Watch NJ Wildlife Virtually

I posted earlier this week about finding places to watch wildlife in New Jersey, but not everyone can get ot to those places. Though it is a very different experience - and you should get outside when you can - but can do some virtual wildlife watching in New Jersey.

Catch birds in real-time action with these web cam feeds.

conservewildlifenj.org/education/uc-falconcam/ in Union County

 

Osprey (Fish Hawk) with a fish

Barnegat Light Osprey  conservewildlifenj.org/education/ospreycam/interact/ 

How long have eagles been nesting at Duke Farms? The eagle nest at Duke Farms was discovered by staff in the fall of 2004. In the fall of 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s 70+ mph winds tore off the upper half of the nest tree, destroying the nest completely. The pair built a new nest 100 feet south of the original site in late December 2012, which is still actively used. The nest is located in an American Sycamore tree in a restricted area of the property The nest is about 80 feet off the ground. The camera can be maneuvered remotely to pan, tilt and zoom.

See dukefarms.org/eagle-cam/ and the on YouTube 

Wildlife viewing virtually or in person varies by season. For example, the nest at Duke Farms this year was most active on these dates:
Egg 1: January 20, 2023, 4:08 pm
Egg 2: January 23, 2023, 3:05 pm
Egg 1 hatched: February 27, 2023, ~2:15 pm
Egg 2 hatched: February 28, 2023, ~2:20 pm

NJ Bald Eagle Population Continues to Increase

 

Recently, I saw a TV news segment about bald eagles in Brooklyn and in NY parks. It amazes people but it's a good sign. The bald eagle population in New Jersey also continues to climb.

According to the 2022 New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Report developed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish and Wildlife and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, there were 250 active nests identified last year.

An active nest means one that produced eggs. The latest numbers represent an increase of 28 active nests since 2021. Of those nests, 83 percent were successful and collectively produced 335 offspring. The productivity rate for nests with known outcomes was 1.42 young per nest, which is above the range required to maintain healthy population numbers.

You may recall that New Jersey had just one surviving bald eagle nest into the 1970s and 1980s – a pair in a remote part of Cumberland County – due to widespread use of DDT. This synthetic insecticide had lasting impacts on the food chain, accumulating in fish that eagles eat and causing eagles to lay thin-shelled eggs that could not withstand incubation. The federal government banned DDT in 1972.

Recovery efforts in New Jersey began in the early 1980s, with the reintroduction of eagles from Canada and artificial incubation and fostering efforts, efforts that started to pay discernible dividends throughout the 1990s.

The 250 active nests confirmed in 2022 represent a more than two-fold increase over the 10-year period beginning in 2013, when 119 active nests were counted. The Delaware Bay region remained the state’s eagle stronghold, with roughly half of all nests located in Cumberland and Salem counties and the bayside of Cape May County.

“New Jersey continues to collect high-quality data on the health and productivity of its bald eagles, which is no small feat given the species’ ever-growing numbers. Other states increasingly look to New Jersey’s volunteer-based monitoring program as a guiding example of how to monitor this species efficiently and effectively in this latest stage of its recovery. It is a fitting moment to recognize these successes, as the Endangered Species Act, which supported this inspiring recovery, now celebrates 50 years,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Eagle Coordinator, Thomas Wittig.

The federal government removed the bald eagle from its list of endangered species in 2007, reflecting a strong gain in the population throughout the nation. The current bald eagle protection status in New Jersey, however, remains state-endangered during the breeding season and state-threatened for the non-breeding season. The greatest threats to bald eagles in New Jersey are disruptive human activity in nesting and foraging areas and habitat loss.

MORE INFORMATION

dep.nj.gov/njfw/wildlife/raptors-in-new-jersey/#eagle

conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/baldeagle/

nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2023/23_0004.htm

Check Out the Eagle Nest Camera at Three Bridges

This is our third webcam this week from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. Today's webcam focuses on one of New Jersey's favorite success stories - bald eagles.

