New Video Showcases CWF’s Work to Protect the Garden State’s Wildlife
By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager
Conserve Wildlife Foundation is thrilled to release a new video as an “introduction” to our work, keeping New Jersey’s wildlife in our future! We are a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of New Jersey’s endangered and threatened wildlife and the habitats they depend on.
As the video demonstrates, we utilize science, research, wildlife management, habitat restoration, education and volunteer stewardship to help conserve and protect a variety of at-risk species of wildlife in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation.
The video was produced by Tyler Grimm, a video intern with Conserve Wildlife Foundation.
Want to get involved? Learn more about Conserve Wildlife Foundation on our website.
Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
New Jersey Banded Bird and Mate Raise Three Chicks in Pennsylvania
By: Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist
We have been following the story of “Jersey Girl,” a New Jersey banded bird, who nests in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This was her fourth season at this nesting location. In 2014, the pair lost two chicks due to a severe winter storm, so it was good news when nest observer Linda Oughton reported that the pair raised and fledged three chicks during the 2015 season. Two weeks after the chicks fledged, the nest collapsed due to wind and rain. So, we will have to wait and see if they rebuild in the same nest tree or move to a new location next season.
Linda sent some photos from the 2015 nesting season.
Notice the small intruder in front of the nest Photo: L. OughtonLinda reports that she has seen fish, squirrels, Canada geese, rabbits, turtle, chickens, and a ground hog brought to the nest. Photo: L. OughtonPhoto: L. Oughton
New Video Highlights Diane Cook’s Eagle Banding Experience and Classroom
By: Kathleen Wadiak, Wildlife Conservation Intern
This year, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and Duke Farms worked together to organize a contest in which educators could submit lesson plans based on the Duke Farms EagleCam, a webcam providing a live stream of a bald eagle nest. The winner, computer literacy teacher Diane Cook, had the opportunity to assist biologists in banding the eagle chicks from a nest in Hunterdon County. The new video showcasing Diane gives an up close and personal view into her story and her experience!
Diane has been incorporating the EagleCam into her lessons since the cam first went online in 2008, helping to inspire a respect for the animals and environment in her students from kindergarten to fourth grade. Diane also teaches her students about internet safety, web forums, and writing.
The Duke Farms EagleCam allows educators to connect their lessons to important environmental issues in a way that is interesting to their students. Teachers like Diane Cook are making a difference by encouraging children to care about their impact on local ecosystems and wildlife.
This week we visited the latest peregrine falcon nest in New Jersey. We were there to check for hatching. Here is what we found. A lone 17 day old male falcon. He is the youngest falcon in New Jersey. Photo by Ben Wurst.
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.
Ben W. and John H. climbing the 120′ tower. Photo By Kathy Clark/ENSPBen prepares to band a nestling that John holds. Photo by Kathy Clark/ENSPDive bombed! Yes, the female came very close to us! Photo by Kathy Clark/ENSPTwo 3.5 week old young. One male; one female. Photo by Ben WurstJohn Heilferty, ENSP Biologist holds a 3.5 week old peregrine falcon as it was banded for future tracking.Ben Wurst climbs down the 120′ water tower. Photo by John Heilferty/ENSP.
On Saturday the 23rd, I received a call from Eagle Project volunteers Donna and Heiki Poolake. One of the nests that they monitor in Natural Lands Trust’s Glades Wildlife Refuge in Cumberland County had partially fallen and Heiki found all three chicks on the ground, thankfully alive. ENSP Principal Biologist Kathy Clark met them out at the nest site and determined that all three looked uninjured but were weak from lack of food and water. The two smallest were especially docile so the decision was made to take them to Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Delaware for a check up and to get needed fluids and food. The largest and strongest bird was given water and fish, and set on a leaning tree (off the ground) in the hope that it would hop up on branches where the adults, still watching from above, would continue to feed it.
