Category: Wildlife Protection

Brigantine Shorebird Study

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Volunteers are needed to help study migratory shorebird distribution and human use

A large flock of migratory shorebirds at North Brigantine Natural Area. © Ben Wurst

A partnership between Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, Endangered and Nongame Species Program, and Rutgers University.

Survey Period: 10/13/2010 – 10/24/2010

Volunteers are needed to help conduct a study that will measure all influences of shorebird distribution (food, predation and human use/disturbance) while altering human recreational use (close sections of beach, restricted access to key areas or to the waterline) to determine impact both to recreational use and shorebirds at a coastal stopover site (North Brigantine Natural Area). Volunteers are needed to survey shorebird behavior and distribution and/or human use of the natural area.

The ultimate goal is to recommend management programs that create the best protection with minimal impact to recreational use to all Federal and State agencies responsible for sites important to migratory shorebirds.

Shorebird Study:

Volunteers/interns must have the ability to:

  1. Identify shorebird species including Red Knot, Semi-palmated Plover, Sanderling, Sandpiper spp., Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone is required.
  2. Accurately observe and record estimates of flock size and behaviors.
  3. Work anywhere 11-hour days with breaks throughout the day on site as needed.
  4. Walk several miles on the beach throughout the shift.
  5. Communicate effectively, intelligently and positively with the public despite potential opposition.
  6. Provide own transportation to Brigantine Natural Area.
  7. Lodging will be provided for those traveling and/or working consecutive days.
Human Use Study:

Volunteers/interns must have the ability to:

  1. Communicate effectively, intelligently and positively about the study with the public despite potential opposition. Volunteers will be supplied with a 1-page hand out about the project with contact information to share with the public.
  2. Advise public of beach closure.
  3. Interview visitors where possible to establish recreational activities, recreational rates, and perceptions.
  4. Accurately record responses.
  5. Work 11 hour days (includes two weekends) with breaks as needed on site throughout the day.
  6. Provide own transportation to Brigantine Natural Area.
  7. Lodging is available for those traveling and working consecutive days.

The schedule will be composed of 11-hour daily survey periods over the course of 12 consecutive days. This includes three pre-treatment days (10/13-10/15) followed by six treatment (beach closure) days (10/16-10/21) and three post-treatment days (10/22-10/24). Obviously, greater availability is preferred but flexible scheduling will be considered. We would like to keep this project a volunteer/intern support survey, so pay is not likely although may be considered if we are able to identify additional funding.

Please contact Cristina Frank at cristina_frank@hotmail.com if you’d like to volunteer.

Photo from the Field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides food for migratory birds

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

This past spring, in April, over 1000 native shrubs were planted at a habitat enhancement site called Ballanger Creek, pronounced “Baaa-lan-ger.” The site is located within Bass River State Forest in Bass River Township and is being funded by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The purpose of the project is to create and enhance wildlife habitat while stimulating the creation of jobs in the local economy. Volunteers helped plant these shrubs in an area along the edge of an old fallow field (click on the “Learn More” link for before/after photos). The purpose is to provide a buffer between Route 9 and a housing development and provide food and cover to migratory birds and other wildlife. This summer was very tough for the new plantings. Many shrubs could not handle the drought-like conditions, while others did quite well.  Of those that survived some went dormant early to survive the drought. Others in areas that had shade during the hottest times of day were able to produce fruit or berries like arrowood viburnum (pictured below).

Over twelve species of birds feed on the plump blue-black berries produced by the native shrub, Arrowood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum). The fruits ripen in early August and persist through October. Large thickets of arrowood can also provide important nest sites for many species of birds.

We are currently working on the third phase of the project which is to remove old fill from the edge of freshwater wetlands. Work on this phase is expected to begin in 2011. Later this month we will be planting some left over shrubs from the spring planting at the site. If you’re interested in volunteering please contact me for more information.

The work upon which this publication is based was funded in whole or in part through a grant awarded by the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service.

“This institution is an equal opportunity provider.”

We are currently working on the third phase of the project which is to remove old fill from the edge of freshwater wetlands. Work on this phase is expected to begin in 2011.

