Conserve Wildlife Blog

Archive for the ‘Eagles’ Category

History of The Duke Farms Eagle Pair

Thursday, March 2nd, 2023

by Larissa Smith, Senior Biologist

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

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New Jersey Eagles Soar to New Heights in 2022

Saturday, January 21st, 2023

by: Larissa Smith, CWF Senior Biologist

photo by NJ Eagle Project Nest Monitor, Paul Lenzo

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish and Wildlife have released the 2022 New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Report. The 2022 eagle nesting season was a record year for New Jersey’s nesting eagle population with 250 active nests identified.

The 250 active nests (meaning the nests produced eggs) 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. The 2022 NJ Bald Eagle Report includes details on the nesting season, resightings and recoveries.

One of the three fledges from the 2022 Manville nest: photo by NJ Nest Monitor, Rose Joy

These numbers could not have been achieved or documented without the dedicated efforts of the
150 New Jersey Eagle Project volunteers who conduct the majority of the nest-observation work
vital to tracking the population and nest distribution of our state’s Bald eagles in all 21 counties.
CWF is honored to manage these volunteers in partnership with the Endangered and Nongame
Species Program and thanks them for their invaluable service.

CWF would also like to thank our partners, who make our bald eagle conservation work
possible, including PSE&G, Wells Fargo Advisors, Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite Stores,
Mercer County Parks, Wildlife Center Friends, the American Eagle Foundation, and the
Zoological Society of New Jersey.

2023 NJ Bald Eagle Nesting Season has begun

Thursday, January 12th, 2023

by: Larissa Smith, Senior Biologist

November 18, 2022. Carasaljo eagle bringing stick to nest; photo by: Craig Gesicki

2022 was a banner year for NJ’s nesting eagles. A record high of 250 pairs were active with 335 young eagles fledging. The 2022 Annual Eagle Report will be posted after it is officially released by the NJ Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

The 2023 eagle nesting season is off to a good start with five pairs of eagles already incubating. The earliest started on December 22nd, 2022. You can get a close up and personal look at an eagles nest with NJ’s two eagle cams. The Duke Farms eagle pair have been busy preparing their nest. Last season they laid their first egg on January 17th. The Three Bridges eagle cam is up and running and the pair has been hanging out at the platform even copulating. Last season the pair used a nest in a tree instead of the platform. So we don’t know which nest they pair will decide to use this season, but it should be interesting.

January 5, 2023; Three Bridges eagle cam

This is a great time of year to see eagles throughout New Jersey. Not only are NJ’s nesting pairs around there are also wintering eagles and young eagles that aren’t yet nesting.

If you want to learn more about eagles check out two upcoming eagle festivals:

Meadowlands Eagle Festival January 15th

Cumberland County Eagle Festival February 4th

CWF will have a table at both and we look forward to seeing you there.

E-17 “Oran” Sighted Alive & Well

Tuesday, December 6th, 2022

by: Larissa Smith, CWF Senior Biologist

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

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

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

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New Jersey Eagles getting a head start on 2023

Thursday, November 10th, 2022

by: Larissa Smith, CWF Wildlife Biologist

New Jersey’s eagle chicks were all fledged by the end of July, 2022. It was a successful nesting season for NJ’s eagles with 335 young eagles fledged. The results of the season will be available in December when the annual eagle report is published.

NJ Eagle Project nest monitors have reported that some eagles were seen working on their nests in September. NJ’s pairs don’t migrate and stay in NJ outside of the nesting season though they aren’t as tied to the nest. Each pair is different in when they will start returning and working on their nests for the 2023 season. One pair that is watched by thousands of viewers, is the Duke Farms eagle pair. The pair has been making appearances at the nest, though there are periods where they are not seen at the nest which is normal for this time of year. Nest monitor Diane Cook got this screen shot of both adults at the nest on Tuesday November 8th.

Diane reported the pair spent the night at the nest before flying off in the morning.

In 2022 the female at Duke Farm’s laid the first egg on January 17th, so we’re still over two months away from possible incubation. The majority of NJ’s eagle pairs won’t lay eggs until February.

Duke Farms Eagle Cam