Endangered Invertebrates: The Butterflies

An invertebrate is an animal without a vertebral column - and they probably don't get much of your interest, even if you are interested in wildlife and endangered species.

Did you know that this group includes 95% of all animal species? Yes, that is all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals).

A bit of science history first - the Carolus Linnaeus' Systema Naturae divided these animals into only two groups, the Insecta and the now-obsolete vermes (worms). Then, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle coined the term "invertebrate" in 1793 to describe such animals and divided the original two groups into ten, by splitting off Arachnida and Crustacea from the "insects" and Mollusca, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata, Coelenterata and Infusoria from the "worms." They are today classified into over 30 phyla.

On the New Jersey threatened and endangered list, there are 17 invertebrates. For this post, I am looking at the six listed butterflies.

INVERTEBRATES LIST Source: njfishandwildlife.com Click name to show fact sheet (pdf) ** indicates Federally endangered or threatened
Endangered in NJ		Threatened in NJ
Beetle, American burying	Nicrophorus mericanus**		Elfin, frosted (butterfly)	Callophrys irus
Beetle, northeastern beach tiger	Cincindela d. dorsalis**		Floater, triangle (mussel)	Alasmidonta undulata
Copper, bronze	Lycaena hyllus		Fritillary, silver-bordered (butterfly)	Bolaria selene myrina
Floater, brook (mussel)	Alasmidonta varicosa		Lampmussel, eastern (mussel)	Lampsilis radiata
Floater, green (mussel)	Lasmigona subviridis		Lampmussel, yellow (mussel)	Lampsilis cariosa
Satyr, Mitchell's (butterfly)	Neonympha m. mitchellii**		Mucket, tidewater (mussel)	Leptodea ochracea
Skipper, arogos (butterfly)	Atrytone arogos arogos		Pondmussel, eastern (mussel)	Ligumia nasuta
Skipper, Appalachian grizzled (butterfly)	Pyrgus wyandot		White, checkered (butterfly)	Pontia protodice
Wedgemussel, dwarf	Alasmidonta heterodon**

If you have an interest in butterflies, you many want to check into the North Jersey Butterfly Club which is a chapter of the North American Butterfly Association. It is a non-profit organization working to promote the public enjoyment and conservation of butterflies.

One way to get involved is in raising butterflies from your garden.

The Butterflies and Moths of North America website has maps, species accounts, checklists, and photographs of butterflies and moths (endangered or not) and includes a section on New Jersey species. For example, you can find detailed information on the Arogos Skipper.

Panoramic Virtual Tour of Sandy Hook Bay

Take a look at Brian Richard's panoramic virtual tour of Sandy Hook Bay and the quieter bay shore of Sandy Hook.

Here are salt marshes, sand bars and islands, often deserted, while thousands of people flock to the Sandy Hook's Atlantic Ocean beaches.


Follow this link and navigate the tour, clicking on the "beacons" (or use the menu bar in the lower right corner of each view) to zoom in to the 35 linked panoramas, including 11 high resolution 360 degree views, photographed between Winter 2003 and Summer 2009.

The Highlands Trail

The Highlands Trail highlights the natural beauty of the New Jersey and New York Highlands region, and draws the public's attention to this endangered resource. It is a cooperative effort of the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference, conservation organizations, state and local governments, and local businesses.

When completed, the trail will cover over 150 miles from Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River in New York south to Riegelsville, New Jersey, on the Delaware River. The route will connect major scenic attractions in both states. Ultimately, a network of trails including alternate routes and multi-use paths is envisioned.

The Highlands Trail is a combination of co-alignment on established trails, new trails, and road walking. The Highlands Trail blaze is a teal-colored diamond. The co-aligned sections bear both trails' blazes, except for the Appalachian, Sterling Ridge, and Allis Trails, which have plastic Highlands Trail logos at critical points. Hikers must pay attention at intersections as the Highlands Trail often leaves one trail to join another.