The next day we pulled together a crew to install a nest platform for the remaining eaglet. We carried the pre-built nest platform (designed for ospreys) into the marsh, installed it and built a nest of branches and grass, and added perches to make it more roomy for an eagle. We found the eaglet back on the ground, sitting on the remains of the fallen nest. We caught the bird again, banded and took measurements that confirmed this was a female about 9 weeks of age. She gladly ate pieces of fish offered to her as well as some more water. We placed her up in her new “nest,” along with several fish, and she looked quite happy to be off the ground and back up in a nest.
Chick in fallen nest on ground @ Heiki PoolakeRe-nested eagle nestling in platform nest Photo by: K. Clark
In the meantime, the two eaglets at Tri-State were deemed healthy and ready to return to their parents. The challenge was how to return these two without disturbing their sibling now living in a nest platform built for smaller ospreys. The solution: a second nest platform. This second one was improved by CWF’s Ben Wurst by enlarging the size and adding branches as railings for perching. For a second time, a work crew assembled to use the early morning tide, and we boated the new platform out to within 200 yards of the first. The platform went up, a stick-and-grass nest quickly built, and the eaglets were brought out.
The eaglets, a 9 week old male and a 7.5 week old female, were kept covered until they got settled. When the chicks were uncovered, one of the adults started calling and flew in and perched on a snag within viewing distance. We quickly left and monitored them from a distance. One adult was perched near the platform with one eaglet, and before we left had flown in and perched near the new platform. Kathy went out the next day and reported that all three chicks were fine and using the perches and branches.
Re-nested eaglets in second platform Photo by: K. ClarkEagle nestlings in new nest Photo by: K. Clark
We’d like to thank the following people for their help: Dr. Erica Miller (NJDFW); Todd Vasquez (NJDFW Law Enforcement); Eagle Project volunteers Donna & Heiki Poolake and Matt Tribulski; Steve Eisenhauer (Natural Lands Trust) and local landowners, the Watermans.
Four 14 day old peregrine falcon nestlings. Each spring we visit all known falcon nests to check for hatching. At the time we age the young and then inspect them for any parasites and treat them. Then our final visit is to band the young for future tracking. Photo by Ben Wurst
Conserve Wildlife Foundation Releases New Story Map: “The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey”
By: Brian Henderson, GIS Specialist
Today, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) announced the release of “The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey” a Story Map that provides a new way to visualize the increasing number of bald eagle pairs nesting in New Jersey over time.
For years, CWF has worked closely with the New Jersey Endangered & Nongame Species Program (ENSP) to track and restore the bald eagle population within the state. It has been a rewarding experience for all involved to witness the return of bald eagles to the garden state, and now the public can appreciate the scope of their return as well.
The recovery of bald eagles nationally and in New Jersey is fairly well known, but some may not realize that as recently as the mid-80’s there was only a single pair of nesting bald eagles in all of New Jersey. The ban of DDT, combined with restoration efforts by ENSP biologists, resulted in population increases to 23 pairs in 2000, 48 pairs by 2005 and 82 pairs in 2010.
In 2014, there were a record 146 active bald eagle pairs nesting in New Jersey. This year, 190 nesting territories are being monitored and currently 88 chicks have been reported at 52 nests; it is still early in the season so we don’t have a count for all nests yet.
“The Return of Bald Eagles in New Jersey” Story Mapdisplays the locations of all the known active bald eagle nests in New Jersey from 1985-2014. Users can choose to view the nests active in a single year or over a longer period of time. By choosing a one year interval and beginning in 1985, it’s possible to watch as nests multiply from a single nest in Bear Swamp to densely populating the Delaware Bay coast and spreading across the southern portion of the state and eventually into almost every county of New Jersey. In 2014, the only counties in New Jersey without an active bald eagle nest were Essex and Hudson.
The Story Map also highlights “featured” nests, or nests of special significance, including the Duke Farms nest which has been featured on a webcam since 2005 and the Millville nest where a juvenile eagle was fitted with a GPS tracking device in 2014. These featured nests include more information, pictures and links to pages that explore related projects in greater depth.