Eagles have made a fantastic recovery in New Jersey and across the eastern United States. In our state, we have gone from a single nesting pair at a failing nest through the early 1980s, to 300+ pairs in 2020. 

Three Bridges, a community in Readington Township in Hunterdon County is where eagles have nested on top of an electric transmission tower since 2015 and have successfully raised 14 young. The towers were replaced by monopoles. PSE&G worked with Conserve Wildlife Foundation, NJDFW Endangered and Nongame Species Program, and US Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that the Three Bridges eagles would have every opportunity to continue nesting here. 

More info at conservewildlifenj.org/education/threebridges/

The live stream for this season started on December 15, 2021.

Bald Eagle Program at the Great Swamp NWR

In 1982, there was one active eagle nest in New Jersey. By 2018, there were 185. Bald eagles are one of the best examples of an endangered species comeback in our state.

NJ Fish and Wildlife Bald Eagle Project Volunteers Kevin and Karin Buynie are completing their 11th season monitoring nests and will be giving a public presentation on August 11.
You will learn about the history of bald eagle conservation in New Jersey and at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge where eagles have now fledged.

The program, Second Sunday... with Friends: MAGNIFICENT EAGLES will be on August 11 at 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm at the Refuge's Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center at 32 Pleasant Plains Rd., Harding Township (directions)

The Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1999 in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has a refuge-centric focus to support the goals, projects, and mission of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Their operations and activities are managed by an all-volunteer board of directors and committees.

     Bald Eagle Fledgling in New Jersey USA from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Spring at the Duke Farms' Eagle Cam

Eagle cam at Duke Farms in Hillsborough. Alexis Johnson speaks with Executive Director Michael Catania.

An "Eagle Cam," like the one at Duke Farms, is the only way most of us will get a close up view of a wild eagle's nest. The coming of spring means eggs and eaglets - hopefully!

The Duke Farms live webcam in Somerset County has been active for 10 years. It has had 13 million viewers who have seen an unfiltered view of eagle life.

There are two eggs there that will likely hatch within the next few weeks.

According to Michael Catania, you are likely to see the eagles bring in food at some point and hat might be fish, turtles, even a young fawn. The action isn't always cute or tame. The Eagle Cam once caught a red tail hawk landing on the nest just as the chicks were hatching and in a flash that hawk became the first meal for those chicks.

In the past decade, 23 chicks have been raised and fledged from the nest. Last year was a year without eggs, so things look more hopeful for 2018.

The first egg this year was laid on Valentine's Day with a second coming three days later.

New Jersey now has about 170 active nests, and in 2007 bald eagles were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species.

The eggs are expected to hatch between March 21 and March 24.

Live Eagle Cam view

Eagles Across New Jersey

A bald eagle in flight at Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton, New Jersey.

Eagles are probably New Jersey's most successful comeback story when it comes to endangered species. But that doesn't mean that we can be complacent about that recovery.

Bald eagles have been removed from the federal endangered species list, although they are still protected by other federal laws. In New Jersey, eagles are still considered an endangered species during the breeding season, which runs from January through June. The rest of the year they fall under the threatened species category.

In Sussex County, for example, the number of chicks that fledged dropped this year from a year before. The number of known, observed, eagle nests also dropped. This information, according to the 2017 Bald Eagle Report issued by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, shows a slight decrease in the number of eaglets that made that first flight was down slightly across the state. There were 216 last year and only 190 this year.

That drop is not catastrophic and may not continue in 2018.


Bald Eagle Fledgling 26 June 2013 New Jersey USA from Michael Black on Vimeo.
A New Jersey fledging before it has acquired its distinctive white "bald" head.

Mortality in chicks is usually due to adverse weather at critical times in the nesting period, and predation.

Bald eagles in NJ and across the country were much more common until the late 1950s when the population plummeted. Why? The main cause was human use of the pesticide DDT which had entered the food chain and caused female eagles to lay eggs with very thin shells, which did not survive incubation.

By the time DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972, there was only one nesting pair of eagles in New Jersey.