Camping is not permitted along the Highlands Trail. Thru-hikers must stay at bed-and-breakfast facilities along the route, or at established State Park camp grounds.

Click image to enlarge

The Highlands

The Highlands of New Jersey is another one of those areas that people from other parts of the country just don't associate with NJ. (The Pinelands is another area like that.) The forested ridges, rocky cliffs, and the streams, lakes, ponds and reservoirs for fishing and recreation are all there.

The Highlands covers 840,000 acres and includes 188 municipalities. There are 7 Highlands counties – Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon and Somerset – and all contain a diversity of forests, wetlands and grasslands. That habitat diversity is also the home to threatened and endangered wildlife.

There are 72 New Jersey-listed endangered, threatened and rare animal species including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and mussels, and 2species (the Indiana bat and bog turtle) are Federally-listed. There are also 137 endangered, imperiled and rare plant species.

The Highlands also contains historic structures and archaeological heritage sites that need protection.

Hikers can find miles of trails, including both the Appalachian Trail and the Highlands Millennium Trail.

For over half of New Jersey’s residents (4 million+), the Highlands is a critical area for their drinking water. The NJ Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act was passed in 2004, dividing the 840,000-acre region into a “Preservation Area” with strict NJDEP regulations and mandatory Regional Master Plan conformance, and a “Planning Area” with voluntary Plan compliance.

As is often the case in NJ, suburban sprawl is the greatest threat to the Highlands’ drinking water supply, and to the forests, farms, wildlife habitat, and historic, recreational and scenic resources.

There are a number of areas in NJ that are a focus for Highlands Coalition.

The Wyanokie and Farny Highlands (Passaic and Bergen) contains unprotected lands in nearby Wanaque and Split Rock reservoirs that would connect existing State and county parks and forests in these two heavily utilized recreational areas. This focal area was ranked highly due to its value for water resources and recreation, and secondarily for biodiversity and forest land.

The Pequannock Watershed (Morris, Passaic, and Sussex) serves as the core of the northern New Jersey Highlands and serves as a major hub connecting existing open space areas. This focal area was ranked highly due to its multiple values for water resources, forest land, biodiversity, and recreation.

The wooded ridges of Sparta Mountain/Lubber’s Run NJ (Morris and Sussex) provide an important greenway corridor connecting Mahlon Dickerson Reservation in the north and Allamuchy Mountain State Park in the south. Major gaps in conservation protection include the nearby areas of Mase Mountain. This focal area was ranked highly due to its value for productive forest land, biodiversity, and recreation.

Upper Pohatcong/Pequest area (Warren) also contains forested ridges and wetlands centered around the Pequest Wildlife Management Area which serve as an important ground water recharge, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation area. This focal area was ranked highly due to its value for water resources and recreation and secondarily for its productive forest and farm land.

Scott Mountain/Musconetcong Ridge in Warren and Hunterdon counties and the neighboring productive farmland of the Delaware, Pohatcong, and Musconetcong valleys form a large contiguous area of high-quality rural landscape. This focal area was ranked highly due to its value for biodiversity and productive farmland, and secondarily for forest land and recreation.

MORE

• Highlands Wildlife Brochure (pdf)



• NJ Highlands Critical Treasures map



• New Jersey Highlands Coalition
  

Nestbox News About Our Peregrine Falcons

Nestbox News is an account of activity at a nestbox placed atop Mack-Cali Realty Corporation's 101 Hudson St., Jersey City, by biologists in the Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

You can follow the nesting behavior and activity of peregrine falcons and their chicks. For July, that includes a peregrine banding slideshow, and some better news about the peregrine chicks in Jersey City.

ENSP biologist Mick Valent prepares for another diving attack from a protective peregrine parent, as Kathy Clark returns the chicks to the nestbox.

The Re-Greening of Cranford

Back a hundred years ago, Cranford was known as the "Venice of New Jersey." It was a town that grew up around the meandering Rahway River.

The river was a main mode of transportation with many residents having boats docked in front of their riverfront homes. About five miles of the 30-mile Rahway River goes through the Township.

Like almost all of New Jersey, Cranford became much more developed and open space, natural resources and habitats disappeared or were endangered.

The river has become a source of significant flooding. Overdevelopment both in the town and in surrounding towns causes stormwater management challenges. Cranford takes a bigger hit than other towns because it lies downstream from most of the 18 towns along the Rahway River.

The Cranford Environmental Commission was created in the 1970s. In 2006-2007 they won an Achievement Award for enacting the first NJ municipal ordinance to require sustainable building standards for new township construction and existing buildings, based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

In town, the Commission runs programs such as encouraging homeowners to choose renewable energy through the Clean Power Choice Program as well as energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), through the ENERGY STAR Change-A-Light Program.

Blue Heron on the Rahway River

They also created an awareness program about community sustainability called My Green Cranford.

The Rahway River is popular for fishing and the Cranford Canoe Club is a historic spot where residents rent canoes to use on the river. Many homes located on the river have canoes in the backyards and docks on the river.

A 13.5 mile bike path runs through the township, connecting major points of interest. It was built with in 1982 as part of a fuel-conservation program with funds from the Federal Housing Administration. The township also hosts a section of the East Coast Greenway which will run between Calais, Maine and Key West, Florida.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Cranford as its 37th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey and its "greening" is certainly a factor.

How is your NJ town doing environmentally? Do you have an environmental commission? My hometown in suburban Essex County does - check on the ANJEC site for your town. Click here and find out - the ANJEC website has this information at your fingertips.

Starting On The Long Path in New Jersey

The Long Path was first proposed as a New York route similar to the Long Trail in Vermont. Unlike the Long Trail, it was intended as an unmarked route meandering from the George Washington Bridge to Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks, connecting together a series of landmarks.

The name of the trail came from Walt Whitman's poem "Song of the Open Road"

"There lies before me a long brown path, leading wherever I choose."

Beginning in the 1960's the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference went further by creating a blazed hiking trail along the original route. Today the Long Path is a 326 mile hiking trail extending from the George Washington Bridge, north to John Boyd Thacher Park near Albany with plans to extend the trail to the Mohawk River and eventually into the Adirondacks.

The Trail Conference lists many scheduled hikes by different group on their website. It's a good way to start out with experienced "guides" and meet like-minded hikers from the area.

As you leave the sounds of traffic behind and listen to birds, the Long Path travels the length of New York connecting suburban backyards with wilderness areas, pre-Revolutionary iron mines and fast food restaurants.

There are some challenging climbs considering you will be at Piermont Marsh at sea leve and at the summit of Slide Mountain over 4100 feet higher. There are also gentle sections.

Starting Out in New Jersey

The Long Path begins in Fort Lee at the historical park, on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. You can make the first twelve miles to the New York State line a first time hike. It follows along the Palisades through lands of the Palisades Interstate Park. There are many spectacular views of the Hudson River and New York City along the way.

NNS Photo via blog.nj.com

Boating, fishing, picnicking, hiking and history combine in this park created in 1900. Thirty miles of hiking trails on the Hudson River Shore Trail and the cliff-top Long Path, two public boat basins and a boat launching ramp. Also, four riverfront picnic areas, a scenic riverside drive, a cliff-top Parkway with three scenic overlooks, a nature sanctuary, historic sites, and miles of rugged woodlands. For information, call 201-768-1360, or visit www.njpalisades.org.

After crossing into New York, the Long Path turns away from the Hudson River, but continues to follow the Palisades Escarpment to its end in Mt. Ivy. Much of the route is through State Parks but the trail also serves as a link to smaller county and town parks. There is some road walking through the towns of Piermont and Nyack. There are extensive views of the lower Hudson River valley along the way, with the most dramatic views on Hook Mountain and High Tor.

Leaving the Palisades, the Long Path enters Harriman State Park, passing through the park in a northwesterly direction. The park is criss-crossed with an abundance of trails, and there are many opportunities for circular hikes.


Long Path Overview
Long Path Guide

Peregrine Falcon Food Transfer

Peregrine Falcons Food Transfer
Originally uploaded by Sharpeyesonline

Wild tiercel (male) Peregrine Falcon (Falcon peregrinus anatum) transfers a prey bird from his beak to the waiting talons of his Falcon (female) mate. Successful food transfers occur very, very fast. They take 1 second to complete. While the Falcon is in her cliffside eyrie (nest) on eggs or with her eyeases (young), the Tiercel goes out and captures a prey bird on the wing. When he returns to the eyrie air space he calls out to the Falcon, who launches out of her eyrie and flies out positioning herself underneath the Tiercel. She inverts herself with talons pointed up to take the prey bird from the Tiercels beak.

Coastal Workshop in Cape May

Cape May Lighthouse

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife will be hosting a "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman" Coastal Workshop in Cape May the weekend of September 11-13, 2009 at The Grand Hotel in Cape May.

The workshop is devoted to learning about wildlife and outdoor skills on the Jersey coast.

Join the staff of the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife and dedicated volunteers for a weekend workshop devoted to learning about wildlife and outdoor skills on the Jersey coast. Participants choose 4 topics from a diverse list of classes, and spend 3½ hours for each of the 4 hands-on learning sessions.

Although oriented towards women, this workshop is open to anyone who is at least 18 years of age. The workshop fee of $370 includes meals, lodging, instruction and use of equipment.

This "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Coastal Workshop" is being conducted in cooperation with the NJ Division of Parks and Forestry, the NJ Audubon Society and the Wetlands Institute.

For more information and registration, download workshop brochure and registration.

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bowhome.htm

Protecting The Coast

The American Littoral Society promotes the study and conservation of marine life and habitat, protects the coast from harm, and empowers others to do the same. Littoral is defined as "of or existing on a shore."

The group has been working since 1961 to care for the coasts through integrated programs focused on advocating, conserving, and learning.

They might restore habitat, but their objective is not only to replant dune grass or reseed an oyster bed, but also to motivate people to invest “sweat equity” into a piece of the coast, take ownership and become committed stewards.

The Society's Mid-Atlantic chapter has many local activities that New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland and the headquarters office is on Sandy Hook in Highlands, New Jersey.

In July, one project is helping to restore the oyster reef habitat in Delaware Bay as part of their Project PORTS. Volunteers will help deploy 10-lb. shell bags which were constructed by local school children into the bay as part of an oyster restoration project. The bags will serve as a settlement surface/habitat for oyster larvae. Later in the summer the young oysters will be transplanted to a State-designated conservation reef site. "Project PORTS: Promoting Oyster Restoration Through Schools" is a partnership project of Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory and the American Littoral Society.


The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is one of--if not the most--important species in the Delaware Estuary. For thousands of years, the oyster has served as the keystone organism in the estuary, positively influencing water quality and providing food, habitat, and refuge to a host of dependent organisms. Challenged by disease, habitat deterioration, and overfishing, the resource is now only a fraction of what it once was.

In addition to restoring historic oyster populations in Delaware Bay, Project PORTS educated K-12 school communities in New Jersey's Delaware Bay Shore region and involves them in the actual restoration of the species. The strategy of Project PORTS is to promote inquiry-based, hands-on activities that present basic scientific concepts and emphasize the local significance of the issue.

Some other projects are:

Protecting Delaware Bay: Learn about the unique coastal waterways and wildlife of New Jersey’s "other" coast, the threats to this coastal wilderness, and tools and resources you can use to help protect and preserve it.

Protecting Barnegat Bay: Get news and information about issues that impact Barnegat Bay and the Barnegat Bay watershed and what you can do to help this exceptional coastal resource.

