Healthy New Jersey wetlands feature a gorgeous explosion of colors each summer as wildflowers, including the Ironweed (purple), Joe Pye weed (pink), and Jewelweed (gold), displayed here, come into bloom.Photo by Kristen Meistrell, NJ Audubon.
We’ve all heard the expression “you can’t have your cake and eat it too”. For example, as a wildlife biologist, I can’t be promoted and still expect to spend most of my time in the field playing with turtles and salamanders- that would simply be too good to be true! The same phrase could probably be applicable to land; your property can’t simultaneously be profitable to you, the landowner, and beneficial to rare wildlife… right?
Well, in this case, I would have to disagree with the proverbial wisdom.
For many years, CWF biologists have worked with private landowners, other nonprofits, and the state and federal government to spread the word on programs that make wildlife conservation not only accessible, but economical. Why? Because >80% of New Jersey is privately owned. This gives residents a unique opportunity to be a part of the success story for every endangered, threatened, and at-risk species that, like us, call the garden state home. In the words of everyone’s favorite ‘90s superhero, Captain Planet, “The power is yours” – truly.
Prescribed grazing by livestock, like the cows pictured above or water buffalo below, can help improve hydrology in certain types of wetlands. If your property fits the criteria, NRCS can assist with the maintenance or installation of fencing as part of your restoration plan.Photo by Kristen Meistrell, NJ Audubon.
Seabeach Amaranth, a state endangered/federally threatened beach plant.
Most people would enjoy their summer days being spent on the beach. Long, sunny days listening to crashing waves and shorebird calls with a salty breeze blowing gently across your face – sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be awesome to experience that nearly every day of the summer? Well, that’s been my life since early June of 2021. I am a new recruit of Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, and when I was offered to take on the role of rare plant technician, surveying Seabeach Amaranth and other protected shore plants along the Jersey coast, I jumped on the opportunity.
Now to give everyone a little background on Seabeach Amaranth before I continue – this federally threatened and state endangered beach plant is an annual bloomer, growing low and branching out along the ground, sometimes reaching up to a meter in diameter or more. However, many plants remain relatively small and some may never grow more than a few centimeters across. Larger plants produce more seeds, and therefore are more successful at propagating the species. It has red stems and thick, waxy, greenish-red leaves that are somewhat reminiscent of spinach. In mid to late summer, these plants produce tiny pale-yellow flowers in the center of leaf clusters at the tip of each stem. These flowers contain the seeds that will hopefully go on to produce next year’s amaranth. The seeds are dispersed in a variety of ways. They may drop near the “parent” and remain relatively close to where plants have germinated in previous years. Some may be carried by wind as sand is blown along the beach. Rising tides may wash out seeds, as well, sometimes redistributing them on the shore in what are known as “wrack lines.” Wrack lines contain the debris left behind by the high tides, typically consisting of sea grass, shells and human litter. Amaranth is often found growing in them.
Pi Patel, one of the eight piping plovers chicks that fledged from the Barnegat Inlet Restoration site in 2021. Photo courtesy of Matt Reitinger.
The success of a habitat restoration project is typically measured in numbers, number of acres restored, the abundance of target species, breeding success of the wildlife using it, that sort of thing. And we certainly have good numbers for the Barnegat Light Habitat Restoration Project… 40 acres restored, including two foraging pond, five pairs of piping plovers using the site this year, a substantial increase from one pair just two years ago, and breeding success above the federal recovery goal and well above the state average for two years running since the project was fully completed.
But there’s more to the success than numbers, it can also be told through names. So first a disclaimer; we name our banded piping plovers in New Jersey. This practice is sometimes frowned upon by other researchers who fear anthropomorphism undermines their scientific credibility or leads to misunderstanding about biological processes. Point taken, but in the case of piping plovers, we believe naming can potentially lead to better engagement in their conservation through dynamic outreach, much the way Monty and Rose, Chicago’s famous plovers have garnered huge public support. Also, in New Jersey our banded plovers typically have four bands, so it is much easier for our monitoring staff to identify and communicate about a bird named “Major Tom” than orange over light blue (left), orange over black (right). Finally, some people are just plain curmudgeons about this issue, but endangered species recovery work is hard, so having a little fun with it isn’t such an awful thing! So, let’s get to the names and the “stories” they tell.
