Category: Wildlife Protection

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS TAGGED AND READY FOR MIGRATION

Posted on by CWF

TRACKING THEIR PATH AS THEY HEAD SOUTH FOR THE WINTER

By Allison Anholt, Field Technician, (NJDFW) and Emily Heiser, Field Technician, (CWFNJ)

Color band being placed on oystercatcher.
Color band being placed on oystercatcher chick at Stone Harbor, N.J.

Throughout the fall, there is a remarkable sight to see along New Jersey’s coastline.  Thousands of shorebirds group together in huge flocks, using our state’s coastline as a migration stopover point to rest and feed.  One particularly interesting shorebird is the American oystercatcher, which is listed as a species of special concern in New Jersey.   At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, we work with biologists from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to survey these birds throughout the fall season.

The oystercatcher is an especially easy bird to survey during fall migration due to its distinct features. Not only do they stand apart from other shorebird species with their unique orange bill and striking coloration, but color bands help us determine individuals as well.  Banding efforts have been underway in New Jersey since 2004 in order to give insight to researchers regarding the
oystercatcher’s breeding habits, pair behavior, and migration patterns. About 300 oystercatchers have been banded in New Jersey to date, including a significant percentage of the state’s estimated 400 breeding pairs. Continue reading “AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS TAGGED AND READY FOR MIGRATION”

PHOTO FROM THE FIELD…I MEAN OFFICE

Posted on by CWF

 

CWF volunteer, Rhoda, and Maria Grace help unload boxes in Trenton, gearing up for your order for the holidays.

Even CWF staff spend a fair amount of time doing office work.   Yesterday, here in Trenton, we received a shipment of boxes, envelopes, and bubble wrap, to ready ourselves for the holiday gift giving season.  We didn’t quite realize how much we ordered until the 14-wheeler showed up on the streets of Trenton.  But we are now prepared to take your order for the holidays so…what are you waiting for!  Take a stroll over to the CWF store and check out all the great books, field guides, and apparel for you and all the nature lovers on your list.  And don’t forget the Adopt A Species program too!

Photo from the field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Students help provide homes for ospreys on New York Bay

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Students and teachers from Bayonne High School stand in front of an osprey platform that was built this past week. © Ben Wurst

This past week I spent the day with students and teachers at Bayonne High School (BHS). I was there to help students construct three osprey nesting platforms. The platforms are being placed at the Bayonne Golf Club (BGC) along a portion wetland habitat that was restored by the BGC along New York Bay. This whole project began when I was approached a couple months ago by Tom Tokar, a teacher at BHS, about assisting them with the construction and placement of the platforms with some of his students. Tom and Larissa Drennan, a teacher at the Woodrow Wilson School, have involved their students in many environmental projects in Bayonne, one of which is where they grow mussels and seed them at the BCG. Ron D’Argenio, with BGC has supported their efforts from the beginning not only by offering up the BGC as a location to seed the mussels but also through financial assistance. Ron and the BGC are also fully funding this project as well, with a very generous donation to CWF. Continue reading “Photo from the field”

A Sanctuary for NJ Bats

Posted on by CWF

By MacKenzie Hall, Private Lands Biologist

Jackie Kashmer gives water to a bat inside a flight cage at the New Jersey Bat Sanctuary. Photo by M. Hall
Jackie Kashmer gives water to a bat inside a flight cage at the New Jersey Bat Sanctuary. Photo by M. Hall

Jackie Kashmer is a bat-saving machine.  Surely, no mere mortal is fit for the long, painstaking hours she spends to make the tiny animals well again.  But then, no machine could do it with the grace or heart.  Let me introduce you to the New Jersey Bat Sanctuary.

For six years, Jackie has focused her wildlife rehabilitation practice on bats alone – a decision that’s given her a special understanding of what makes bats tick.  And since all of her patients have similar basic needs, she can provide for them in a consistent and well-oiled way.

Inside the Bat Sanctuary are dark, warm rooms lined with nylon enclosures.  The enclosures have a maternal touch, with patterned cloth drapes, cushiony hand-sewn pouches, and little hollowed logs – all for the bats to nuzzle in and feel safe.  If you stand there with the lights on, the cages look still and empty, their furry occupants tucked away in the unlit spaces.  You hear an occasional chirpy “pz-pz-pzzz.”