If you are interested in joining the Society or joining them on a field trip, here are some upcoming events. These events do have a participation fee.

July 18, Fossil Hunting - Wade through Big Brook and sift for shark"s teeth, squid guards and fossilized mollusks. This is one of the best areas in the country to search for Cretaceous Era fossils. Be prepared to get wet and muddy, but the prizes are well worth it. We"ll bring the necessary gear and you bring footwear for muddy banks and shallow water. Great for families.

July 21 & August 4, 18, Family Exploration of Sandy Hook - Bring the kids any of these Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. to explore some part of Sandy Hook. We will pull a seine net, use glass bottom buckets to search for critters in their own habitat, look at plankton and sand through microscopes, explore the dunes, pull up our "fish condo" to see what has moved in, and more. Each Tuesday will be its own adventure so come join us with the kiddies.

August 29, Fluke Tagging Trip - Join their fish tagging director for a day of fishing and tagging. Boat departs 7:00 am from Atlantic Highlands municipal marina. $65 per angler –all tackle, bait, and tags will be provided. Advance payment required. Space is limited.

More local trips at littoralsociety.org

Watch Out For Beach Nesters

The piping plover and least tern are two of a the birds that nest and raise their chicks on our NJ beaches.

June through August is generally the critical nesting and chick rearing period for these endangered and threatened birds - and, obviously, it's the busiest time for humans on our beaches.

Some Delaware Bay beaches were closed from May 9 to June 5 this year because they are major migratory stopovers along the Atlantic flyway where shorebirds stop each spring to feed on the fat-rich eggs of the horseshoe crab before heading to the Canadian Arctic to breed.

Other Atlantic Coast beaches will be closed from April 1 to October 30 or later to protect the threatened black skimmer, as well as other beach nesting birds.

Not all beaches have special areas such as the circular predator exclosure with mesh top surrounded by an electrified wire fence that is seen in the photo above, so your cooperation is a key element in protecting the nests.

Here are some simple ways you can help when you are on these critical beaches:

Avoid nesting areas which are usually "fenced" or marked in some way with signage. Unfortunately, sometimes I think the sign actually attract people to walk over and look for the birds!

Keep pets off the beach or leashed from mid April to mid September. Plovers and terns perceive even leashed dogs as potential predators. It's not that your dog will attack the birds (though they may!) but that the parents may abandon their nest or young when you or a dog approaches. On a hot summer day, a nest that is abandoned for even a few hours can be fatal for eggs or young. Think about mama plover (as seen in the photo) sitting on the eggs NOT to keep them warm, but to keep them from hard boiling.

Avoid Frisbees, footballs, kites etc. in the the nesting areas. They lead people to accidentally disturb areas. With kites, I have read that plovers and terns may actually mistake kites for hawks and leave their nests to ward off the "intruders."

Take that trash and food scraps out with you because it attracts gulls, foxes, raccoons, and skunks which will also prey on eggs and young.

Of course, it's not all human and pet problems. Coastal storms and predators also negatively affect beach-nesting birds toll.

Beach Nesting Birds in NJ Brochure (pdf, 183kb)
Beach Nesting Bird Management and Reports
Piping Plover - July 2003 Species of the Month
Piping Plover Fact Sheet (pdf, 55kb)
Black Skimmer Fact Sheet (pdf, 63kb)
Least Tern Fact Sheet (pdf, 41kb)

Wind Adds Power To Ocean Gate

After two years of efforts, Ocean Gate, NJ broke ground to build the first "small wind" municipal turbine in the state.

"Ocean Gate is just a phenomenal role model for other communities," said state Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne M. Fox. "This is a historic ground-breaking. While you're small [about 2200 residents], you're really mighty in what you've done. I really commend you for what you've done for the state and for Ocean Gate."

Starting with a proposal to the borough council from retired Navy engineer Jim Fry in 2007, the town began researching the project.