As the bald eagle population has reached record numbers in New Jersey, the raptors have expanded into non-traditional parts of the state, providing more and more people with a chance to glimpse this iconic species. This map highlights the ongoing success of conservation efforts and illustrates that whether you realize it or not, you’re never very far from a bald eagle nest in New Jersey!
A Look at the Pilesgrove Eagles Nest Over Time (2009-2015)
By:Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist and Volunteer Manager
New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Volunteers Jeffrey and Cathy White have been monitoring the Pilesgrove eagle nest since the pair’s first nesting season in 2009. The pair has successfully raised and fledged 9 young for the past six years. This season the pair has two chicks which are currently six weeks old. Jeffrey took a photo of the nest on April 19, 2015. He then went back through his photos and found one that he taken on the same date April 19, 2009 in their first nesting season. This comparison really shows just how large eagle nests can get after years of use.
Contest winner to help band EagleCam chicks at Duke Farms next month
By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator
From Left to Right: Duke Farms Executive Director Michael Catania, Contest Winner Diane Cook, CWF Executive Director David Wheeler
Copper Hill School computer teacher Diane Cook was recognized by Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation for winning their EagleCam lesson plan contest earlier this week. Cook will join wildlife biologists to help band the new Duke Farms EagleCam chicks next month.
The EagleCam Lesson Plan contest, jointly organized by Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation, called on educators to submit lesson plans incorporating the Duke Farms EagleCam into their classrooms. Installed in 2008, the Duke Farms EagleCam, a web cam on a tree adjacent to a Bald Eagle nest, has provided a streaming look into the daily lives of the eagle family for over 10 million viewers.
Diane Cook submitted three creative lesson plans for the contest and is working with the Duke Farms and Conserve Wildlife Foundation EagleCam team to expand the camera’s potential as an educational vehicle.
“Duke Farms is delighted to support dedicated teachers that bring nature to life in their classrooms. Diane Cook’s winning lesson plan featured innovative strategies to teach digital citizenship through student observations of the nesting eagles,” explained Michael Catania, Duke Farms Executive Director. “Her participation in this year’s banding of the Duke eagle chicks will be a highlight for our staff.”
The EagleCam has been a staple of Diane Cook’s classrooms since the webcam was installed in 2008. Cook began blogging about the eagles in 2011 and allows students in grades kindergarten through four to share their thoughts, observations or questions on what they see happening in her computer literacy class. Cook also live streams the EagleCam in her classroom for her students to watch. Her first graders use the webcam as a part of an internet safety unit and her third and fourth graders use the EagleCam to learn how to write blogs themselves.
“Watching the EagleCam gives us all, adults and students, the opportunity to experience nature happening right before our eyes. It opens the way for meaningful discussions and great questions, both at school and at home as families watch together,” said Computer Literacy Teacher and Contest Winner Diane Cook. “This year, I am using the EagleCam to teach how to write a thoughtful and meaningful comments in social media forums. Fourth graders are learning how to blog. They are excited to write about a topic that excites them.”
“As a dedicated and inspiring teacher, Diane Cook is helping us realize the incredible potential for connecting our kids with the natural world around us,” stated David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation Executive Director. “The amazing comeback of Bald Eagles across New Jersey mirrors the recovery that our state has made from the devastating legacies of unchecked pollution. Teachers like Diane Cook work so hard to make sure the next generation of leaders understands first-hand how much all of us – humans and Bald Eagles alike – depend on a clean and healthy environment.”
Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey, Cook now resides in Ringoes. She has been an educator at Cooper Hill School in the Flemington Raritan School District for 19 years, teaching first grade, second grade and now computer literacy. Cook gets outside as often as she can, and she enjoys gardening, birding or looking for other wildlife, hiking, walking, fishing, and learning her newest craft of photography.
“I’m hoping to instill in all who learn about the EagleCam in my class a sense of wonder, appreciation for our natural world, and a desire to take care of our world,” explained Cook. “Environmental science is one of my passions. I want to pass along a small part of that to others.”
Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Coordinator for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
