Tag: 2013

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Single use plastic bag wrapped around ospreys neck…

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

We had quite a scare last week, on April 30th around 12:30pm, after getting a report from an observer of our Osprey Cam on our Facebook page. A single use plastic shopping bag had gotten wrapped around the neck of the incubating female. After getting the report we started to monitor the situation to see how it would unfold. The bag was loosely wrapped, so we hoped she would be able to free herself…which she did after an hour.

Here you can see the single use plastic bag around her neck.
Here you can see the single use plastic bag around her neck.

A lot of viewers and FB fans were asking why we weren’t going out to remove the bag from her neck. We answered each and every question to help make sure people knew that we were doing everything we could to protect her safety. First, we couldn’t just walk out to the nest (which is out in the middle of the salt marsh) without the female reacting to us and flying off the nest (with the plastic bag around her neck). Her flying off the nest with the bag around her neck would have only caused even more harm to her. She could have gotten snagged on a piece of nesting material and in the struggle could have choked to death or she could have fractured one of her eggs… Second, if she would have been tied down to the nest, then we would have enacted a plan to go out to the nest (after a certain amount of time) and released her. Our policy is that we will only intervene if it is a life or death situation. When we enter their nest sites we introduce stress to the birds which can ultimately do more harm than good. Finally, at least we have a camera to monitor the nest! Think of all the other 500+ nests in New Jersey where we only go out to monitor them once or twice during the nesting season. So much plastic winds up in osprey nests that it is a serious concern. People need to be more aware of their surroundings and do their best to make sure waste is properly disposed of.

There are ways you can help make a difference:

  1. Reduce the amount of stuff you buy and the amount of trash you produce
  2. Reuse what you can, recycle what you can’t
  3. Pick up litter when you see it. There is a great movement in Australia called “Take 3” and their message is simple: “Take three pieces of rubbish with you when you leave the beach, waterway or… anywhere and you have made a difference.”  
  4. Stop or reduce your dependence on single use plastics
  5. Use reusable shopping bags
  6. Don’t release balloons!
The female struggles to get free of the bag.
The female struggles to get free of the bag.

Statistics for plastic recycling are dismal… According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “In 2010, the category of plastics which includes bags, sacks, and wraps was recycled at almost 12 percent.” We’re lucky that she was able to free herself. This just proves that ospreys do not have an easy life. There are many threats to ospreys and they have very high mortality rates, which are around 80%.

On the positive side, the female and male continue to incubate three eggs at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR. We should start to watch for hatching around May 19-20th. We have been writing nest news with other life history information on a weekly basis on our Osprey Cam page.

 

Ospreys are back!!

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Meet the osprey pair at Nest #2835

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

I must admit, I’ve been anxious for the return of this pair of ospreys (and all others for that matter). The return of ospreys is a sign of spring, regrowth, and of recovery (from the effects of Superstorm Sandy) as we watch them rebuild their nests as we have helped to repair and replace many of their nesting platforms throughout our coast.

Over the past 6 weeks I had the task of installing a new remote/solar powered/high definition camera system on the coastal salt marsh of New Jersey. The camera system was installed inside Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville next to an existing osprey nesting platform. The camera system streams live video 24/7 from the nest to the Visitor’s Center at Forsythe and on our website. Since the system has been installed we’ve had crows, peregrine falcons (one that was a juvenile who was ID’d by her leg band and originated in Delaware), and a great horned owl (not good since owls are predators of osprey young) perch on the platform.

The nesting pair of ospreys arrived back from their wintering grounds on Friday, March 29th. We don’t know anything about the breeding pair other than neither is banded with USGS bird bands. The female has a very heavily streaked and prominent “necklace” of brown feathers on her breast. The male is  smaller and has a bright white breast. Since arrived they have already been copulating (breeding) on the nest and will continue to do so over the next few weeks until the female will lay eggs in late April. For now they will continue to spruce up their nest and the male will perform courtship displays, after a successful hunt or while carrying nesting material, near the nest to help strengthen their pair bond.

There is a microphone out at the nest and it works. Some issues have come up with pairing the sound and video feeds and we are working on getting that sound online. I will be writing a weekly “Nest Cam News” journal on the Osprey Cam page with information about osprey reproduction, life history and other cool facts about ospreys! Some other great news is that the Wildlife Drive at Forsythe NWR will be open this weekend!!

Female osprey at nest #2835
Female osprey at nest #2835
Male osprey at nest #2835
Male osprey at nest #2835

The race is on!