That included having an anemometer installed to test the wind, adopting the Small Wind Model Ordinance, and researching turbines.

According to the N.J. Board of Public Utilities, Ocean gate will utilize two 50 kilowatt turbines to power the municipal office building and the water treatment plant solely on wind energy.

The system is estimated to save the borough 224,000 kilowatts of electricity purchased from traditional sources, and thus prevents 18 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. The borough has received nearly $200,000 in financial incentives from the state's Clean Energy Program for the approximately $600,000 project.

The borough was also recognized last fall as being the state's Clean Energy Municipality of the Year by the state Board of Public Utilities.

A wind feasibility study done by Rowan University confirmed that Ocean Gate and surrounding communities along the Toms River near the mouth of Barnegat Bay have consistent and reliable wind, with an average daily speed of 6 m.p.h. year around. That amount rates the area, according to the United States Wind Resource Map, as consistently "good" as a potential wind resource.

The state's first wind farm was built in 2007 outside Atlantic City by the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and a private energy group. It is also the first such coastal facility in the United States. Five pinwheel-like 40-story-tall turbines are utilized.

Ocean Gate's turbine will probably be only about as high as the town's water tower.

Ocean Gate is located on the south bank of the Toms River in an area popular with sailors for its confluence of wind with those from Barnegat Bay.

Officials plan to have the first municipal wind turbine in the state finished by the end of summer.

Volunteer Opportunies With Conserve Wildlife

I wrote earlier here about the NJ Endangered & Nongame Species Program's Speakers Bureau and the Wildlife Conservation Corps. There are other volunteer opportunities in the state where you can help protect the future of NJ's wildlife.

A current volunteer opportunity is the Summer Bat Count. This is a volunteer research project that seeks to obtain information about the distribution of summer bat roosting colonies throughout New Jersey.

More than half of America's bat species are in severe decline because of various factors, including loss of habitat, direct killing, disease, disturbance of hibernating and maternity colonies, and most recently, White Nose Syndrome.

Bats have a reputation as being spooky or dangerous but they are actually one of the most beneficial animals to people. All of New Jersey's bats are insectivores. They feed on night-flying insects, including mosquitoes.

A single little brown bat can eat 3,000 mosquito-sized insects a night. A colony of 150 big brown bats can eat enough cucumber beetles to save farmers almost a billion dollars annually in crop damages and pesticide costs. Some garden pests even detect the sounds that bats make while feeding and will avoid areas where bats are present.

Without bats, we would be more dependent on toxic pesticides to control insect pests. In other areas of the world, bats play a major role in pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds for plants such as bananas, avocados, peaches, and mangoes. Bats also help to reforest the tropical rainforests.

Download CWF's bat fact sheet
Information on White Nose Syndrome

Operation Frog Pond and Frogwatch

Amphibians are currently in crisis in NJ, across the United States and beyond our borders. Habitat loss is obviously a problem, but so is climate change and disease.

About 46% of the 277 species of amphibians in the United States are at risk, according to Tree Walkers International, an organization that encourages private individuals to get involved in amphibian conservation.

Operation Frog Pond from treewalkers.org has information if you are building a pond or if you have one, so that you can make it more amphibian-friendly.

Small ponds - about half the size of a bathtub - usually cost less than $100 and can provide habitat.



What makes your pond amphibian friendly?

• Gently sloping sides
• Fairly shallow water - most amphibians breed in shallow water - give them different depths
• Plants growing in the water at the edges of the pond are needed for laying eggs - vegetative variety surrounding the pond provides hiding places.
• No fish. Those large ornamental fish, such as koi and goldfish, feed on eggs, tadpoles and larvae.
• Keep pets away from the pond - don't add to predator problems.
  

