New webcam launches today!
SAVED: Jersey City Falcon Cam!
Category: Raptors
Almost time…
To unveil the Jersey City Falcon Cam!
For now, enjoy these stills from the new Jersey City Falcon Cam.
First look: 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:
Bald Eagle Released in Gloucester County
Yesterday, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and NJ Endangered & Nongame Species Program staff released a rehabilitated bald eagle back into the wilds of NJ. Eagles, as well as other raptors, have made a huge comeback in NJ, down to just a few birds in the 1980’s. Today, CWF, with the help of volunteers, monitors approx. 150 nests.
Check out the ABC News video of the Bald Eagle Released in Gloucester County
Searching for Snowy Owls
By Charlene Smith, Program Coordinator
On a cold blustery January morning I decided to brave the elements in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the Snowy Owl irruption occurring in our area. Since as early as December, the owls have been showing up all along the east coast hanging out by our beaches as it is similar to the barren habitat that they are accustomed to in the Canadian Arctic. The reason why we are seeing so many snowy owls this year is because of good productivity on their breeding grounds. There was a huge supply of lemmings this past summer that created an abundance of young. Most likely the owls that we have been seeing are juveniles who don’t have their own territories and have moved south possibly looking for food.
On my 45 minute ride out to Sandy Hook, I keep thinking that I was crazy to be doing this. What are the chances that I could spot this rare owl on a 7 mile stretch of Barrier Island? The odds were against me but I had a hunch on where to look. I arrived at Sandy Hook, grabbed my newly purchased Nikon binoculars and my Canon camera and took off in the hopes of finding an owl and catching a few shots.
As I walked along the paved path that runs along the water, I scanned the tops of the buildings for a large white bird. I noticed a few people gazing up and pointing to something in the distance. I hit the jackpot! I quickly came upon the group and locked my binoculars to the top of a chimney in absolute amazement and disbelief. There sat perched a beautiful snowy owl with faded barring, its eyes half closed, half open. With every noise it would rotate its head around in the direction of the intruding sound. We patiently waited for the owl to take off in flight and when it decided to move, we gasped in awe. It flew over to some pilings by the water and waddled cautiously up the wooden beams, occasionally starring back at the crowd of onlookers. It was clearly annoyed by the group watching its every move and in an instant it decided to fly off while the people with their telephoto lens and binoculars followed suit. I was chilled to the bone and couldn’t feel my fingers anymore. As much as I wanted to follow the owl I decided it best to appreciate the wildlife from afar and respect its boundaries. I was grateful for the experience and that I could proudly tout that I saw a snowy owl in New Jersey of all places. This is a once in a lifetime occurrence and I recommend taking the time to find a snow owl, but onlookers beware – Keep your distance and respect the owls boundaries.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is keeping track of snowy owl sightings with their eBird project, a real-time online bird checklist program. Another interesting site is Project SNOWstorm, a site dedicated to collecting important data regarding this season’s snowy owl irruption. Scientists are affixing solar-powered GPS transmitters to snowy owls, which records the owls’ location every 30 minutes via cell phone towers. Almost nothing is known about the local and landscape-level movements of snowy owls on their wintering grounds, nor about their nocturnal hunting activity and range size so information from these transmitters will help to discover more about their habits and habitats.
Living with eagles as your neighbors
Brochures now available
by Larissa Smith: Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Coordinator
The New Jersey Bald Eagle nesting population is on the rise with 148 nesting pairs monitored in 2013 and 177 young fledged. As the eagle nesting population increases so do the incidences of eagles nesting in close proximity to humans and human activity. It’s exciting to have a pair of bald eagles nesting and people often want to get a closer look but this can cause disturbance to the nesting eagles and have detrimental impacts. Over half of NJ’s eagle nests are located on private property which makes it important to advise and educate land owners, land managers about living with eagles.
