By MICHAEL SHERIDAN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Now here’s one whale of a tale.
A boat off the coast of New Jersey was struck by a whale that leapt from the water and landed on the craft Monday.
The massive mammal slammed into the 25-foot boat around noon, according to a post on the Friends of Seaside Park Facebook page.
Continue reading “NY Daily News: Whale hits small boat off the coast of New Jersey”by David Wheeler, Executive Director
The New Jersey conservation community lost a great champion with the passing of Diane Soucy of The Raptor Trust this month. Diane was a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s wildlife, and a co-founder and driving force behind the Trust’s amazing success in caring for over 150,000 songbirds, wading birds, waterfowl, hummingbirds, and – of course – raptors.
Story by Alison Levine
Two sets of peregrine falcon chicks were recently banded high atop buildings in Elizabeth, Union County, and Jersey City. Biologists from Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) checked the health and measurements of the falcons, while also placing both United States Geological Service bird bands and state auxiliary bands so the birds can be identified in the future.
NJTV and TAPintoUnion captured the banding in Union County, while News 12 New Jersey and CBS-2 covered the Jersey City banding.
Continue reading “Peregrine Falcon Bandings in Jersey City and Union County: The Importance of Banding Chicks”Story by: Alison Levine
A new report into human impacts on nature shows that nearly one million species risk becoming extinct within decades and that current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely fail without radical action, UN biodiversity experts said this week. The report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that grave impacts on people around the world are now likely.
The report identifies five main drivers of this unprecedented decline: changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasion of alien species.
Story by: Press of Atlantic City
To the trained eye, it was clear Kevin Courts and Michael Riff were illegal terrapin harvesters.
The Hatboro, Pennsylvania, men, one shirtless, were parked next to a marsh off Sea Isle Boulevard last July, with six nets and a long pole leaning against their green truck, the state said. A conservation officer who approached them spotted a turtle crawling under the driver’s side seat and found a cooler packed with hatchlings.
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
If you live along or visit the coast, then it’s no surprise that ospreys continue to thrive in New Jersey. 2018 was yet another banner year for these coastal nesting raptors. Their large stick nests depict our rivers and estuaries while they indicate that we’re doing a good job of protecting our local environment along the coast. Today we’ve published results from last year’s nesting season in the 2018 New Jersey Osprey Project Report.
Continue reading “New Jersey’s Ospreys: A Symbol of a Healthy Coast”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
The spring arrival of the North American osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis) to their nesting grounds in New Jersey was delayed slightly due to prevalent north winds. As we saw many birds begin to arrive to their nest sites, which they return to year after year, we were particularly interested in the return of one very special osprey. This individual, if he survived the winter would be the oldest living osprey ever recorded in New Jersey to be observed on his nesting grounds. Ospreys face many threats and their life span averages around 8-10 years, but some can reach 20 years old.
We would not know how old this bird is without the USGS bird band that was affixed to his left leg before fledging in the summer of 2001. Photographer Brian Kushner, who has been watching this nest for the past 10 years, was able to photograph the band, which allowed us to track down his origins. He was banded on July 5, 2001 before he could fly. The nest was less than 5 miles away from where he currently nests along the Delaware Bayshore. Typically it is very difficult to ID birds by their USGS bird bands, and most recoveries or sightings of bands occurs during an injury or death, but Brian’s been able to use his photography equipment to positively ID this bird. Banding data shows that males return as adults to nest in very close proximity to their natal areas while females tend to wander further away to nest.
Ospreys are currently laying eggs and starting incubation, which occurs right after the first egg is laid. Nests with eggs and young are protected from disturbance during this time, and established nests cannot be removed without consulting with NJ Fish & Wildlife and USDA Wildlife Services. Please refer to our “Living with Ospreys in New Jersey” guidance document for more information.
Reporter James O’Neill covers the impacts on plants and wildlife from the unseasonably warm weather for New Jersey this winter in this story for The Record.
Bats, migratory birds, and other wildlife are challenged by earlier than usual spring-like conditions, says Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s David Wheeler.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY