Barn Owls (Tyto alba) are one of the most widespread avian species in the world. Despite this impressive distribution, their numbers have been decreasing in parts of their range, and New Jersey is no exception. The barn owl population in New Jersey is in decline due to habitat loss associated with urban sprawl and development of former agricultural lands. Little is known about the Barn Owl population in central New Jersey. Through a grant from the Monmouth Audubon Society, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is partnering with Monmouth County Park System and the New Jersey State Park to construct, install and monitor three barn owl boxes. By providing suitable nest site opportunities we can potentially boost the barn owl population locally within Monmouth County as well as regionally as fledglings disperse to find their own nesting areas.
The first step of the project has been completed. CWF biologist Christine Healy and her Father Jim Healy have constructed three nest boxes that are ready for installation.
Christine and Jim Healy construct Barn Owl nest boxescompleted Barn Owl nesting boxes
Would you like to learn more about the elusive Barn Owl, support the CWF Barn Owl Project and have a fun family night? Join us at Howls for Owls, at the Screamin’ Hill Brewing.
We Hope to see you there. This outdoor event will be cancelled for bad weather, so please stay updated on our website.
NJ Eagle Project Volunteers monitor nests during the nesting season. Since they spend a lot of time observing the nest and eagles behavior they get to see some pretty interesting things and many of them are able to document with photos. I asked volunteers to send me their three favorite photos from the eagle nesting season. Thank you to all the eagle project volunteers for their dedication
Enjoy the slideshow.
Manville-The Hatch @ Rose Joy
Adult bringing a fish to Junior at the Mercer Co. nest @ Kevin & Karin Buynie
Alloway E, nestling @ Clare Luisi
“Back together with our mentor (Kim Korth) @ Kevin & Karin Buynie
photo by: Blake Alan
photo by: Blake Alan
Bull Island, “This pair worked diligently during the early months,then abandoned this nest which had been productive for at least a decade! @ Barb McKee
Denville-fledgling returning to nest@Margaret & Chuck Blewett
Duke Farm May 5th @ Diane Cook
Duke Farm, Family Time May 13th @ Diane Cook
Difficult challenges for the Atlantic City nest, high power lines and nearby windmills. This nest had successful last year but was unsuccessful this season@ Bill Reinert
Eagle Point_Red Bank nest@ Rick & Tina Clegg
Eagle Point_Red bank @ Rick & Tina Clegg
Cape May “Family Portrait @ John King
Higbee “good luck kiss from Mom before Junior’s first flight” @ John King
Group who renested the two Princeton eaglets
“Double trouble” @ Blake Alan
Linden @ Tony Gregorio
Lower Patcong-single fledgling @ Bill Reinert
“male returning with Herring Gull” @ Rich Nicol
Manville- “fledged for four weeks” @ Rose Joy
Manville Mom feeding triplets @Rose Joy
Duke Farms March 2nd @ Diane Cook
Merrill Creek eagle after trying to catch a fish@ Louis Schwarz
Merrill Creek pair@Louis Schwarz
Mt. Airy “Woohoo-Ready to fly@Barb McKee
Overpeck juvenile@ D. DeSantis
Overpeck@ D. DeSantis
Overpeck adult @ D. DeSantis
Pine Tavern pair @ Clare Luisi
Princeton chicks (H38 & H39) back in their new nest built by John Heilferty
Quinton B trio@ Clare Luisi
Rainbow Lake fledge (Kathy Clark & Heiki Poolake) @ Donna Poolake
School House pair with chick @ Poolake’s
Schoolhouse nest @ Poolake’s
South River’s fledgling pair joined by a Great Blue Heron @ Bill Reinert
Audubon nestling @ Spence Bennett
Audubon @ Spence Bennett
Audubon pair @ Spence Bennett
Three Bridges eagle cam Feb. 7th @ Mary Ellen Hill
Three Bridges eagle cam, Kestrel Jan, 24th @ Mary Ellen Hill
Three Bridges eagle cam @ Mary Ellen Hill
Woodschurch nest-two chicks, within days of fledging @ Barb McKee
Depending on where you look and who you talk to, the fate of many osprey nests might bring tears to your eyes. Since a nor’easter impacted the coast with strong onshore winds for several days, young ospreys have been dying of starvation in plain sight. Over the past week, several reports of adults who abandoned their nests with young have been received. This year, weather has impacted the availability of fish and outcomes of nests in the Garden State.
In the May 16th blog, Shorebird Stewards On the Bay in May, it’s mentioned that some beaches along the Delaware Bay have restricted access every year from May 7th to June 7th. This is due to the migratory shorebirds that travel thousands of miles and need a place to stop to feed. Our beaches contain excellent food sources to help birds gain weight to continue their journey- horseshoe crab eggs. They are filled with fat and protein. The Delaware Bay is the largest spawning area for horseshoe crabs in the world!
Now what do the Shorebird Stewards, such as myself, do all day? We monitor our assigned beaches and educate the public about this incredible phenomenon! My favorite beaches are Roosevelt Blvd. beach and Cook’s Beach because I see the most active flocks of shorebirds at these locations.
A group of the infamous Red Knots: Calidris canutus, Semipalmated Sandpipers: Calidrus pusilla, and Ruddy Turnstones: Arenaria interpres, at the beach on Roosevelt Blvd., photo: C. Franceschini
On a quiet day with not many people to educate, there are many things for us Stewards to do. Some Stewards read their books, watch movies, listen to music/podcasts, color/paint, take walks, research, etc. I do all of the above! Since we have a love for these special shorebirds, most Stewards also birdwatch! It’s a must to bring your binoculars or scope to observe these beautiful birds. Sometimes, you observe other interesting animals, too!
American Oystercatcher at Cook’s beach: Haematopus palliatus photo: C. FranceschiniBald Eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, photo: C. Franceschini
Another activity to do in the down-time is to flip the spawning Atlantic Horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, back onto their legs so they can crawl back into the bay. When the tide rise, these crabs get overturned by the waves and have no way of returning back to their feet! Personally, this is my favorite activity to do. When you return after your “crab walk”, you get to see the tracks of their feet traveling back into the bay where they belong. Below on the left is a picture of flipped and rescued crabs: the one on the left is a male who decided to bury himself in the sand to preserve water until the tide comes back in, and the one on the right is a male who decided to make the trek back into the bay. When the tide comes in, the horseshoe crabs come up and begin spawning. Pictured below in the middle is an example of how crowded the beaches get with these creatures! On the right, is a photo of a tagged crab I found, and reported it to the US Fish and Wildlife Service so that they can collect data on the tagged crabs.
You can also get involved with helping these critters! “Return the Favor” is an organization dedicated to conducting beach walks to flip overturned horseshoe crabs on the NJ beaches of the Delaware Bay. You can join public walks that are held by walk leaders or sign up to be a volunteer and conduct your own walk (until July 15th, 2023 or next year). I am a volunteer and walk leader and it is one of my favorite things to do. Flipping horseshoe crabs is such a special event because that means you’re saving those crabs so they can continue to spawn and produce eggs for the shorebirds. With your help, you could help save hundreds of crabs just by flipping them over! Of course I had to capture this special moment of me flipping a crab (picture below)!
On these walks, you experience much more than just crabs. You get to see other wildlife that emerges during dusk or dawn. You can also go on the closed beaches to save the crabs that can’t be rescued during the day. During my walk, I got to see thousands of horseshoe crab eggs!
C. FranceschiniHorseshoe crab eggs photo: C. FranceschiniFemale horseshoe crab, photo: C. Franceschini
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.