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Ospreys are back and in need of nesting platforms

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

As you may know, ospreys are returning to New Jersey from their wintering grounds in the tropics. Most North American ospreys winter in N. South America, with large concentrations in Columbia. Our “jersey birds” are unaware that our coast was devastated by a huge post-tropical storm in late October last year. Some might be coming home to nests that were damaged or lost to Superstorm Sandy. We’re working diligently to replace or repair any and all platforms that were damaged by the storm. Last week we replaced the first nesting platform in Ocean City. We were lucky to have met a local filmmaker who put together this short film.

Photo from the Field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Giving Peregrine falcons a safe place to nest

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

We just wrapped up a new project to install a new nesting tower for peregrine falcons along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey. The tower was installed as mitigation for the construction of a new bridge that spans the Great Egg Bay from Somers Point to Marmora. Previously, in 2012 a pair of peregrine were found to be nesting under the Garden State Parkway bridge and had young. The nest was monitored for the remainder of the nesting season and it was determined that all of the young that had hatched most likely did not survive. The nest was located high up on a pier under the bridge and in that situation it would make it really hard for the young to strengthen their flight muscles and fledge the nest. When the ground under the nest is covered by water this also reduces their likelyhood of fledging.

We hope this new platform becomes occupied and that it helps contribute to the small population of peregrines in New Jersey. Thank you to all the staff from the Endangered & Nongame Species Program and the several volunteers who helped to install the platform!

A photo of a new nest site for peregrine falcons near Somers Point, New Jersey. © Ben Wurst
A photo of a new nest site for peregrine falcons near Somers Point, New Jersey. © Ben Wurst

Volunteers Survey New Jersey’s Eagle Population…

Posted on by larissasmith

…during the 2013 Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey

By Larissa Smith, Biologist/Volunteer Manager

Shark River © Dennis Ruffe
Shark River © Dennis Ruffe

Every January NJ participates in the National Midwinter Eagle Count.   Volunteers surveyed for eagles statewide during the weekend of January 12th & 13th.    Due to dense fog the visibility was poor in many of the survey areas but despite this the total count was  297 bald eagles.  This is 38 less than 2012’s high count of 335 bald eagles.  Four golden eagles were also counted during the survey.

2013 Midwinter Eagle Survey Results

  • Southern NJ: 264 bald eagles
  • Northern NJ: 33 bald eagles
  • Total bald eagles: 297

Thank you to all volunteers who participated!

February is a great time to get out and view eagles in New Jersey.  So far twenty-one pairs of eagles are incubating (on eggs) while others pairs are busy getting ready for the season.  Not only can you spot resident birds this time of year but wintering eagles as well.  The Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival takes place this Saturday the 9th. This is a good opportunity to see eagles and other raptors and learn more about them.  I’ll be there at the CWF table so stop by and say “Hi”.

For more information on the festival: http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/events/v/011/2/2013/09/

 

Photo(s) from the Field

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Volunteers help build new osprey platforms

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

On January 19th more than 30 volunteers showed up to help us build 20 osprey nesting platforms. The platforms will be used to replace or repair any that were damaged from Superstorm Sandy. We already have six that sustained damage from the storm and are making arrangements to replace them before the nesting season begins in early April.

We’d like to thank all the volunteers who helped out and all the donors who purchased the materials for the build day! Without your support this project would not be a success: Tri-County Building Supplies in Pleasantville, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Home Depot of Manahawkin, Brian Kushner and Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River, THANKS!!

Large turnout expected for osprey platform build day

Posted on by Ben Wurst
Conserve Wildlife to repair or replace any platforms lost from Sandy

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Osprey pair in nest platform repaired by CWF staff in early 2012. © Brian Kushner
Osprey pair in nest platform repaired by CWF staff in early 2012. © Brian Kushner

On Saturday, January 19, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ (CWF) will host an osprey platform construction day from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Woodbine, New Jersey. Volunteers who signed up in advance are helping to build up to 20 new platforms to replace those lost or damaged in Superstorm Sandy.

Constructing these platforms now will allow CWF time to install them before the start of the osprey nesting season in April. Ospreys mate for life and typically return to the same nest year after year.

Since Sandy slammed into the coast of New Jersey in late October, biologists with CWF have been actively surveying and assessing damage to habitat that wildlife needs to survive. Many osprey nesting platforms were right in the middle of the high winds and strong storm surge associated with Sandy. The majority of the platforms weathered the storm; others need repairs or must be replaced. We have already installed 5 new nesting platforms. Two platforms were installed on December 1st on Herring Island (N. Barnegat Bay) in an area of homes that sustained significant damage. The other three platforms were installed in the Wildwood area.