Trout-Perch

TROUT-PERCH (Percopsis omiscomaycus)

You won't be seeing any trout-perch this summer in New Jersey waters. They are another species that once existed in our state but have completely disappeared (extirpated) from the state.

The species still survives in Pennsylvania and New York but it has been extirpated from other watersheds in the Mid-Atlantic region which was historically the southern portion of their range.

The trout-perch is a small fish which can grow to about 7 inches in length, but they are not a game fish or important to human fishery. They are an important source of food for many predator fish such as walleye, northern pike, and lake trout.

Since they are not a species that would have been overfished, why would they have disappeared from Jersey waters?

It turns out that trout-perch are quite sensitive to pollution, sedimentation and water temperature. Although fishery research on threatened species did not really exist during the early 1900s when they disappeared, it likely that poor environmental conditions in all three areas probably led to their extirpation.

Shorebirds on the Delaware Bay

Larry Niles worked for many years for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, as a biologist, then as chief of the Endangered and Nongame Species Program. He has been posting photos on his Facebook page of the shorebird and horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay, the banding of birds and the restoration of areas such as Moores Beach.

The primary goal of biologists on the Delaware Bay during the stopover is to catch shorebirds and measure their condition and band them with unique ID leg flags. They measure birds and get weights and use leg flags so that birds can be identified later at a distance.

This is the 17th year of the study which includes an international team of shorebird scientists.

Viewing the Horseshoe Crab Natural Phenomena on Delaware Bay

horseshoe crabs, Sandy Hook - photos by Brian Richards

Three beaches that people in our area visit to watch horseshoe crabs and birds are Pickering Beach on the Delaware side, Reeds Beach on the New Jersey side and Plum Island on Sandy Hook, New Jersey. (Location information below.)

I love these "living fossils" that have remained basically the same for 450 million years and have tried to write regularly about them here. The females (which are generally larger than males) carry tens of thousands of eggs which they deposit in the sand for males to fertilize.

The number of mating horseshoe crabs on the beach peaks in the Delaware Bay during the evening and full moon tides in May and June. The huge number of horseshoe crab eggs attracts many birds to converge for this annual feast. This month's full moon is on May 24 and the next is June 23.

horseshoe crabs, Sandy Hook - photos by Brian Richards

The spring migration of many species of shorebirds coincides with the arrival of the horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay. Bird counts of migratory shorebirds show disturbing decreases in numbers, and there is a correlation between shorebird population declines and horseshoe crab decline. For the crabs, loss of habitat is a concern, but the use of the crabs as bait is more of a threat.

Between 1960 and 1980, scientists estimated the number of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay to be relatively constant at 2-4 million horseshoe crabs. Those numbers fell closer to 1 million in the late 1990s through 2005. Since a moratorium was put in crab harvesting in NJ and to a lesser extent in Delaware, the number seems to have settled at around 2 million, according to The Wetlands Institute.

Adult horseshoe crabs winter in water 20 to 60 feet deep on the continental shelf.  As the water temperature and daylight increases, adults migrate toward sandy beaches for spawning.

The females dig a shallow hole and deposit their eggs in clumps within the intertidal zone.

For viewing the birds and crabs, Reeds Beach in Cape May, NJ offers many birding opportunities. Parking for watching migratory shorebirds and horseshoe crabs is at the end of N. Beach Avenue. There are two observation areas - from the designated beach area at the lot, and from the left side of a cement dike which offers a closer view of mating horseshoe crabs and feeding shorebirds. The left ocean-side of the dike is place to watch horseshoe crabs and shorebirds.

Plum Island is part of Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey. The NJ Audubon Society is a good source of information on their Sandy Hook activities.

Pickering Beach is at 19 S. Sandpiper Road, about 5 miles south east of Dover. A narrow public access path is near the intersection of S. Sandpiper Dr and Pickering Beach Rd.

