Oystercatcher Technician shows diversity of tasks in wildlife conservation
By Alfred Breed, CWF Technician
My official job title with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is “American Oystercatcher Technician”. As such I am tasked during nesting season with monitoring Oystercatcher nesting sites, and during migratory season with locating flocks of Oystercatchers, counting them, resighting marked birds in each flock, recording data of field survey results and reporting our NJ counts and resights to a central database that holds data from the other reporting states in the migratory flyway.
As is usually the case in any job that has a “description”, the phrase “and other such tasks as assigned” is included as a catch-all for things that aren’t specifically listed in the description, but can be an important part of the duties of the position nonetheless. In my case these ancillary tasks are different each day, and often involve three of my favorite things: wildlife (of course!), science, and gear. Working around my Oystercatcher surveys, which can only be conducted at high tide, I might be tasked to go to a location anywhere in the state and survey for a particular species of plant or animal; or to site select, construct, install, use, maintain, and troubleshoot various types of data collection or other equipment throughout South Jersey.
Trucks, trailers, boats and kayaks are the big-ticket items that I use every day, but I’m lucky enough to use a large variety of other cool tools and equipment as well. Driving is often a big part of my day, with travel times between sites eating up significant portions of the workday. Sometimes I’m a wildlife EMT or ambulance driver, saving sick or injured animals from their immediate predicament and/or transporting them to various certified rehabilitation facilities located throughout the state.
Best of all is when I’m asked to assist visiting scientists or other conservation partners in their work, which can mean bio-sampling or banding. Direct human/wildlife interaction is only appropriate when it is for valid scientific or conservation management purposes, and is sanctioned and a permit issued by the appropriate governing body. To be a staff member and so to be included in these sanctioned and permitted activities is a rare privilege indeed.
Each day is different, always interesting, occasionally exciting, and always personally rewarding as I play a small part in the management of threatened and endangered wildlife and the habitat that we share.
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CWF Beach Nesting Bird Monitor Kate Guerena and I count shorebirds at the tip of Stone Harbor Point.
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NJ Oystercatchers are marked with orange alphanumeric-coded bands that can be read though a spotting scope from a distance.
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Researchers from Georgia Tech, team up with NJ Fish and Wildlife’s Tara Hewitt and I as we collect biosamples and data from gull chicks in the Cape May Coastal Wetlands WMA.
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These 3 gull chicks came from 2 different nests. I used my bandana to keep track of who goes back to which nest.
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Here Ben Wurst, CWF Habitat Program Manager, and I evaluate the Bayside State Prison water tower as a potential nesting box site for Peregrine Falcon.
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The back side of Stone Harbor Point is restricted to birds only most of the year. Buoys deployed along the back shore tell boaters to find alternate anchorage.
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When endangered birds nest on Champagne Island in Hereford inlet, CWF staff provide constant monitoring to ensure that boaters respect the signage and fencing erected to minimize disturbance to the colony.
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Champagne Island, a sandbar between North Wildwood and Stone Harbor, sometimes accretes enough sand to allow nesting attempts by some of our endangered birds. Signage, symbolic fencing, and a CWF monitor are sometimes necessary to prevent human disturbance at this popular boater destination.
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Former CWF employee and current SUNY plover researcher Emily Heiser hands off a Piping Plover captured for banding at Stone Harbor Point, NJ, summer 2012.
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The Non-Game Garage is the center of operations for fabrication, maintenance and storage of the various equipment used by our staff.
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The top of this Fire Tower at the Cape May County Mosquito Commission in Kimbles Beach, NJ was a chosen site to house equipment to record the flight songs of nocturnal migratory songbirds.
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Another equipment deployment that required a safety harness at an interesting site. Cape May County Mosquito Commission Fire Tower in Kimbles Beach, NJ.
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Surveys are sometimes weather-dependent, but high tide and daylight restrictions often necessitate boating in conditions that make for an exciting journey. Here I navigate 15 -20 knot winds and a 3′ swell to access Tucker’s Island in Great Bay for an Oystercatcher survey.
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This just hatched Egret chick took an interest in my camera as Chris Davis, Senior Environmental Specialist with NJDFW, and I counted nests in a secluded rookery in the Cape May Wetlands Natural Area.
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Gull Island Heron Rookery – Floating fertilized eggs to determine approximate stage of incubation
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Some survey locations are harder to reach than others. Here I stalk a flock of American Oystercatchers by kayak and marsh trek at Robo’s Hole near Anchorage Pointe, NJ.
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Dr. Brook Maslo of Rutgers University and I erected this electrified predator exclosure over a Piping Plover nest on the bay side of North Brigantine Natural Area.
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Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager for CWF, bands Osprey chicks each nesting season just before they fledge. I’ve been lucky enough to assist on several occasions.
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I transported this injured owl to Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge and Rehabilitation Center in Medford, NJ, for evaluation and treatment.
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Zac Anglin of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and I release a pair of pre-fledge American Oystercatchers back to their parents after data collection and banding in Avalon, NJ.
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With safety harness donned and a not small amount of trepidation, Ben Wurst and I climb the ladder to access the 120′ catwalk of Bayside State Prison’s water tower to evaluate its potential as a Peregrine Falcon nesting site. Photo Credit: Kathy Clark, NJDFW.
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This Black Skimmer had become entangled near Seaview Harbor Marina and was found by photographer Nick Kontonicolas (www.1000birds.com) and I during a routine colony check during nesting season. Nick helped with the removal of the entangling line and snapped this photo as I released the ruffled but uninjured bird and it flew back in to the colony.
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Getting scientists to their study sites is another important duty. Here, Dianne Daly, environmental consultant, and Todd Pover, CWF Beach Nesting Bird Program Manager, conduct a survey on Champagne Island in Hereford Inlet.
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To evaluate the impact of stormwater runoff on vernal ponds near a shopping development in West Cape May, I set up trap-lines under the auspices of Dave Golden, wildlife biologist with NJDFW, to live-trap, count, and release amphibians. To prevent mortality, traps had to be checked and emptied daily, rain or shine.