To address this issue CWF received a grant to produce two informational brochures about co-existing with bald eagles in NJ. One is a general brochure for anyone interested in eagles in NJ and the other is specifically for landowners/land managers with eagle nests located on their property. The brochures contain information on eagle history, living with eagles as you neighbors, how to be a good eagle watcher or steward, as well as phone numbers for information and law enforcement. As the eagle project volunteers monitor their nests they will have these brochures available to educate interested people.
- Landowner brochure
- General brochure
- Learn more about the Eagle Project
- To request a brochure contact Larissa Smith
2014 NJ Bald Eagle Nesting Season Has Begun
by: Larissa Smith; Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Manager
Eight pairs of NJ eagles are currently incubating (sitting on eggs). The earliest pair to start incubating was confirmed on January 12th, so the birds been keeping the eggs warm throughout the snow and cold weather. Eagle Project volunteers report that pairs all over the state are busy working on their nests in preparation for egg laying.
Want to see eagles and other raptors and learn all about them? The Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival is February 8th, 2014.
The following photos were taken by Eagle Project Volunteer Tom McKelvey.
Peregrine pair on Osprey platform
This morning a pair of peregrine falcons have been hanging on the osprey cam nest at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR. First a female was perched on the nest, then she flew off a couple times, only to circle around and land on the nest again. Then a male landed on the platform and was seen calling out, most likely to the female. We’re not sure if they are a breeding pair or not. The female only had a silver federal band on her right leg and the male has a black federal band (which means he’s a Jersey bird) and a black/green auxiliary band on his left leg. It is unreadable since it’s pretty covered in dirt/mud. By the looks of him it looks like he just finished breakfast…
Save the Jersey City Falcon Cam!!
Since 2000, a pair of state endangered peregrine falcons have nested on a building in Jersey City, New Jersey. Peregrine falcons are drawn to urban areas since there are high levels of prey (pigeons) and suitable areas to nest (building ledges and outcrops). To follow along with their daily life cycle a webcam was first installed in 2001. Since then it has broadcast their success and struggles over the years to reproduce and help bolster the population in the state.
Peregrines have made a remarkable recovery in New Jersey since their reintroduction in the 1970s, and the Falcon Cam has allowed us to help raise awareness for their conservation. This past year we learned that the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, who hosted the camera since it’s installation, no longer has funding to maintain the webcam. Over the next month we’ll be fundraising to help keep the webcam online! At the same time we’ll also be featuring a weekly series “The Month of the Falcon” with insight from biologists and awesome photos of peregrines from New Jersey.
Duke Farms 2009 Eagle Chick All Grown Up
Jersey banded bird re-sighted in Maryland
by Larissa Smith, Wildlife Biologist/Volunteer Coordinator
The Duke Farms eagle camera was put in place in 2008. Since then it has had quite a following of people interested in seeing the pair raise their young. After the young birds leave the nest it is unknown what happens to them. The mortality rate for first year eagles is fairly high since they are just learning how to fly and hunt on their own. So it was quite exciting when on December 1, 2013 Kevin Smith photographed a NJ banded bird at Conowingo Dam, Maryland. He was able to zoom in close enough to view the green band which read C96. This bird had been banded on May 18, 2009 at Duke Farms. He was the oldest of three males raised by the pair in 2009 while being watched by eagle cam viewers. Below is a photo of the three chicks in the nest following the banding. The largest bird on the right is C96. Now at 4 1/2 years old he is almost a mature adult but still has just a slight amount of brown in his tail feathers (photo on left).
Conowingo Dam is a popular spot for eagles this time of year due to the abundance of fish. Kevin noted that the eagles were catching smaller fish than usual and eating them on the fly. The photo below on the right shows C96 moving the fish from his talons to his bill. Kevin reports that he (C96) would then circle back around looking for more fish and got his share of food that day. It is good to know that C96 has survived and is healthy.
- The Duke Farms eagle cam is up and the pair is getting the nest ready for the 2014 nesting season.