American Oystercatchers

Posted on by CWF
Studying Migration in New Jersey

By Alfred Breed, Seasonal Field Technician

A group of non-breeding oystercatchers. © Alf Breed

Species diversity is critical for the continued health of any ecosystem.  All organisms have a role to play, but defining that role for any species is no easy task.  Certain species might act as a keystone, one whose healthy presence is absolutely required.  Others might serve the role of an indicator species, the proverbial canary in the coal mine, with the health of that species being a sign of the health of the overall system.  Without data, we cannot know.  While data has been collected for several years for breeding and wintering populations of American Oystercatcher in New Jersey, very little data has been collected during migration.  Collecting that data is my job at the moment.
The American oystercatcher is a species of special concern in the state of New Jersey.  Causes for concern include their low population and risky breeding strategy, combined with habitat degradation from pollution, habitat loss from development, as well as increased predation and disturbance directly related to human activities within their habitat.

Although oystercatcher pairs will fiercely defend a territory from other oystercatchers during nesting season, in the fall and early winter they are almost always to be found hanging out together either at the beach or on the marsh.  They can generally be relied on during the non-breeding season to roost in flocks near ocean inlets, but locating the flock and approaching to within band-resighting distance during a limited high-tide time frame can be challenging.
An ocean inlet can encompass a very large area; and when your quarry can fly and you can’t, that area can seem even larger! Just finding the flock and getting to an effective observation point (which even with quality optics is surprisingly close) without them “spooking” is more than half the battle.  Using a boat or kayak, combined with marsh trekking and the occasional swim, there are few places the oystercatchers go where they cannot be followed and discretely observed.

The goal of this field research is to collect data on roosting flocks of American oystercatchers at southern New Jersey Atlantic coastal inlets during migratory season.  The data collected also enables further research on life-span, survival rates, movement patterns, population, age structure and other important characteristics.
I’m incredibly fortunate to be a part of this important research collecting data vital to our understanding of this species, while at the same time being privileged to be able to enjoy and become more intimately familiar with our beautiful southern New Jersey coastal ecosystem.  We would like to thank the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for funding this important research.

Photo from the field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Natural Succession at its finest

By Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

A former golf course called “Ponderlodge,” now referred to as Villas WMA and officially part of Cape Island Wildlife Management Area in Lower Township, NJ is slowly reverting back to forested habitat. Forests and trees are good for migratory and resident wildlife, the environment, and people! Trees provide food and cover to migratory birds. Many early successional woody species like, Winged sumac, Black cherry, Sassafras, and Mulberry are already established on old fairways on site. Other trees like White oak, Willow oak, and Pitch pine are sprouting from seed, especially in areas where the overstory of trees acts like a nursery for these to grow quickly. As you may know trees naturally sequester or capture CO2. Over time, large amounts of carbon are stored as biomass in the parts of a tree (leaves, branches, roots, and trunk). A one acre reforestation site can sequester an estimated 3 metric tons of CO2 in one year. In 20 years that’s 65 metric tons of CO2 that is removed from the atmosphere. Once many of the fairways that we are working dilagently to reforest with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife are reforested, over 170 acres forested habitat will exist on site.

A former fairway at Ponderlodge. Four years after this property was acquired by Green Acres its fairways are being to succumb to forest succession. © Ben Wurst

This summer has been tough on many of our plantings. The severe drought in Cape May County has killed a large amount of seedlings that were planted in early 2009. However, when planting we choose to overstock or plant at a higher density to allow for some mortality to occur. Only the strong survive and will be more adaptable to future droughts!

Next year we plan to plant more seedlings on additional fairways to convert “fairways to forests.” We will be needing volunteers to assist with the plantings. If you’d like to volunteer to help plant trees send me an email and I’ll let you know when we’ll be planting (sometime in March).

Nesting Pairs up, productivity down

Posted on by larissasmith
Mixed results for Bald Eagles this year

by Larissa Smith, Biologist & Volunteer Coordinator

Pilesgrove Eagle Pair. © Jeffrey White

The 2010 New Jersey bald eagle nesting season has ended and the young eagles have left their nest areas and are heading out on their own.  This season there was a high of 94 eagle pairs being monitored.  Eighty-two of these pairs were active (laid eggs), 8 were territorial and it was unknown if and where 4 other pairs were nesting.  Thirteen new pairs of eagles were located this season. Good news, the bald eagle population is increasing.