Twenty years later, biologists throughout the Northeast were importing young eaglets that could be artificially raised (hacked) until they could fledge. Those young eagles would range in wide areas but generally will return to the area where they fledged to find a mate.

New Jersey had 23 nesting pairs by 2000, 48 pairs by 2005, 82 pairs by 2010 and 150 pairs by 2015.

Though the monitoring program is run by staff from the Division of Fish and Wildlife, most of the observations are done by volunteers. These devoted folks check assigned nests at least weekly, note when eggs are present, how many hatch and whether or not those young fledge.

In the article "Eagle fledglings, known nests down across county, state" from the New Jersey Herald, the focus was on Sussex County where the number of young eagles dropped from 20 in 10 known nests, to 12 in only 8 observed nests this past spring.

A nest on Minisink Island in the Delaware River had nesting eagles on February 28 but it was reported that the nest failed on March 9 after a major storm moved through the area the week before. That storm brought a temperature drop from the 60s to the low 40s, along with high winds, hail and more than a half-inch of rain.

Nest mortality often takes 4 of 5 fledglings before they reach maturity.

Sometimes our Jersey eagles leave the state. One female eagle that was banded in 2009 at the Newton Reservoir site has been spotted from Maryland to New York. Another Newton eagle banded in 2011 is now nesting at a reservoir near Middletown, N.Y.  Borders don't mean anything to eagles.

Bald Eagle in Winter

Some snowfall and a bald eagle and other birds as we enter December and prepare for winter.

via the daily videos at http://nature365.tv

Bald Eagle Rescue

Two bald eagles interlocked, injured and hanging from a tree in Tuckerton, NJ.
Photo by Ben Wurst.

The Endangered and Nongame Species Program received a report on February 18th that two adult eagles were injured and hanging from a tree in Tuckerton. With some help from an AC Electric company truck with a cherry picker on it, Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager went up to try to free the birds.

One eagle was alive but the other had unfortunately died. The survivor was banded and recorded as a female that was came from a nest near Merrill Creek reservoir in 2008.

Probably, the two had fought over territory and fell from the air into tree branches. The dead eagle had a "death grip" on the surviving eagle. Without help, they both were likely to have died in the tree.

The bird was taken to Mercer County Wildlife Center to be checked. Sadly, its leg that was in the grip of the other eagle was badly injured and the bird showed signs of frostbite damage due to not being able to move and fly. After 5 days, the bird was euthanized at Tri-State Bird Rescue because the fracture and frostbite made her unlikely to survive in the wild and eagles in general do not like being in captivity.


 Helmet-Cam video of Ben working to save the eagle.

http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/blog/2015/02/18/battling-bald-eagles-land-in-tree/

And those NJ eagles...

The state's Bald Eagle population is at an all-time high, and NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife biologist Kathy Clark is interviewed in a video feature on the NJTV News website.

For information on bald eagles and a link to the video, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm on the Division's website.

Please consider using the "Check-off For Wildlife" on your state tax return ( http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/checkoff.htm ) to support wildlife efforts.

Tracking NJ Bald Eagles on Their Journeys

USFWS.gov photo

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) has released the 2014 Bald Eagle Report, highlighting the number of nesting pairs, active nests and nest productivity for the raptors throughout New Jersey with data collected by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists, CWFNJ biologists and dedicated volunteers.

During the summer of 2014 two juvenile bald eagles were fitted with a GPS tracking device (a wearable backpack). ENSP biologists chose one eagle from Atlantic County (a male) and one from Cumberland County (a female) to be tagged in this telemetry study.

The male, named "Nacote," hatched at a nest near Nacote Creek in Port Republic, and wears a green band with code D/95.

The female, named "Millville," was from a nest on the Maurice River; she wore color band E/05. Unfortunately, Millville was found dead on November 24, 2014.