For more about horseshoe crab viewing locations on the East Coast, see www.ocean.udel.edu/horseshoecrab/

First of Four Peregrine Eggs Hatches in Jersey City

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is excited to inform the public that the first of four eggs being incubated in the Nestbox atop 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City has hatched.  Staff is monitoring the live feed and still images from two webcams - hopefully we'll soon observe the hatching of the three remaining eggs.

To view the live video stream go to http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/peregrinecam/jcp-live.htm .

Nestbox News chronicles the nestbox activity, providing detailed information and photos of each year's activity. For this year's edition visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/peregrinecam/jcp-2013nestnews.htm - there are links to the live video as well as current still images from that page.

Peregrine Webcam

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is happy to announce that the Peregrine Webcam is once again streaming live video from the rooftop nestbox at 101 Hudson Street in Jersey City. Technical problems had prevented the live stream from being accessible to the public, but still images have been available for several weeks. The birds have been incubating four eggs since mid-April and hatching is expected around May 13th-14th.


Since 2001, Nestbox News has chronicled the nesting activity, providing detailed information about each year's activity. (See Nestbox News at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/peregrinecam/jcp-2013nestnews.htm for this year's and previous years' accounts). There are links to the live video as well as current still images from that page.

To go directly to the live stream go to http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/peregrinecam/jcp-live.htm .

The Peregrine Project relies on public support. Much of that support is from The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, a non-profit organization which works closely with the division's Endangered and Nongame Species Program. Due to the technical issues we experienced this year, and with the advent of new technology, the foundation will be raising funds for a new webcam configuration in addition to its continued support of this and other activities of the division's Endangered and Nongame Species Program. To make a donation, go directly to their Donate Now website .

The Wetlands Institute

The Wetlands Institute of Stone Harbor, NJ promotes itself with the slogan “The Natural Place to Have Fun Learning”

The Institute promotes the conservation and preservation of coastal ecosystems and it provides interesting educational experiences for families, school groups and vacationers of all ages.

They offer regular events and workshops and annual events such as the Wings ‘n Water Festival in July and the Shorebird and Horseshoe Crab Festival in mid-May.

I first discovered them through their  efforts towards horseshoe crab and shorebird conservation.

Delaware Bay has the largest population of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) in the world.

Did you know that horseshoe crabs are of paramount importance to human health for their blood which contains a clotting agent that provides a fast, reliable test for the presence of infections bacteria in drugs, as well as prosthetic devices such as heart valves and hip replacements.

Since 1991, the Wetlands Institute has brought scientists and volunteer citizens together to conduct censuses of the ecologically vital horseshoe crab population on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay. These censuses take place during May and June and are central to our understanding and responsible management of this ancient marine creature.

Since its foundation in 1969, the Wetlands Institute has routinely involved undergraduate students in a wide variety of research projects pertaining to coastal environments and the organisms inhabiting them.

Currently, the Wetlands Institute is a partner in the Coastal Conservation Research Program (CCRP) with Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and is also supported by other public & private donors.

The Wetlands Institute
1075 Stone Harbor Blvd.
Stone Harbor, NJ 08247-1424

Phone:(609) 368-1211


Summer Hours: May 3, 2013 through October 13, 2013-  Monday through Sunday: 9:30 am to 4:30 pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from June 15 - Labor Day


Connect with The Wetlands Institute on Facebook

May Means Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots

Red Knots - NFWS photo

Horseshoe crab photo: Andre Malok via The Star-Ledger

Besides the cicadas being a sign and sound of summer in New Jersey, horseshoe crabs heading onshore for nesting sites on Delaware Bay beaches birds such as Red Knots feasting on their eggs are another early summer nature ritual.

Those egg counts are down because too few female crabs are laying eggs. That not only means that our horseshoe crab population may be in danger, but also it means Red Knot populations are nearer to being very endangered and closer to extinction. These two species are tightly linked.

Fewer birds mating in the Arctic is likely since fewer numbers of juveniles have been reported at their wintering grounds in Argentina. An aging population is another bad sign.

Throw in some politics to the mix. Once again, there are people calling for lifting the moratorium on harvesting horseshoe crabs. That would hit the numbers very hard, especially in this first summer following Superstorm Sandy which affected the crab nesting landscape.