Forty-three nests were successful in producing 69 young, for a productivity rate of .84 young per active nest.  This is slightly below the required range of 0.9-1.1 young per nest for population maintenance.  Unfortunately there were 32 nests which failed to produce young this season.  Many of the failures can be attributed to the severe winter and spring weather which coincided with the eagle nesting season. But every population has fluctuations so this one off season won’t effect the NJ eagle population in the long term.

More details will be available in the Annual Bald Eagle Project report which will be out by the end of the year.

Fall Migration is Underway!

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Viewing Wildlife and migration studies

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

A juvenile black skimmer is viewed through a spotting scope at Forsythe NWR in Oceanville, NJ. © Ben Wurst

Fall migration is underway! Ospreys are headed south for the winter. Juveniles will spend the next two years in their wintering areas in northern South America. Rob Bierregaard, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has been tracking ospreys from Martha’s Vineyard since 2000. Currently twelve ospreys are fitted with satellite transmitters. Rob uses the data to study migration patterns and the local dispersal of juvenile and adult ospreys. Check out maps from this seasons birds by clicking here. A great place to view ospreys as they travel south is at Cape May Point State Park. Go after a cold front has passed and you should see high numbers of raptors including ospreys on migration.

Red knots, black belly plovers, dunlin, and ruddy turnstones are beginning to show up on beaches along the coastline. Many hop-scotch their way south to their wintering grounds in South America. Great places to view them include Brigantine Inlet, Avalon, Stone Harbor Point, and North Wildwood. Many of these shorebirds are banded with an alpha-numeric color band. If you have a high power spotting scope, then you should be able to read the band. You can contribute your sightings to the International Shorebird Project by submitting your sightings.

Another great website that tracks avian (bird) migration patterns over New Jersey is www.woodcreeper.com. It is run by David La Puma who uses Doppler radar to track movements of birds as they take off on migration, most at night. He is predicting that a large number of birds will take off Wednesday night/Thursday morning after a cold front with winds that prevail from the north passes through. He expects large numbers of migrants to arrive here to “rest and refuel” on Thursday/Friday. Check out this cool graphic of some Doppler radar where you can see birds moving behind the passing cold front (with precipitation).

Get out this weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and watch some of the amazing natural events that take place in New Jersey. Learn key locations to view wildlife by visiting our wildlife viewing map.

A healthy population

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Osprey numbers continue to rise

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Three osprey nestlings at a nest near Osbourne Island. © Eric Sambol

Ospreys are currently listed as a threatened species in New Jersey. They were first listed as endangered in 1974 after the state population declined to only 50 pairs, from over 500 prior to 1950. Ospreys have made a remarkable recovery in New Jersey thanks to biologists with the Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) and many volunteers. Surveys that help monitor the population were conducted in late June and early July.

Volunteers and biologists surveyed all major nesting colonies from Sandy Hook south along the Atlantic Coast to Cape May and west to Salem County. Ospreys almost exclusively nest on man-made structures including platforms designed specifically for them, cell towers, duck blinds, channel markers, and boat lifts. Surveyors visited these nest structures to observe whether or not they were occupied. If they’re occupied, then the number of young were recorded and the young were banded for future tracking with a USGS bird band. Preliminary results show that productivity rates are up for all nesting colonies except one (Sedge Island WMA). Since ospreys are predators, they are at the top of the food chain. They are considered to be an indicator species, or a species that is sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and can serve as an indicator of an unhealthy marine ecosystem. Basically, a healthy osprey population means a healthy marine ecosystem.

The climate during this summer has been the complete opposite as last year. It was hot, dry, and calm, with only a few severe storms with high winds that caused some nests to fail. Otherwise, fish stocks are plentiful, especially menhaden. This year many out-of-state commercial fishing boats have started fishing for bunker off New Jersey waters. This is mostly due to declines in herring stocks in New England and the high demand for bait for use in lobster pots. State legislators have introduced a bill that would limit boats from catching bunker for use as bait. Read more here and this press release from the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Full results from this years survey will be published soon in our annual newsletter. Here is last year’s newsletter.