Nacote was in Canada until mid-October when he started heading south. He visited Six Flags Great Adventure in December and for the past two weeks, he has been residing in northeast Atlantic County, especially Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Millville ventured out to Delaware Bay marshes in late July and back in early August. In mid-September, she crossed the Delaware River into Delaware and then spent most of September along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland before crossing over to Virginia.

"Tracking these young eagles is giving us insight into where the birds go once they fledge and the type of habitat they are using," explained Conserve Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Biologist and Volunteer Manager Larissa Smith. "Unfortunately, we recently learned that the female was found dead in Delaware. The first year of life is tough for young eagles as they learn to survive on their own."

D/95 Nacote with GPS transmitter being attached. Kathy Clark/ENSP

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to follow these juvenile bald eagles on their forays far from New Jersey," said David Wheeler, Conserve Wildlife Foundation Executive Director. "With the eagles choosing to fly in completely different directions, it’s a reminder on how much we still have to learn about these fascinating creatures. Yet what is not in doubt is the bald eagle’s continuing recovery from the brink of extinction - thanks largely to the dedicated scientists leading the way."

For maps of the movements of Nacote, updated regularly, visit conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/baldeagle/.

2014 Eagle Report

The federal government removed the bald eagle from its list of Endangered Species in August of 2007, but the bald eagle’s official New Jersey status remains state-endangered for the breeding season and state-threatened for the non-breeding season. The Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) bald eagle recovery efforts, implemented in the early 1980’s, have resulted in a steady recovery of New Jersey’s bald eagle population. ENSP biologists, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey staff, and volunteer observers continue to locate and monitor bald eagle nests and territories each year to analyze the state of the population.

The population of wintering bald eagles has grown along with the nesting population, especially in the last ten years. This growth reflects increasing populations in NJ and the northeast, as each state’s recovery efforts continue to pay off for eagles.

•     This season, 25 new eagle pairs were found.
•     The statewide population increased to 156 pairs (including nesting and territorial) in 2014, up from 148 in 2013.
•     A total of 156 nest sites were monitored during the nesting season, of which 146 were documented to be active (with eggs), up from 119 last year.
•     One hundred fifteen nests (79%) of the 145 known-outcome nests produced 201 young, for a productivity rate of 1.39 young per active and known-outcome nest.
•     The Delaware Bay region remained the state’s eagle stronghold, with 43% of all nests located in Cumberland and Salem counties.
•     2014 marked the first year of successful eagle nesting in the Palisades Interstate Park in perhaps 100 years.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of New Jersey’s endangered and threatened wildlife and the habitats they depend on. We carry out our mission by researching and managing rare animal species, restoring habitat, educating New Jersey’s residents, and engaging volunteers in our conservation projects. Since the early 1990’s, CWFNJ scientists and educators have helped conserve and protect a variety of at-risk species of wildlife in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation.  For more information on CWF, please visit us at www.ConserveWildlifeNJ.org

Reports on 3 New Jersey Raptors

An osprey returns to its nest     Photo by Gary Lehman

Raptors, commonly referred to as "birds of prey," include hawks, owls, eagles, falcons and vultures. Raptors have fascinated people for thousands of years and inspire people even today. Fortunately, after some frightening declines in some of our largest species, raptors represent some of New Jersey's greatest success stories.

The bald eagle, osprey and peregrine falcon have made impressive comebacks from the brink of extinction, in large part thanks to the efforts of division biologists.

Unfortunately, not all species of raptors are thriving - the American kestrel, for instance, has experienced a sharp decline in recent years, and the work of biologists in the Endangered and Nongame Species Program continues.

The 2014 reports on three raptor species managed by the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife have been posted on the Division's web site. The reports detail the management efforts and results of Division staff and dedicated volunteers.

This work would not be possible without public support. Donations to the program can be made on the NJ state income tax return (Line 58 - check-off for wildlife) and through Conserve Wildlife License Plates.


2014 Peregrine Falcon Report (pdf, 130kb)
2014 Osprey Report (pdf, 105kb)
2014 Eagle Report (pdf, 970kb)

Also 
From One to 135 - New Jersey's Bald Eagle Success Story (US FWS site)


Source:  http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm .

NJ's Eagle Population Continued to Climb in 2014

Bald eagle, Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo credit: Don Freiday / USFW

New Jersey's eagle population continued to climb in 2014, to 156 pairs.  The number of young  broke the 200 mark, with 201 fledging from 145 known-outcome nests.

Eagles nest in all counties except Essex and Hudson.

The report also highlights the movements of eagles being tracked with satellite tags.  In their first years after leaving the nest, they are moving far and wide across the northeast, from Maine to Maryland.  The satellite-tracked eagles reveal new information about eagle habitat use, foraging and roosting locations.

For details about the continuing recovery of eagles in NJ, and the efforts of the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, see the 2014 Eagle Project Report linked from http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm on the Division's website.

The NJ EagleCam

Located on Duke Farms in central New Jersey, the EagleCam allows viewers an up close and personal view into the lives of a pair of bald eagles as they breed, incubate, and raise young.

Bald Eagles are extremely sensitive to human disturbance. At no time should anyone approach nesting eagles. People who want to observe or photograph eagles and who come too close may actually cause the birds to abandon a nest. So, the nest cam is the perfect tool for teaching about wildlife and covers a variety of topics including animal behavior, bird biology and natural history, endangered species, food webs, contamination, and more.

On April 7, the first chick hatched and viewers could see the parents feeding the chick.

The nest at Duke Farms

Eaglecam: Bald eagle nest camera, lesson plans, and environmental education at Duke Farms via Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey

NJ Bald Eagle Report for 2010

The bald eagle is a shining example of recovery in New Jersey. In 1973, when the Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act was passed, there was just one nesting pair, in a remote forest in Cumberland County.

Today there are approximately 80 nesting pairs of eagles in the state. Most are in the Delaware Bay counties of Cumberland and Salem, but eagles can be found nearly statewide. Additionally, numbers of wintering eagles along the Delaware have increased dramatically. They remain on the endangered list (threatened federally), however, due to their sensitivity to environmental contaminants, habitat loss and human disturbance. The challenge to biologists and citizens now is protecting the lands and waterways used by eagles to maintain and enhance this species' recovery.


2010 Eagle Report (pdf, 535kb)

On the Banks of the Old Raritan

Albany Street Bridge over the Raritan in New Brunswick

Having spent four years at Rutgers College, I heard and sang the alma mater plenty of times at events. "On the Banks of Old Raritan"  (listen to it too)was more than a song in those years, because I spent a lot of time on the actual banks of the river and staring at it from my river dorm window (and flying some masterfully made paper planes over it to Johnson Park).

And so I settled down,
In that noisy college town,
On the banks of the old Raritan.

The River Dorms

The Raritan River is New Jersey's largest river that is entirely contained in the state.

Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. There are 1,100 square-miles of rivulets and streams that spill into the Raritan. The river's source is Budd Lake in the more rural northwestern part of the state. Its path through the state takes it through 100 municipalities and seven counties to an industrial end in Middlesex County.

The Raritan River forms at the confluence of the North and South Branches just west of Somerville. It flows 16 miles before slowing in tidewater at New Brunswick. Its estuary extends 14 miles more until the Raritan Bay at South Amboy.

So, naturally, there would be some further Raritan and Rutgers connections. The Sustainable Raritan River Initiative is one where Rutgers and the over thirty partner organizations and businesses are collaborating to restore and revitalize the Raritan River.


The threats facing the Raritan include over 150 significantly contaminated sites, the legacy of its industrial heritage, and stormwater runoff that erodes riverbanks and brings trash and pollutants into the waterway, the legacy of antiquated infrastructure in a highly urbanized region.

The lower watershed, cited as 14th among US rivers polluted by direct and sewer discharges of toxic chemicals (from 1990-1994), has been heavily impacted by intense industrial and storm runoff pollution and heavy flooding due to extensive urban impervious surfaces and climate change.