Never introduce amphibians to a frog pond without the permission of state and local authorities. The goal of Operation Frog Pond is to enhance habitat for wild, native amphibians. Relocating amphibians to new locations can severely alter the local genetics of wild populations and spread disease. Introducing exotic species such as bullfrogs and African clawed frogs cause serious loss of native amphibians. Non-native species and animals purchased at pet shops or bait stores should never be released into the wild.

Don't have a backyard pond? Your yard can provide habitat for adult amphibians, many of which are less dependent on bodies of water outside breeding season.

Perhaps the most important step is to minimize your use of pesticides and other chemicals, which not only affect amphibians directly -- they absorb toxins through their delicate skin -- but kill off the insects that they need for food. In fact, helping amphibians might just mean less yard work. Minimize that chemical-laden lawn and instead plant native vegetation, and don't work so hard at cleanup because a pile of fallen woody debris is just the sort of place where you'd find amphibians in the wild.

Another way to help is to volunteer with Frogwatch USA. Participants go out after sunset to listen for frog calls, reporting data on weather and species of frogs heard. It's not that hard for the average person to learn to tell frog calls apart because you'll only be dealing with a handful of species at any given time.

Frogwatch volunteers don't have to live near pristine wilderness, or even a permanent body of water. Many amphibians reproduce in temporary ponds called vernal pools that dry up after the breeding season. The data collected can help scientists track changes in frog populations, which is crucial at a time when so many species are disappearing.

These sites also provide information for identifying amphibians and their calls.

• FIELD GUIDE TO REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS OF NJ
  
• CD for the calls of NJ Frogs & Toads
• Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (USA)
• Frogwatch USA
• Hop to It - Irish Frog Survey
• National Amphibian Survey UK
• New Zealand Frog Survey
• North American Amphibian Monitoring Program

Successful Comeback for Bald Eagle in New Jersey

Most experts expected the bald eagle to become extinct during the 20th century.

This American symbol has since reversed its decline and begun to recover.

The bald eagle was found to be endangered in 1940 and a law was passed, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, to protect it from hunting.

DDT offered another threat to the survival of the bald eagle, and continued to feed the decline in numbers after the birds were no longer hunted. When the number reached just 417 breeding pairs in 1963, action was called for and in 1973 the species was put on the newly created Endangered Species List.

The bald eagle is making a strong comeback in the state of New Jersey. Zoologists from the Endangered and Nongame Species Programs (ENSP) locate and monitor eagle nests and territories to determine the species health and population.

Bald eagle numbers in New Jersey are increasing due to the efforts of volunteers who monitor bald eagle nests and report critical data concerning incubation, hatching and fledging dates to DEP wildlife biologists. Along with monitoring the nests, volunteers report new eagle sightings that often lead to the discovery of additional nests.

Despite its continued endangered status, the bald eagle is one of New Jersey's great success stories in endangered species protection and management.

The rising trend in eagle numbers began in the early 1980s. Eagle numbers have not only been increasing in New Jersey, but throughout the Northeast and lower 48 states. Fewer than 10 bald eagles were observed in the state's initial annual survey in 1978 as extensive pesticide use in the mid-1900's decimated the eagle population.

Beginning in 1982, the Department's Division of Fish and Wildlife engaged in a comprehensive strategy to address the situation by acquiring 60 bald eagles from Canada to form the nucleus of a new breeding population.

There are approximately 40 volunteers who assist DEP wildlife biologists by monitoring bald eagle nests from the beginning of the nesting season in December until the young birds take their first flight in late summer. Volunteers provide further protection to the bald eagle by alerting the Department when they witness snowmobiles, ATV's or people walking too close to a bald eagle nesting location. Often volunteers act as educators, informing the public that walking too close to a nesting eagle pair can cause the birds to abandon their nest.



A new record high of 69 eagle pairs was monitored during the 2008 nesting season. 63 of those were active (with eggs) and one was housekeeping. Five other pairs were seen in and around previous nest territories, but it was unknown if and where they nested.