Thank You to the NJ Bald Eagle Project Volunteers

Posted on by larissasmith
2010 Eagle project volunteer get-together. © Larissa Smith

by Larissa Smith Volunteer Coordinator & Biologist

Every year starting in the late fall/early winter the bald eagle project volunteers start to monitor their eagle pairs. This dedicated group of 60 volunteers monitors each nest at least once a week during the nesting season which goes into July.  Observers record all data including number of birds, courtship or nesting behaviors, incubation, feeding, hatching and fledging. Volunteers notify CWF/ENSP staff immediately if any unusual or threatening activities are seen around the nest site.  The eagle project volunteers are the eyes and ears of the program.  They form relationships with landowners, neighbors and educate the public about eagles in NJ.

Eagle project volunteer Roger Smith shows off the new eagle project t-shirt © Larissa Smith

So far in 2010, 23 eagle project volunteers have reported volunteering at total of 1,312 hours!  This is a significant amount of time and will increase as more volunteers report their hours for the year.

On Saturday August 21st a get-together was held for the eagle project volunteers. Not only was this a way to thank volunteers it also  gave them the opportunity to discuss the nesting season with fellow volunteers and staff.  A power point presentation was shown featuring photos from the nesting season taken by volunteers.

THANK YOU to all the dedicated eagle project volunteers!

End of the Beach Nesting Bird Season

Posted on by CWF
A final report from our seasonal beach nesting bird steward at Stone Harbor Point

by Christopher Haxter, Seasonal Steward

A juvenile piping plover. © Chris Kisiel

Well as summer’s end slowly draws near, the beach nesting bird season has wrapped up on Stone Harbor Point.  All of the Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher chicks have fledged (i.e. reached the stage where they can fly).  In the past, this has often been a very depressing time.  Stone Harbor Point has a bad history of flooding, and many of the nests and chicks were destroyed; some years we only had a couple of chicks fledge.  This year, however, there is good news!  A total of 13 Piping Plover chicks and 10 Oystercatcher chicks have fledged, from 9 and 21 breeding pairs, respectively!  I owe this very successful year to the weather cooperating during the high spring tides; flooding was not a big issue this summer.  I also owe my thanks to the public for respecting the rules and staying out of the fenced areas, giving these beach nesting birds the room to successfully fledge their chicks.

This breeding season sure has had its ups and downs.  One low point that comes to mind is finding Oystercatcher nest after nest washed away from a high tide the night before (most of them luckily renested).  One of the greatest feelings is finding a chick on its fledge date, knowing that it now has a much greater chance of survival.  We also had a Least Tern colony on Stone Harbor Point that fledged a good amount of chicks.

Our focus now has shifted to migration.  Thousands of migratory shorebirds are now congregating on Stone Harbor Point.  Most are on their way south from breeding up north in Canada and the Arctic.  Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers are also preparing to head south for the winter.  They are currently gathering in huge roosting flocks before their departure.  This gives us ample opportunity for band resighting and to conduct surveys, estimating the population sizes of these shorebirds.

Since the season is just about over it means my job (as Seasonal Steward) is just about over.  Words can’t describe how much I love this job and what I have learned over the last four months.  The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ is truly making the difference for wildlife all over the state, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it!

Photo from the Field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Counting bats or the lack thereof

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

It is clear to me that White-nose syndrome (WNS) has decimated a large portion of the bat population in New Jersey, or at least at a site where I count bats for the Summer Bat Count. In 2008 (before WNS), I counted 261 bats at the Chatsworth General Store in August. Counting bats may seem like a daunting feat, but at dusk (when there is still a little light) the bats fly out of their daytime roosts. Sometimes, 1-2 at a time or in bursts of 3-4 or more. In August 2009, I counted 169 bats at the store. This past Sunday, I only counted 23 bats. To say the least these results are alarming. I hope that at other locations in New Jersey people are still seeing bats and I hope that WNS does not continue to decimate the population.

A photo of the bat houses installed on the Chatsworth General Store where many of the bats roost during the day. Many more used to roost in the attic. This image was captured using a technique referred to as HDR. © Ben Wurst.