NJ Archives - Page 3 of 28 - Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ

Making Dreams Come True. Summer Wildlife Jobs for College Students!

Posted on March 14, 2023 by vinyldev

by Ben Wurst, Senior Wildlife Biologist

I recently attended my first career fair at Stockton University. When asked if I would attend, I felt like I couldn’t say no, as I am currently seeking at least 5-6 student interns or seasonal field technicians to assist with several wildlife conservation projects. At first, I wasn’t sure what I could display to draw attention to our table and prospective summer jobs working with rare wildlife.. Then it hit me. I bring what I use when working with wildlife in the field!

History of The Duke Farms Eagle Pair

Posted on March 2, 2023 by vinyldev

by Larissa Smith, Senior Biologist

The Duke Farms eagle cam is extremely popular and just this week viewers watched as two chicks hatched. These two chicks will be watched by a multitude of viewers over the next few months as they grow to become juveniles and leave the nest. As with anything in Nature, this pair has had it’s ups and downs. I wanted to summarize the history of this pair and nest. The male is a NJ banded bird (A/59) and has been in the pair from the beginning, he is 23 years old. Interestingly, there have been several females in the pair over the years. Thank you to Duke Farms for hosting the cam and their tech team that keeps it running smoothly when issues arise. The cam location has changed as well as the cam itself over the years and the quality of the picture has improved.

New Jersey Osprey Population Continues to Grow Despite Low Productivity

Posted on February 28, 2023 by vinyldev

by Ben Wurst / Senior Wildlife Biologist

We’re proud to release results of the 2022 New Jersey Osprey Project Survey, which documented the greatest number of nesting ospreys in the history of the project. Overall, surveys by staff and loyal volunteers recorded a total of 733 occupied nests throughout the state. The majority of ospreys (83%) continue to nest along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey with the remainder nesting along the Delaware Bay and inland locations. Surveys recorded the outcome of 73% of the known population, which allows us to present these results with confidence.

Winter Bird Watching in New Jersey

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Rachel McGovern

by Sherry Tirgrath, Wildlife Biologist

While many residents of New Jersey prefer to spend winter days indoors and away from the cold, there are those dedicated birdwatchers that view the wintertime as an opportunity to get outside and observe species they normally wouldn’t see during the rest of the year. New Jersey hosts a variety of migratory birds, some escaping the freezing temperatures of their Arctic breeding grounds during the harsh northern winters. There are many species that both breed and winter in the Garden State and are easier to locate and observe while trees are bare. Located on the Atlantic Flyway, New Jersey is also a prime spot for coastal bird watching during the fall and spring migration, with Cape May being one of the most active bird watching hotspots in the country.

A black-capped chickadee on a snowy day. Photo by Blaine Rothauser.

Osprey 98/K: The Backstory

Posted on January 10, 2023 by vinyldev

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Osprey 98/K with prey over Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. May 2022. Photo by Bob Peal.

I have been finalizing osprey band re-sightings and encounters from last year and one particular band number stood out. It was 98/K, who was re-sighted by Bob Peal during his visit to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on May 17, 2022. There he photographed a variety of wildlife, including several ospreys who had red auxiliary bands, one of which was readable!

Ending the Year 2022 With Gratitude

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Rachel McGovern

With 2022 coming to a close, Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s staff took a moment to reflect on what they were thankful for this year at work and with regards to New Jersey’s wildlife.

The CWF team (Board and staff) enjoyed a holiday celebration at Flying Fish Brewery.

I’m thankful for New Jersey’s incredible wildlife and my role in protecting so many at-risk species. I owe my greatest appreciation, however, to the dedicated people who carry out and support CWF’s work to strengthen wildlife populations and educate the next generation of environmental stewards. Our Board and staff are truly extraordinary at what they do, and our contributors, volunteers, and partners make all our success stories possible.

-Liz Silvernail, CWF Executive Director

CWF is Back in the Classroom at Ridge Street Elementary (Newark, NJ)

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Rachel McGovern

by Rachel McGovern, Director of Education

Educators and biologists at Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey are leading educational programs at Ridge Street Elementary School in Newark, New Jersey, for the eighth consecutive year. Comprehensive STEAM curricula that follow New Jersey State Learning Standards for Science were developed by CWF staff for grades K, 3, 5 and 6. These curricula provide a series of classroom lessons, projects, and field trips focused on New Jersey’s wildlife.

While delivery of this program, entitled “Soaring With STEAM,” was adapted to a virtual learning environment during the pandemic, this 2022-23 school year has been presented entirely in-person, allowing staff to meaningfully interact with students and teachers in the classroom.

The Story of Osprey 52/K

Posted on December 15, 2022 by vinyldev

by Ben Wurst / Habitat Program Manager

Osprey 52/K. September 5, 2022. Photo by Chris Kelly.

In 2014, we began to band osprey nestlings produced at nests within the Barnegat Bay watershed with auxiliary bands. This was an effort which came about from the interest of Jim Verhagen, a LBI resident and wildlife biographer. He wondered why young ospreys were not banded with color, field readable bands, like some endangered raptors, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons. This spawned Project RedBand, an osprey banding and re-sighting project. The goal of the project was to learn more about ospreys when they are alive while engaging coastal residents in their management. Just under 500 young ospreys were banded with red auxiliary bands from 2014-2020 from nests all along the Barnegat Bay estuary.

E-17 “Oran” Sighted Alive & Well

Posted on December 6, 2022 by vinyldev

by: Larissa Smith, CWF Senior Biologist

It’s always a good day when we get a resighting of a NJ banded eagle, especially if it was one that had a transmitter attached. On November 1st, 2022 “Oran” was resighted in Stone Harbor, Cape May County, NJ by John Kauterman. This is about 22 miles from where he had fledged along the Delaware Bay in Cumberland County in 2015.

E/17 November 1st, 2022: photo credit, John Kauterman

On May 18th, 2015 a remote eagle nest on the Delaware Bay was visited by biologists with the NJ Bald Eagle Project, from both the NJ ENSP & CWF. There were two eight week old chicks in the nest both and we banded both. The male, banded NJ Green band E-17, was outfitted with a transmitter and he was named “Oran”.

A New Jersey First: Hawk Raised by Eagles

Posted on August 16, 2022 by vinyldev

By: Susan Harrison, NJ Bald Eagle Project Volunteer

I am a volunteer eagle nest monitor for New Jersey’s Bald Eagle Project. A new nest was discovered in central New Jersey this year by birder Chris Brown. Larissa Smith, the volunteer coordinator for the Bald Eagle Project and Conserve Wildlife Foundation asked me to monitor this nest. I did not know at the beginning of nesting season, what an interesting story would unfold!
In mid-April, by watching the behavior of the adult eagles, I could see that eggs had hatched and that the adults were feeding eaglets that were still too small to see. At the beginning of May I caught glimpses of the head of one eaglet peeking up over the top of the nest rails. Too cute! By the end of May, I could see the head of a second chick in the nest. But this chick looked very different! I soon discovered this chick looked different because it was not a Bald Eagle at all! It was a red-tailed hawk chick in the eagles’ nest! I could not believe what I was seeing! I took lots of photos to document this situation, a first for New Jersey! I consulted with two respected birders in the state, Chris Brown, who is a county eBird reviewer and Tim Brown, to help verify and document my observations for CWF and the NJ DEP/ENSP. We observed the adult eagles feeding both the red-tailed hawk chick and the bald eagle chick. It was one big happy family, with both chicks getting along with each other and with the adults quite well.