But the Raritan River basin also has spectacular natural areas, wildlife habitat, trails and recreational boating areas. It also has scenic waterfront redevelopment opportunities that create the potential for long-term balance and sustainability for the River and the towns that border it.


Some History
The Raritan River was an important water transportation route for the Native Americans. The “Raritan” was an Algonquin word meaning “stream overflows.” The Raritan people were also an Algonquin tribe.

In colonial days, early industry around developed along the Raritan around New Brunswick. During the Revolutionary War, the river provided a means for troop conveyance.

However, before the American Revolution, early Dutch settlers built grist mills on the Raritan, called the “Forked River” by Native Americans.

In the 1830s the Raritan-Delaware Canal provided a waterway connecting Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s coal fields to New York.




The Lower Raritan Watershed’s environmental health has rebounded over the past decade, but there is a long way to go. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and osprey again soar the Raritan skies, and a thriving fish population has helped seals, otters, and marine life recover here.

The Edison Wetlands Association (EWA) Raritan River Project has fought since 1989 for the cleanup and restoration of the hazardous waste sites posing the greatest threats to human health and environment.

The Lower Raritan Watershed has a disproportionate amount of the NJ 25,000 toxic waste sites draining into its watershed. Most of these are not remediated to levels that are protective of human health or the environment. Federal and State regulatory agencies responsible for cleaning up these sites have abdicated their responsibilities and the pollution remains unchecked. Over-development threatens the remaining natural areas along the Raritan and her tributaries.

To end on a positive note, the relatively pristine Upper Raritan is a habitat for endangered ancient wild brook trout. It is challenged by an excessive deer population that is seriously reducing vegetative and forest renewal and by the need to preserve its farms and open space.

“Ode to the Raritan, Queen of Rivers”
by John Davis, 1806

All thy wat’ry face
Reflected with a purer grace
Thy many turnings through the trees,
Thy bitter journey to the seas,
Thou Queen of Rivers, Raritan!

More...

• wikipedia.org/wiki/Raritan_river
• www.nowater-nolife.org/watersheds/raritan/
  
• Twin Rivers : The Raritan and the Passaic (The Rivers of America Series)
• Along the Delaware River and Raritan Canal
• River Rats: Growing up on the Raritan River
• Music from Raritan River: World Premiere Recordings of New American Music
• River Rats: Growing up on the Raritan River

Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee

The Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee was established in 1974 under the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act (N.J.S.A. 23:2A-7e).
It is a committee is appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection that serves as an advisory body to that office in matters of New Jersey endangered and nongame wildlife resource.

The original group consisted of five citizens with professional interest in nongame wildlife. Now, the committee consists of 11 members from four broad public affiliations.  Four members come from the research and academic community, one is a veterinarian or public health professional, three represent nonprofit organizations with strong interest in nongame wildlife, and three are appointed from the public-at-large

The Endangered and Nongame Species Program staff present Program research agenda, policies, and controversial topics to the Committee for advice on appropriate handling. The Committee formally recommends status listing changes to the State nongame wildlife list biennially. In addition, Committee members often open and pursue issues of importance and recommend action to the Program and Division.

The viewpoint of the committee members based on their personal experience and interest is of great value to the Program, Division and Department. The Committee's formal recommendations become an integral part of the State's development of policy and making of decisions, however, the role is advisory only.

There is no legal obligation for the Department to adopt the Committee's recommendations. An excellent working relationship between the Program, Division, Department and the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee has developed over the years, and policies often reflect the ideas generated at committee meetings.

Taking a look at their meeting agenda, you'll find many of the topics that I write about here such as the "Northern Pine Snake Delisting Petition" and "Bog Turtle Research" as well as topics that are baffling - "Central Jersey Railroad Expansion" and "Trap-Neuter-Return."

Their posted minutes from meetings are far more detailed and interesting to the average citizen. Here are 2 items from their last meeting.

A banded and emaciated bald eagle found in Maine has been identified as having fledged from NJ. The bird is currently undergoing rehabilitation. This is the first time a NJ eagle has been found this far north.

