by John King
When I retired from teaching, one of my first tasks was to search for local organizations that encouraged volunteers, especially in areas of wildlife conservation. Luckily, I found Conserve Wildlife Foundation. I have to say that over the past few years, my volunteer service with CWF has been both rewarding and inspiring!
Continue reading “Wild for Volunteers Guest Post: Birds, Bats, Frogs and Horseshoe Crabs!”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Surveys of osprey nests in New Jersey have occurred annually for the past forty five years. They are conducted to help determine the overall size and health of the population. The first aerial survey over Barnegat Bay counted only five active nests. Ten years earlier there had been over 50. The combined effects of DDT and habitat loss had taken their toll. No osprey nests were productive and the population at risk of being extirpated from the state.
“In 1974 there were only five active osprey nests on Barnegat Bay. Today there are approximately one hundred and fifty.”
After ospreys were listed as endangered an innovative effort to transplant viable eggs from the Chesapeake Bay to Barnegat Bay began. In addition, to help replace natural nest sites that were lost to development, man-made nest platforms were designed and installed away from human disturbance. Slowly osprey pairs became productive thanks to the die hard effort of State biologists like Pete McLain, Kathy Clark and many volunteers and partners. It’s encouraging for us to look back to see how far we’ve come in the statewide recovery of ospreys in New Jersey.
Continue reading “Ospreys Continue to Thrive in New Jersey”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
This year marks nine years since we began efforts to document and reduce roadkills of N. diamondback terrapins in S. Ocean and N. Atlantic Counties within the Barnegat and Great Bay Watersheds. Our Great Bay Terrapin Project was centered around Great Bay Blvd. or Seven Bridges Road, a long saltmarsh access road where many adult female terrapins enter the roadway while seeking nest sites.
Continue reading “Public Participation Key to Protect Terrapins on Roads”Story by Alison Levine
The third Friday in May has been a celebration of our nation’s wildlife and wild places since 2006, when the United States Congress established the holiday. There is a special urgency this year as the United Nations recently reported that nearly one million species worldwide are at risk of extinction within decades (read our post about the UN report for more information).
One of the main points the report makes is that humans are dangerously degrading Earth’s ecosystems, the delicate, interconnected webs of life that we all, people and wildlife alike, need to survive.
Continue reading “HAPPY ENDANGERED SPECIES DAY!”Story by: Alison Levine
A new report into human impacts on nature shows that nearly one million species risk becoming extinct within decades and that current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely fail without radical action, UN biodiversity experts said this week. The report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that grave impacts on people around the world are now likely.
The report identifies five main drivers of this unprecedented decline: changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasion of alien species.
Story by North Jersey Record
Bald eagles are New Jersey’s early birds. In the chill of winter, they’re the first to build nests and lay eggs.
Even in the short days of December, these early birds are busy gathering sticks, grass and other materials to build or repair their nests. Only two weeks into the new year, they start laying eggs.
Story by NJTV.
Mercer County is now home to two pairs of bald eagles and their nests. The discovery comes nearly three decades after the species nearly vanished from New Jersey.
“Bald eagles in particular were wiped out to where we only had one nest in all of New Jersey as recently as the 1980s, and it wasn’t even a successful nest. And now we have over 200 pairs of bald eagles,” said David Wheeler, executive director of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
Wheeler said pesticides and people led to the near extinction of bald eagles.
Friday, bird watchers came equipped with binoculars and cameras to catch a glimpse of one the nests located at Mercer County Park.
“To see the nature and the national symbol of the United States all right here in Mercer Park is pretty neat,” said Flemington resident Graham MacRitchie.
Nearly 70 people were part of a new educational walking tour run by the County Parks Commission.
Editorial by the (Bergen) Record / NorthJersey.com
Exhibit One is the peregrine falcon, which in its swooping dive can reach speeds of 240 mph, and whose remarkable comeback was charted by NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey environmental reporter Scott Fallon. He wrote of how state researchers and wildlife advocates had documented a record 40 nesting pairs in 2018, a near-miraculous feat considering the species had been all but left for dead in New Jersey beginning in the 1960s….
Even if you’re not a birder, there are a lot of reasons to care about birds. There are of course their aesthetic qualities — beautiful, charming, euphonious — and their incredible feats of survival as small creatures in a big, ever-changing world.
But like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, when birds aren’t doing well it usually means their habitat is suffering in some way. And if the habitat isn’t functioning, people lose out too; on the benefits that nature provides, from clean air and water to storm defenses.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Fish and Wildlife Service invested in restoring and protecting natural systems up and down the East Coast that provide important habitat for wildlife while also creating natural defenses for people. A big part of building this stronger coast is making sure that wildlife like shorebirds have the habitat they need — the marshes, beaches and dunes — to nest, feed and raise their young.
Here are stories of how restoration efforts are helping ensure a brighter future for three bird species — red knot, piping plover and saltmarsh sparrow.
Click here to read more.