by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists, CWFNJ biologists and dedicated volunteers. A new all-time high number of young osprey were banded for future tracking.

 

“The comeback of these magnificent birds continues to inspire us, especially in combination with the parallel recoveries of bald eagles and peregrine falcons,” said David Wheeler, CWF Executive Director. “Ospreys depend on a strong fish population and healthy waters, so they are a strong indicator of our recovering coastal and inland waters in New Jersey.”

 

To keep track of the health of New Jersey’s osprey population, biologists and volunteers conduct surveys each year. These surveys focus on the most densely populated colonies of nesting ospreys in New Jersey. From the Meadowlands to Cape May and along Delaware Bay, a sample of each area is recorded. The data is used to determine the health of the population. While surveys are conducted, osprey nestlings are also banded with United States Geological Survey (USGS) bird bands for future tracking.

 

2014 Report Highlights:

  • In 2014, 420 active osprey nests were recorded. A total of 25 new nests were recorded this year.
  • With this data and last year’s census, the overall 2014 population is estimated at 567 pairs, up from 542 pairs in 2013.
  • 339 known-outcome nests fledged an average of 2.02 young per active nest, which is a slight increase from 1.92 in 2013.
  • A total of 526 young, a new all-time high, were banded by volunteers and staff with USGS leg bands for future tracking.

 

This season, weather conditions and prey availability were favorable for ospreys. Temperatures and precipitation were both average this summer. A common item in New Jersey osprey diet continues to be Atlantic Menhaden. The productivity of the ospreys is dependent on the health and abundance of coastal fisheries.

 

To help engage citizen scientists for the first time in over 20 years, young ospreys have been marked with an auxiliary color band in New Jersey. The new band, which is a red anodized aluminum rivet band, bears an alpha-numeric code. This coded band allows birders, osprey watchers and wildlife photographers the ability to identify individual birds. This new project, “Project RedBand” is focused on ospreys that nest in the Barnegat Bay watershed from Point Pleasant to Little Egg Harbor.

 

“The use of the auxiliary ‘red bands’ will help us learn a lot about the ecology of ospreys nesting on Barnegat Bay,” stated CWF Habitat Program Manager Ben Wurst. “Project RedBand will also help us engage local communities in osprey conservation and management by encouraging citizens to report re-sightings of banded birds. We are hopeful that this project will instill in New Jersey residents a long lasting appreciation for birds of prey and the habitat they require to survive.”

 

Learn More:

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

 

Project RedBand: 04/C from LBI to Trinidad and Tobago!

Auxiliary bands help link Barnegat Bay ospreys to their wintering grounds

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

04/C was banded at a nest on LBI and re-sighted on the island of Trinidad and Tobago by Nicholas Hassanali.
04/C was banded at a nest on LBI and re-sighted on the island of Trinidad and Tobago by Nicholas Hassanali.

When I started work on Monday morning I got some amazing news (at least for an osprey lover). One of the young ospreys that I banded on Barnegat Bay was re-sighted on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago!! To top that cake, the osprey was photographed to confirm its sighting. YES!! Nicholas Hassanali took the above photo and enlarged the red band to read the alpha-numeric code which reads “04/C.” I looked up in my banding records and saw that 04/C was produced at a nest behind the Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts & Sciences in Loveladies, Long Beach Island.

04/C after being banded. He was around 4 weeks old on July 7, 2014.
04/C after being banded. He was around 4 weeks old on July 7, 2014.

I banded him (I can tell its a male by the size of the band on its leg and the lack of a brown necklace of feathers on its breast) on July 7th with a CWF donor Bill C. We ventured to four nests by kayak. This was the first survey where I started to deploy the red auxiliary bands on young ospreys. I remember that it was a pleasant day. Not too hot or windy. As we made our way from one sheltered nest on a lagoon to another out on the bay we felt the winds kick up from the south making paddling difficult (especially when you’re towing another kayak with a ladder on top!).