Since 2008, New Jersey has banned the harvesting of horseshoe crabs to support both the crab and migrating bird populations. NJ is the only state with stringent laws. On the other side, State Senator Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Nelson Albano want to revoke the current laws in support of the fishing industry in South Jersey which uses horseshoe crab as bait for eels.

How sad that this crab which has been here for 450 million years might vanish given 50 years of abuse.

If you would like to support those who believe the moratorium should be continued at this time, you can get information and sign a petition at change.org/petitions/

The Delaware River Shad Run

Spring marks the return of the shad, a fish in the herring family, to the Delaware River.

Shad festivals, like the one in Lambertville that was held April 27 & 28 this year and another on the NY side of the Hudson River, are held when the shad begin to spawn.

Shad are primarily saltwater fish, but they swim up freshwater rivers to spawn in the springtime. Unlike some other species such as trout, many shad survive to swim back to sea.

Shad are found in all areas of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as several seas across the world.

As the fish travel up the Delaware River, there are some seining (netting) activities which recall the method used by the Lenni Lenape Indians when they were the original inhabitants of the area.

The Delaware River was so polluted for many years that the number of shad that came to spawn each spring had dwindled to an alarmingly low number. That was a clear indicator of an unhealthy environment. The shad have returned to using the deeper waters of the Delaware River as a spawning ground which is happily an indicator of the success of some environmental reforms that were enacted in the past decades in cleaning up the waterway.

Andy Still wrote me to say that "When I was a boy the river ran red from the dye coming out of Cyanamid. Greatest success story in New Jersey" and enclosed the shad photo above.

They Are Coming: Cicadas in NJ

Star-Ledger photo

It has been 17 years. The cicadas are ready to emerge again in our area.

We all know their mating call that is a sound of summer - though their choppy chirp is not quite The Beach Boys. Only male cicadas use special muscles to vibrate two ridged, drum-like membranes called tymbals and make that sound to attract females.

They are not endangered or threatened, but they are rare because of the years that pass before we see them again. This year is expected to be one of the largest broods recorded. Entomologists are excited. You might be disgusted.

Their cycles runs13 or 17 years and the signal they are waiting for is the soil temperature 8 inches down to be a steady 64 degrees. Amazing.

After just a few hours from emerging, they go through a metamorphosis, transforming from a flightless, slow-moving nymph stage into a large, flying insect.And then they hit the sky. Perhaps in swarms this year.

Why? We're not quite sure.

Sometimes it happens in an off year. The Star-Ledger reports that in 2009, a swarm emerged in Union County four years early. But they didn't make. Predators got them before they could even be studied. They have many predators including birds, dogs, cats, snakes, squirrels, deer, raccoons, mice, ants, and wasps.

Some people eat them. It is said that they have a taste that is sort of asparagus and nutty. Supposedly best when they molt and are still soft. I have no personal experience with cicada cuisine.

Don't confuse these periodical cicadas for the annual cicadas that we hear every summer. Periodical cicadas are commonly known as "17-year locusts" or "13-year locusts", but they are not true locusts, which are a type of grasshopper. This species, Magicicada, adults have black bodies and striking red eyes and orange wing veins, with a black "W" near the tips of the forewings. The most common in New Jersey is called Macicada Septendecim, and they are the largest in size. Look for broad bands of orange on the abdomen. It is said that their mating call sounds like "pharaoh."

Most will emerge in May and June. You can report cicada spottings at www.magicicada.org and your data will help map where the cicadas emerge this year.

WNYC radio and Radiolab have created a citizen science project to track cicadas emergence in the northeast. To learn more about the project, including how you can build a device to predict in your backyard and participate, visit WNYC's Cicada Tracker homepage. 

According to those sites, soil temperatures are generally still in the mid-50s across NJ and Rutgers University reported that the cicadas probably won't appear until late May. The soil warms slowly, so a week of 70 and 80 degrees days doesn't have much of an impact.



The Cicadas Are Coming! from Radiolab on Vimeo.