There are many aspects to the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project. During the month of May researchers survey, re-sight and band shorebirds as well as conduct horseshoe crab egg counts. Nine beaches in Cape May and Cumberland Counties have restricted access during May, which allows the shorebirds to feed on the horseshoe crab eggs.
Shorebird Steward Bill Reinert@ Dom Manalo
Shorebird stewards are out on the beaches in all types of weather and insect seasons making sure that the restricted areas are respected. They do this through education and explaining to beach goers the importance of allowing shorebirds to have these undisturbed areas to feed. Stewards really make a big difference in shorebird protection on the bay and we thank them for all of their efforts this shorebird season. This season there were plenty of horseshoe crabs spawning with eggs in abundance, but unfortunately the shorebird numbers were down this season. For more details on the 2021 Shorebird season can be found in the article ,Red knot numbers plummet, pushing shorebird closer to extinction.
Ben Wurst, CWF Habitat Program Manager (right) with local volunteers, AC Electric and DuBois Environmental Staff who helped install this osprey nest platform in Atlantic City.Continue reading “Photo From the Field: #213”
Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Bay Shorebird Stewards will be on Restricted access beaches in Cape May and Cumberland Counties from May 15th through the 31st. We will be educating beach goers about the horseshoe crabs and shorebirds.
Plan a visit to the bay in May to witness this spectacular wildlife phenomena!
Regular winter visitors to the Jersey Shore, this group of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) catch some sun in the tide. Photo courtesy of Joe Reynolds.
Today we focus on a winter visitor from the Arctic.
Excerpt from Chapter 13
Great White Hunter
Pick a sunny but frigid day in the heart of winter. Find a remote, windswept location along the Jersey Shore. Bring a high-powered spotting scope or binoculars, extra layers of winter clothes, and a healthy supply of patience.
Voila! That might be enough to get you a sighting of a seal – or fifty – in the Garden State.
Incredibly enough, seals are becoming more and more common along the coast each winter, eating a daily ration of up to 20 pounds of flounder, other fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Four species visit New Jersey’s coastal waters in a given winter. Spotted most frequently are harbor seals hauling out onto exposed sandbars or dredge spoils along the coast. Gray and hooded seals from as far as the Norwegian island of Svalbard visit less often. Each has a unique look. The gray seal’s large snout earned it the nickname “horsehead seal.” The male hooded seal inflates its nose to attract female seals – and looks like a veritable Bozo the Seal.
The harp seal, on the other hand, is the equivalent of a seal supermodel. You may have seen them many times before. In the 1980s the harp seal’s puppy-eyed white pups served as the adorable public face of the anti-seal hunting movement. Far less common in estuaries than harbor seals, the harp seal usually sticks to the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Nonetheless, young harp seals are found regularly on New Jersey’s coast each winter.
Sandy Hook is a great place for seeing a seal in the wild. Seals often hunt at night and spend their days resting onshore – an ideal schedule for wildlife enthusiasts. That is, for those willing to walk the most windswept waterfront locations in the coldest months of the year. Joe Reynolds, of the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council, is just such an adventurer.
“When it’s low tide on a really sunny day, you have the potential to see thirty to fifty seals out basking together on Skeleton Island,” says Reynolds.
Seals can typically be found in New Jersey from December through April. Photo courtesy of Joe Reynolds.
The Rescuers
Reynolds is also one of around a hundred active volunteers with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. These volunteers up and down the coast serve as the eyes and ears of the unique Brigantine-based center, which was started in 1978 to rescue and rehabilitate injured or stranded seals, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Sheila Dean, the center’s co-director, has worked for more than two decades to help such marine animals.
“We had a little seal – we named her Tak, after the harbor where she was born, Takanassee – that was stranded just after being born,” says Dean. “Her mother left the baby on the beach – there was just no way she could keep people away. We raised it, but she was just too imprinted on humans. We ended up giving her to the Indianapolis Zoo. I felt really bad, but she would not have survived out there.”
Dean wasn’t being overprotective. A dolphin in Florida, after being rehabilitated for nine months, was released into the wild. Sharks killed it immediately upon release, with everyone watching in horror. Clearly nature takes its own course.
