Conserve Wildlife Blog

Archive for the ‘Wildlife News’ Category

Making Dreams Come True. Summer Wildlife Jobs for College Students!

Tuesday, March 14th, 2023

by Ben Wurst, Senior Wildlife Biologist

I recently attended my first career fair at Stockton University. When asked if I would attend, I felt like I couldn’t say no, as I am currently seeking at least 5-6 student interns or seasonal field technicians to assist with several wildlife conservation projects. At first, I wasn’t sure what I could display to draw attention to our table and prospective summer jobs working with rare wildlife.. Then it hit me. I bring what I use when working with wildlife in the field!

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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 Osprey Population Continues to Grow Despite Low Productivity

Tuesday, February 28th, 2023

by Ben Wurst / Senior Wildlife Biologist

We’re proud to release results of the 2022 New Jersey Osprey Project Survey, which documented the greatest number of nesting ospreys in the history of the project. Overall, surveys by staff and loyal volunteers recorded a total of 733 occupied nests throughout the state. The majority of ospreys (83%) continue to nest along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey with the remainder nesting along the Delaware Bay and inland locations. Surveys recorded the outcome of 73% of the known population, which allows us to present these results with confidence.

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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.

2022 Upland Sandpiper Survey Results

Tuesday, January 17th, 2023

by Meaghan Lyon, Wildlife Biologist

The results are in! It wasn’t a great year for upland sandpipers at the McGuire Airfield. Numbers of breeding pairs at this location have decreased to an estimated two pairs. Numbers can be variable from year to year so there is still hope for better news in 2023.

Upland sandpipers typically require a minimum of 100 acres for breeding habitat and so large expanses of open, grassy land is a high priority. Over the past five years, long term efforts have been ongoing to complete a large-scale grassland restoration at the McGuire Airfield. So far, roughly 500 acres have been converted to native warm season grasses with another 100 acres to be completed by next spring. Our goal is to help create and maintain grassland bird nesting habitat for Upland sandpipers and other species.

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