New Jersey’s Delaware Bay region remained the state’s eagle stronghold, with 46 percent of all nests located in Cumberland and Salem counties. Seven new nests were found this season, three in the south, two in central and two in northern NJ. Fifty nests were successful in producing 85 young, for a productivity rate of 1.35 young per active nest.

In January’s Midwinter Eagle Survey, ENSP staff, regional coordinators and
volunteers reported a total of 264 bald eagles, a new record high count. Forty-three eagles were recorded in northern NJ and 221 in the south.

• Video on eagles in NJ
• NJDEP Eagle Fact Sheet (pdf)
• 2008 Eagle Report (pdf)

The Shawangunk Ridge Trail

Panoramic view showing the Shawangunk Ridge from south of New Paltz

In 1989, the NY/NJ Trail Conference decided to explore an alternative route for the Long Path from Harriman State Park to the Shawangunks by using the Appalachian Trail and the Shawangunk Ridge.

The result is the 36 mile Shawangunk Ridge Trail which extends from High Point in New Jersey to Minnewaska State Park.

The Shawangunk Ridge Trail heads north from the Appalachian Trail, passing through High Point State Park and then generally follows the ridge north, occasionally using abandoned roads and rail beds.

The Shawangunk Ridge (AKA Shawangunk Mountains or "The Gunks") is a ridge of bedrock in New York that extends into the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.

The Shawangunk Ridge is the northern end of a long ridge within the Appalachian Mountains that begins in Virginia, where it is called North Mountain, and continues through Pennsylvania as the Blue Mountain.

Crossing the Delaware Water Gap, it becomes known as the Kittatinny Mountains into New Jersey, and becomes the Shawangunks at the New York state line.

The ridgetop has many public and private protected areas and is not heavily populated. In the past, it was a place of mining and logging and was once a popular site for huckleberry picking.

The name is a Dutch transliteration of the indigenous Munsee [Lenape] name "Schah-ANG-ungk" meaning "in that which is smoky air" which probably refers to fog.

Today it is well known as a major rock climbing area. The Nature Conservancy as listed it as one of the "75 Last Great Places on Earth."

Maps are available and an expanded map version of the overview seen here, and three separate blowups which will each print on an 8.5 x 11 page.

For the NJ section, use the Southern Highpoint to Graham Fire Tower map.

• Shawangunk Ridge Coalition

Dolphin 56 Visits the Jersey Shore

Photo: Rod Houck
Dolphin 56 seen last summer off Island Beach State Park.

A celebrity dolphin known "Dolphin 56" has been spotted at the Jersey shore again. He is a wild bottlenose dolphin with a penchant for freshly caught fish and a reputation for sticking his nose into fishermen's boats. He will show off for food and play with anyone who will pet him.

His story goes back to August 28, 1979 when he was captured along with five other dolphins by a Seaworld researchers in Florida. The dolphins were marked with ID numbers on their tails (55-59). They estimated that #56 was about 12 years old, so he is a very adult 42 years old now.

It is a violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to feed wild dolphins, but people take the chance with dolphin 56 fish and he has learned to approach boats and beg for fish.

I have yet to spot him, but I joined his fan page on Facebook!

His sightings range from Florida to Long Island. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine has documented more than 80 sightings of Dolphin 56 in New Jersey waters in the last decade. He has been sighted as late as Thanksgiving some years, but it is not known where he winters. Like many older New Jerseyans, 56 is a snowbird, summering at the shore and heading south (probably to Florida) for the winter.

56 shows some signs of his age - he is missing half his teeth, has a fractured jaw and signs of a boat injury - but seems fat and healthy. The majority of bottlenose dolphins live to about age 30.

As beloved as 56 is, feeding wild dolphins can lead to fines up to $20,000 and one year in jail, and the practice only teaches dolphins to coming in too close to people, and leads to boat collisions. Giving bottlenoses the wrong type of food could also make them sick.

Just wave hello, take a picture and post your sighting online.