Updating about White Nose Syndrome in bats, Mick Valent, Principal Zoologist, provided additional information on WNS. The sampling of bats is showing little evidence of scaring and de-pigmentation of the wing membrane. There are two possible explanations for this. First, bats that were sampled were from unaffected hibernacula and therefore didn't have any signs of scarring or de-pigmentation. The second is that bats from affected sites that had significant fungal infection (those that would have exhibited significant scarring and tissue de-pigmentation) were not surviving into the summer months.

Some bats that emerge from affected sites can survive and they appear to heal and experience normal weight-gain during the active months. The captured bats all appeared healthy based on weights and visible condition. In addition, the capture ratio of adults to juveniles suggested that the colonies sampled experienced successful reproduction this year.

The Mount Hope mine normally hosts about 10,000 bats and is known to have suffered a major impact. The NWHC has requested samples from impacted hibernacula. Two nights of collecting samples at the mine resulted in the capture of just 35 bats, including 31 Indiana bats, 3 northern long eared bats and 1 little brown bat.

The population at Picatinny Arsenal has also suffered an extremely hard impact and NYDEC staff are reporting the apparent elimination of entire bat populations in caves that previously hosted thousands of bats. Researchers have identified a compound that has proven to be effective in controlling fungal growth in the lab and is preparing to conduct a field test.

Bald Eagle Rescued in Essex County

According to nj.com, a juvenile bald eagle was discovered trapped in a tall grass embankment at a Short Hills reservoir on the property of New Jersey American Water.

The eagle had entered the ice-cold water in a marshy area nearby and was unable to fly out because of heavy winds and apparent neurological damage from lead it had consumed.

The Raptor Trust, a Millington-based bird sanctuary, was brought in to rescue and rehabilitate the bird. Eagles sometimes contract lead poisoning from eating deer carcasses that contain buckshot. This was the Raptor Trust’s first Essex County eagle rescue.

The reservoir property is a habitat for migratory water fowl and eagle sightings have become more numerous in recent years.

After treatment at the Raptor Trust, the eagle will hopefully be returned to the reservoir and released.

2009 NJ Raptor Reports Available

An osprey returns to its nest - Photo by Gary Lehman

The 2009 reports for three raptor species actively managed by the NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program are now available online. The reports for Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon and Osprey summarize management efforts, species status and results of this year's nesting season.

This year, there was a record number of 84 Bald Eagle pairs, which resulted in 69 active nests producing 99 eagle fledglings.

The number of Osprey nesting pairs recorded was 485; a 14% increase since the 2006 survey.

Peregrine Falcons increased also to 24 nesting pairs in 2009.

Visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/raptor_info.htm on the division's website for more information on these species and to view the 2009 reports .

Vitual Wildlife Viewing

With the weather not being that great in NJ for many people walking in the woods, it might be a good time to consider some virtual wildlife viewing.

It a quick click to visit the raptor cams at Blackwater Refuge in Maryland. Every season since 2001, they have operated the Osprey Cam and allowed visitors at the Refuge, and on the Friends of Blackwater website, to witness the miracle of seeing numerous osprey chicks hatch and fledge.

Due to the overwhelming success of the Osprey Cam, the Friends decided to mount a camera over an active bald eagle nest on the Refuge property beginning in 2004. The live Eagle Cam has proven even more popular than the Osprey Cam, and numerous eaglets have hatched and fledged on the cam.

The Eagle Cam is live from December through July (when the eagles are at the nest), and the Osprey Cam is live throughout the year, even though the ospreys are only on the nest from March through September. After the ospreys migrate to South and Central America in the fall, bald eagles take over the osprey platform and use it as a riverside perch, so the Friends leave the Osprey Cam on all year to allow cam watchers to see the visiting bald eagles.

Go to www.friendsofblackwater.org/camcentral.html

NJ has webcams too - for example, the eagle cam at Duke Farms will be active again in March, but check out some of their archived videos.

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)