Many of New Jersey’s stranded seals are victims of shark bites. In 2009 at least five seals were mauled by the same shark, which was caught off the Sea Girt Reef.
“Shark-bit seals are quite common, and we sometimes get a lot of them,” says Maurice Tremblay, a Marine Mammal Stranding Center volunteer. “We even had one with a bite from an orca.”
After my tour of the center, I realize I just have to see a seal in New Jersey for myself. I had seen seals off the coast of Northern Ireland and enjoyed the fussy orchestra of the famed sea lions at San Francisco’s wharfside, but seals never seemed possible in New Jersey.
I pick the right day: it is absolutely glacial, with a winter storm scheduled to hit within a few hours. My daughter and I head first to Skeleton Island, a long barrier strip on the bay side of Sandy Hook. It is low tide, and the tangy smell of saltmarsh fills the air. Many dark, long shapes pepper the distant sandbars beyond the island, and our hopes are high. A closer look through my binoculars reveals no movement. My “seals” turn out to be driftwood logs and rocks.
We watch gulls drop clams against the rocks and plummet after them, and then we head for the northern end of Sandy Hook near Fort Hancock. Looping around, I drive south along the bay’s edge, peering through the passenger window and hoping against hope for a seal. A male red-breasted merganser catches Kayla’s eye, its green head feathers tussled in the back like a case of bedhead. I pull to the right and back up for a closer look. It is then that I see a dark shape that almost immediately goes under. It does not register as a bird, so could it be…?
I turn the car around for a direct look with my binoculars, and there it is! A clear shot of a seal head, dark black with puppy dog eyes, long face, and whiskers. We watch for a few seconds as it stares back before finally going under. Between the seal and the approaching storm, Sandy Hook might as well be the Arctic.
Ten Years Gone
Seals continue to visit the Jersey Shore each winter, with sightings steadily increasing in recent years. Among the best places to see them each winter are Sandy Hook, Liberty State Park, and Cape May. Sightings typically occur through April, so if you’re interested, best to try as soon as possible!
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center continues to protect and rehabilitate marine mammals and sea turtles along New Jersey’s coastline, with over 300 volunteers. And Joe Reynolds has since founded the nonprofit Save Coastal Wildlife in 2018 to engage people with the biodiversity along the Jersey Shore.
For every dark day there was always hope for a brighter future. Results from the 2020 New Jersey Osprey Project.
Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
This was likely one of the most challenging, at least in recent years, in the history of the New Jersey Osprey Monitoring Project. From social distancing and working from home (with children) to severe wind events and dealing with the impacts of humans on ospreys, 2020 turned out to be quite the year. Overall, our work was largely unaffected by the global covid-19 pandemic. Most of our work is conducted outdoors and away from mass gatherings of people. It was important for us to ensure the safety of our volunteers and the general public safe.
It is always exciting to receive a report of a New Jersey banded eagle, especially when it is from Duke Farms eagle cam. D/99 was resighted two years ago during the winter of 2019. The blog post Duke Farms Alumni D/99: All Grown Up, has all the details of those sightings.
D/99, January 2021 @ Kristen Branchizio
D/99 has been sighted again, this time in Freehold, Monmouth County. He was seen for several days feeding on a deer carcass along with a few other eagles.
D/99 was the youngest of three chicks in the 2014 Duke Farms nest. It’s amazing to see the “before” and “after” photos. The little fuzzy wobbling chick is now a full grown majestic adult.
D/99 and siblings, April 2nd, 2014
D/99 is now seven years old and could possibly have a mate and be nesting in the area. We hope to get more resightings of D/99 in the future to know that he is doing well and raising his own family.
Long-legged spider crab (Libinia emarginata). Photo courtesy of Save Coastal Wildlife.
A special thanks to Juliet Kaszas-Hoch for spotlighting the most recent episode of CWF’s podcast, State of Change, as part of her Art & Entertainment Column on TheSandpaper.net!
The episode, Our Changing Coast, takes a deep dive into how our ocean species could be affected by climate change. CWF Multimedia Producer Matt Wozniak interviewed Dr. Thomas Grothues, a research professor with Rutgers University who specializes in abundance and distribution of fish, as well as Joe Reynolds, the head of Save Coastal Wildlife, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting New Jersey’s coastal species and educating the public about them.
