The Three Bridges eagle cam went live for the 2024 nesting season on December 1st. A pair of eagles made an appearance that morning. The Three Bridges nesting platform was used by eagles in 2021, when they successfully raised two young. During the 2022 and 2023 nesting seasons, the pair were seen at the nest platform but ended up using a nest in a tree. We will see if the pair decides to use the nest platform this season. For now we believe that the Three Bridges pairs territory is both the nest tree and platform. As the numbers of nesting Bald Eagles continues to increase New Jersey there is the possibility that a second eagle pair could nest at the platform. Last nesting season there was lots of eagle action at the tower, eagles of all ages stopped by along with many different avian species. A pair of Osprey’s took interest in the nest platform but didn’t end up laying eggs. An American Kestrel perched at the platform on the first day the cam was live. It’ll be interesting to see what activity occurs at the tower this season.
CWF’s “Howls for Owls” event at Screamin’ Hill Brewery in Cream Ridge, New Jersey was certainly among our most fun fall activities. Owl enthusiasts flocked to this 170-acre farm for an evening of family-friendly activities in celebration of barn owls. Children and adults alike enjoyed dissecting owl pellets, creating owl masks, making adorable pinecone owls, and participating in three rounds of owl-themed trivia. Many attendees even came dressed in owl costumes!
Activities were designed to be fun and to teach attendees about owl adaptations. Owl pellet dissection was one of the most popular things to do. Children and their parents often worked together to extract all the bones found within a pellet and figure out what the owl had consumed.
Kids also made special owl masks with tubes around the eyes to mimic the oblong shape of an owl’s eye. Owl eyes are fixed in place and shaped more like a doorknob or tube than a sphere. When the mask is on, kids discover that they can only see in front of them and must rotate their heads around to look from side to side- just like an owl. Because owls cannot move their eyes, they are adapted to turn their head about 270 degrees around!
“Howls for Owls” had activities for everyone! Crafts, trivia, owl pellet dissection, and other activities kept visitors busy.
Etiquette tells us that we shouldn’t have a favorite child. I sometimes wonder if the same rules apply to biologists with regard to our study species. If so, my manners fall woefully short, at least where reptiles are concerned.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been partnering with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on bog turtle conservation initiatives for years. We do this using a multi-faceted approach. We connect landowners with qualifying habitat with federal funding opportunities and technical support that can preserve and restore significant wetlands. We assist the state and nonprofit partners with visual surveys to better understand the status of historic populations. Finally, we suit up with USFWS personnel each fall and winter to remove invasive species and woody vegetation that are shading out nesting spots, rendering bogs and fens inhospitable to turtles. We applied to continue this work for the next few years but decided to shake things up a bit by adding in tasks targeting the protection of the bog turtle’s closest living relative… the wood turtle, a state threatened species that is currently under consideration for federal listing.
CWF biologist Christine Healy with a wood turtle, found during a spring survey. Photo Credit: Connor Zrinko
Nesting pair of eagles near Atlantic City@ Bill Reinert
Last week I attended the APLIC (Avian Powerline Interaction Committee) workshop hosted by PSE&G. APLIC is a group that leads the electric utility industry in protecting avian resources while enhancing reliable energy delivery. We all use electricity and power lines are needed to distribute the power to where it’s needed. Powerlines and transmission towers have become a normal part of the landscape and we don’t pay much attention until our power goes out. All different species of birds, from bald eagles to starlings, interact with powerlines, poles and towers daily, including perching and nesting on them.
photo by Cheryl Leonardnest on transmission tower @ Barb McKeephoto by Mary Ellen Hillphoto by Jeff WhiteKin Buc pair@Kevin Redden
With these interactions come issues, birds can be injured or die from electrocution and collisions which can cause power outages. Nests on poles and transmission towers can create problems with outages and fires as well as risk to chicks or adults. One part of my job is keep track of all reported injured or dead bald eagles in New Jersey. In 2023 there have been fifteen confirmed eagle electrocutions. Any recoveries that are a suspected electrocution or collision with a powerline are reported to the appropriate utility company. CWF and the NJ ENSP have a good relationship with the Utility companies in New Jersey. Each utility company has biologists that work on environmental issues including avian. There are a whole set of issues that they need to be taken into consideration when deciding how best to minimize negative avian interactions. The solutions require time, money and often scheduled power outages. When an area of lines or poles are identified as a risk for bird electrocution/collision, they are made as avian safe as possible. When new distribution lines are rebuilt, avian issues are taken into consideration and the appropriate measures are implemented.
There are quite a few bald eagles and ospreys that nest on poles and transmission towers throughout New Jersey. Most of these nests don’t cause problems, but if they need to be removed, the utility company works to obtain the proper permits and replace the nest with a new nesting structure in close vicinity. One example is the Three Bridges eagle nest. PSE&G needed to replace the entire distribution line where an eagle pair had been nesting on one of the towers for years. After much planning and coordination the nest was removed and placed on a nest platform installed on one of the new towers.
I certainly learned a lot at the workshop and gained a new appreciation for everything that goes into keeping our electricity flowing at the flick of a switch and making sure that avian species stay safe at the same time.
Restoring floodplains and protecting urban communities may not sound like a typical workday for the biologists of Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ (CWFNJ). However, multiple staff and board members of CWFNJ were present at the annual Blue Acres Floodplain Restoration Fall Planting and Clean-up Day on October 27th, clearing weeds, trash and planting new trees and shrubs at the Tremley Point restoration site in Linden. Blue Acres, a program created by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, helps residents in low-lying areas that are subject to repeated flooding by buying out their properties and aiding in homeowner relocation. The acquired properties eventually become buffer zones, such as floodplains, that protect surrounding communities from the impact of storms and rising sea levels by acting as natural floodwater storage. The land purchased through the Blue Acres program may also be restored into functional wetlands, habitat for wildlife and open green space for the community to enjoy. Blue Acres not only provides disaster relief for residents whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by flooding and surges caused by large storms, but also contributes to the NJ Climate Change Resilience Strategy by proactively creating wetlands and floodplains to lessen the severity of future flood events.
From left: Christine Healy (CWF Wildlife Biologist), Leah Wells (CWF Assistant Wildlife Biologist), Liz Silvernail (CWF Executive Director), Sherry Tirgrath (CWF Wildlife Biologist), Nancy Sadlon (Phillips 66 Public Affairs Manager), and Marty McHugh (CWF Trustee) at the Blue Acres restoration event.