125-A-032: 04/C's nest.
125-A-032: 04/C’s nest.

We decided to return to Bill’s house and take my truck to survey the next two nests, since we could walk to them from a side street. We walked out to one nest and found that it failed, i.e. no young were produced. Then we proceeded onto the next, 04/C’s nest. I remember climbing up the ladder to band the young and did not get a chance to take any better photos because I had to be on my way soon. While up there I remember the male dropped a fish (bunker) and Bill got it and we put it back into the nest. One thing that I will not forget about this day is the smell of smoke and burning plastic. I found out later that day that a lawyer’s office in Ship Bottom was on fire when we were out surveying these nests. Luckily no one was hurt in the fire!

I personally cannot wait to get more reports of our red banded ospreys. The young that were banded this year will not return until 2016 and even then they might not return until the late spring/early summer and will not breed. At least I know that there are people out there watching and admiring our ospreys! As Nick said in a comment on his photo on Flickr, “ I have a great love for Ospreys.” 🙂

Project RedBand is a go!

Time to get outside and watch some ospreys!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

A pair of ospreys produced at a nest on Barnegat Bay were banded with a red auxiliary band. © Northside Jim
A pair of ospreys produced at a nest on Barnegat Bay were banded with a red auxiliary band. © Northside Jim

A lot has changed throughout the 40 project history of the New Jersey Osprey Project. From a low of only 53 osprey pairs (statewide) in 1973, today there are more than 540 pairs that return here each year to feed, nest, and raise young. In the beginning work to re-establish their population was a trementous undertaking. Ospreys, a  were loaded with environmental contaminents (DDT, which caused the thinning of egg shells), their habitat was bulldozed, and early on birds were shot for their feathers and eggs. Once the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1973 ospreys were afforded protection they deserved, and work by biologists like Pete McLain were underway to restore the population in New Jersey.  Continue reading “Project RedBand is a go!”

Photo from the Field

Running the numbers

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Ben Wurst prepares to band two osprey nestlings for future tracking. Photo courtesy Eric Sambol
Ben Wurst prepares to band two osprey nestlings for future tracking. Photo courtesy Eric Sambol

By now many young ospreys have taken to the wing. While they still rely on their nests to perch at night and their parents for food, these juveniles take to the skies to learn the skills needed to survive to adulthood. Our nesting surveys have been completed, birds banded, and our sunburn and green bites are healing! Over the next week I will start to enter and summarize data that I’ve collected and data from our volunteer “banders” who help cover the most densely populated colonies. From my surveys, which range from Mantoloking to Atlantic City, I’d say that productivity is down in some areas and up in others, as compared to last year. But, ospreys still had a decent year. I would NOT call it a BAD year!

By far my own survey effort was not as great as last year, when we conducted a census of all nesting ospreys in NJ, by publishing our nest locations on our partners website, called Osprey Watch. This year I battled broken boats, a severe cold (still didn’t slow me down), harsh south winds, and thunderstorms to get to as many nests as I could, especially on Barnegat Bay. Why Barnegat Bay? We all have heard that Barnegat Bay is dying. Overloaded with excess nutrients from stormwater runoff, which is killing off the eelgrass beds that provide shelter for many juvenile fish, aka future osprey prey. This project will help us learn about osprey foraging habitat on N. Barnegat Bay. Are more birds foraging in the ocean in those areas, as opposed to birds that nest closer to LBI and LEHT? Hopefully our ospreys will help shed some light on the health of the bay. Lastly, the project would not be possible without the generous support of Northside Jim, chief blogger/extraordinary photographer at “Readings from the Northside” and his many followers. With their support we were able to purchase (100) and deploy (60) a red auxiliary band on young birds. These bands are engraved with an alpha-numeric code which will make identifying birds much easier than only the aluminum USGS band. In the coming weeks Jim will be giving us some assistance with setting up a nice little website where people can learn all about the bands, the birds, and most importantly: report re-sightings of these awesome new bands!