But it’s not all darkness and calm.  White-nose Syndrome has changed the pace at the New Jersey Bat Sanctuary.  Last winter, Morris County’s Hibernia Mine was down to fewer than 800 little brown bats (from roughly 27,000 three years ago).  By late February, some bats were moving to the precarious “freeze zone” near the mouth of the cave – a sign that the White-nose fungus was taking hold.  Not wanting to see any more bats die, Mick Valent (NJ Fish and Wildlife) called Jackie about helping the bats at Hibernia.  Jackie said, “Bring me a hundred.  If I can handle a hundred, then I’ll take more.”  A couple weeks later she was boarding and feeding around 125 bats from Hibernia Mine – everyone from the freeze zone. Continue reading “A Sanctuary for NJ Bats”

NJ Bald Eagle numbers soar in 2011

Posted on by larissasmith
thanks to the dedicated NJ Bald Eagle Project Volunteers

by Larissa Smith, Biologist/Volunteer Manager

Adult Bald Eagle at East Lake © John fox

2011 was a great year for bald eagles in NJ.  This season a record high of 118 chicks fledged from nests throughout New Jersey.  A total of 111 eagle pairs were monitored of these 95 were active which means that they laid eggs.  Seventy-one of these were successful in producing the 118 fledges.  This is especially good news after 2010’s less than stellar nesting season where only 69 young chicks fledged.

The success of the NJ Bald Eagle Project is directly due to the dedicated volunteers.  Every eagle nest that can be viewed is monitored by a volunteer/s.  Volunteers report on important dates such as incubation, hatching and fledging.  They also help to protect the nest by reporting disturbance and educating the public about eagles.  We can’t thank our eagle project volunteers enough for all the time and energy which they put into this project.

More details on the the 2011 nesting season will be  available later this year in the 2011 NJ Bald Eagle Project report.

It’s Better in the Bahamas – Part 3

Posted on by CWF
A Piping Plover Adventure

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager

Crossing into new territory – Todd Pover, CWFNJ, wading across a mangrove inlet in the Bahamas to conduct the Piping Plover survey.

In earlier installments of this series (It’s Better in the Bahamas – Part 1 & 2), I reported on the results of the winter segment of the 2011 International Piping Plover Census in the Bahamas, in which I participated, and also the partnerships developed along the way. For this final installment I am foregoing the biological results and conservation lessons, the usual story themes, because sometimes our readers just want to hear about the adventurous side of what we do here at the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Having surveyed piping plovers on their breeding grounds in New Jersey for 15 years now, at times it feels like I know every nook and cranny that plovers could possibly be found in our state – to some extent the sense of mystery is gone. I knew that wouldn’t be the case with the Bahamas winter survey. I had never been to Abaco, the island I was assigned to survey along with Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Coastal Waterbird Program, but I knew it had miles of coastline on its main island and numerous offshore barrier islands and cays that needed to be checked as well. Our pre-trip research of the habitat on the islands suggested it was going to be difficult to cover all that ground in one week even with our 4-6 person survey team, but I was excited by the challenge. Continue reading “It’s Better in the Bahamas – Part 3”

Endangered Allegheny Woodrats Need Our Help!

Posted on by CWF
Collect Native Tree Nuts to feed the Woodrats

By Maria Grace, Education & Outreach Manager

 

The last known Allegheny woodrat population lives at the base of the Palisades in northern New Jersey.

The Allegheny woodrat is a state endangered species. It was added to the endangered species list in 1991. There is one remaining population of these small mammals left in the state and they need our help this winter.

This season we are going to help the woodrat by providing it with food. We will distribute acorns, beech nuts, hickory nuts or any other nuts from native New Jersey trees in the area the woodrats live. By providing them with food we will help them survive the winter.

Collecting nuts while learning about the habits and habitat needs of the Allegheny woodrat is a great service learning project! Have your students collect native tree nuts throughout the community and help to protect one of NJ’s rarest wildlife residents.

We are collecting nuts now through October 31, 2011 to distribute to the woodrat’s location throughout the winter. If you would like to contribute to the woodrat’s winter food pantry, please drop off nuts from native New Jersey trees to ENSP’s office in Clinton, New Jersey. Please call Maria Grace at Conserve Wildlife Foundation at (609) 984-0621 for specific instructions. Nuts will be collected until October 31st.

For more information about the Allegheny woodrat, visit CWF’s online field guide.

To read about the 2009 supplemental feeding program, visit the Explorations, February 2010 edition.

Bats, Birds, Boy Scouts, Bobcats, Bog turtles and a Beaver:

Posted on by CWF
MY “THANK YOU” NOTE TO THE CWF

By Erica Fischer, CWF Summer Intern

Holding a big brown bat during a maternity colony survey. Photo by MacKenzie Hall

It’s hard to believe that it has been two months since the start of my internship with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. As a rising senior in college (when did that happen?), I can attest to the fact that time flies. Last December I contacted MacKenzie Hall, a Private Lands Biologist with the CWF and bat expert with a proposition. My college had provided me with a stipend after the completion of a long list of requirements for an unpaid internship. Being an avid wildlife lover, biology student and a resident of New Jersey, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey seemed like the perfect fit. MacKenzie graciously agreed to take me under her [bat] wing.

On June 1, I jumped right into MacKenzie’s work with the bat population of New Jersey. I was quickly contacting volunteers, designing driving routes and delivering acoustic bat detectors. We were working on assessing the bat population of New Jersey with the use of five brand new acoustic bat detectors split amongst forty volunteers.

 

Continue reading “Bats, Birds, Boy Scouts, Bobcats, Bog turtles and a Beaver:”

Photo and Report from the Field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
A little human help goes a long way!

written by Maureen Barrett, CWF volunteer/donor/wildlife enthusiast/educator

With wind speeds clocked at 91-92 mph, the osprey nest behind my house didn’t stand a chance! On Tuesday, July 19th around 8:00 P.M., a thunderstorm came barreling into Fortescue from the northeast. It was a wicked storm with thunder, lightning, and even hail. The wind was so strong that my purple martin housing was being blown around like it was a stalk of phragmites. The adult osprey held their positions on the perching supports of the platform for as long as they could, but soon jumped ship. By that time, the pole for the martin house broke and I couldn’t even see the osprey platform through the rain.

After the storm, some moonlight allowed me to see the silhouette of the osprey platform. It was still standing. But I couldn’t see any nesting material inside; it looked empty. I made an attempt to walk through the marsh to get a closer look, but I thought it would be wise to wait until first light. So I waited for the sun to rise.

An image that was taken using a technique called "digiscoping" reveals two osprey young in the nest.

By 5:00 A.M., my suspicions were confirmed. There was not one piece of nesting material on the platform. Fortunately the adults survived the storm and were once again perched on the platform supports, but the nest and chick were gone. The high winds blew everything off the platform. I quickly put my boots on and walked out on the marsh. I was surprised how relatively easy it was to get to the platform after getting a few inches of rain the night before. There was only one very small ditch I had to cross. I soon found the pile of nesting material and on the edge of the pile was a clump of wet feathers. It looked like the storm had taken the chick’s life. But then I saw some movement! It had survived the storm, the fall, and an evening on the ground!

This being my first experience with such an ordeal, I called my friend Bill Miller who lives up the street. (You know who your friends are when you call them before 6:00 A.M. for a favor!) He brought down a ladder and a piece of plywood. We went back on the marsh, dried the chick with a towel, and put it back on the platform. Within a few minutes, the adults returned to the platform to see their chick back in the nest.

Two other nests in Fortescue were also destroyed by the storm. Later that day, Brian Johnson of the Natural Land Trust’s Glades Wildlife Refuge had to place a foster chick in my nest. This chick’s nest was in a tree and totally destroyed. Both chicks are getting along just fine and being fed by the adults.

Photo from the field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Osprey numbers continue to rise!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Three osprey nestlings were a common sight in many nests from Sedge Island to Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. © Ben Wurst

Volunteers, CWF staff, and biologists with NJ Fish & Wildlife recently completed osprey nesting surveys throughout coastal areas of New Jersey. Each year these “osprey banders” complete “ground surveys” (referred to as ground surveys because they are surveying nests by land/sea, not by helicopter) that cover around 70% of the state population. I survey colonies on Barnegat Bay, Little Egg Harbor, and Absecon. The surveys are meant to keep track of the population and determine its health. During the surveys the banders access nesting areas mainly by boat since most ospreys nest in coastal areas or by water (their source of food). We use ladders to access nests where we count the number of young produced and then place an aluminum band on each of the young.  For the past two years we have also been collecting feather samples for a study being conducted by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia where they are analyzing the stable isotopes to determine what ospreys are eating and how their diet has changed over time. More specifically they’ll be looking for changes in the isotope profiles across the local range of ospreys – something that has never been done before.

In one area, Sedge Island WMA, that I’ve surveyed for the past few years I surveyed 27 nests. 22 of those nests were occupied and produced a total of 47 young. 34 of those young were banded for future tracking. From the survey I can calculate the productivity or reproductive rate which is a measure of how healthy the population of that colony is. The productivity rate for Sedge Island is 2.14 young/active(known-outcome)nest this year which is the highest ever recorded (see chart at right for more details). These awesome results are the result of calm and mild weather conditions this spring and summer, high availability of prey, and possibly the increased amount of experienced breeding birds. Another factor that has surely helped to give the population a boost is the increased availability of suitable nest sites along the coast. Since 2004, I’ve helped to install more than 100 nesting platforms. Many of these platforms replaced old dilapidated structures and now give ospreys a better chance at successfully raising young that will eventually return to New Jersey to reproduce.