Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘eagle’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

New Jersey Bald Eagles Soar to New Highs in 2019

Monday, September 9th, 2019
January 13, 2019, Mercer County Park. NJ D/99banded at Duke Farms in 2014 @Bob Cook

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ in partnership with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered & Nongame Species Program, is releasing results of the 2019 NJ Bald Eagle nesting season.

2019 was a record year for NJ eagles with the highest number of active nests and young fledged in the history of the project.  This year, 238 eagle nests were monitored, of which 189 were active (laid eggs) and 248 young fledged.  This is the highest number of fledges ever, surpassing the previous high of 216 in 2016.

Bald eagle nesting population and young produced in New Jersey, 1982-2019.

We owe the incredible amount of information about NJ eagle success to the NJ Eagle Project nest watchers.  An extremely dedicated group of approximately 85 volunteers monitor nests during the season, recording the important dates and watching for possible issues at nest sites.

This season two eagle cams were available to watch on the CWF website:  one at Duke Farms and another at Mercer County Parks.  The Duke Farms nest produced two chicks, and one was outfitted with a satellite transmitter; the movements of this eagle are on CWF’s Eagletrax website . 

More details on the 2019 nesting season will be available in the annual eagle report to be posted by December.  The report will include individual nest data, state totals, and eagle recoveries and resightings.

CWF partners with PSEG, the Mercer County Park Commission, Mercer County Wildlife Center, and Wildlife Center Friends and Duke Farms to protect bald eagles in New Jersey. Thank you to the Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite Markets, Wells Fargo, Chemours and the American Eagle Foundation for additional eagle program funding.

Tags:
Posted in Birds, Eagles, Raptors, Volunteer Programs, Wildlife News, Wildlife Protection | 9 Comments »

Duke Farms: A 19 year old male and a Pair of Siblings.

Tuesday, February 12th, 2019

By: Larissa Smith, CWF Biologist

The male at the Duke Farms nest is banded with a green NJ band, A/59. He is nineteen years old this season.

D/59 and female: Feb. 4, 2019@Kathy Clark

On March 24, 2000, at 2 weeks of age, A/59 was fostered from the Greenwich nest in Cumberland County to the Rancocas nest in Burlington County. On May 15, 2000 he was banded, a backpack transmitter attached and fledged on June 3. ENSP’s staff tracked A/59 until the transmitter’s signal was last recorded on October 22. You can read more details in the 2000 Bald Eagle Report. A/59 started nesting at the Duke Farms nest in 2006 and has been in the public eye ever since on the Duke Farms eagle cam.

“Tiny” C/94: Update

We have an interesting update on one of A/59’s offspring, “Tiny” C/94, who has been nesting in CT since 2014. “Tiny’s” original mate was a Massachusetts banded female. In 2017 nest monitor Cyndi Pratt Didan, reported that he had a new mate with a green NJ band on her right leg. Cyndi was recently able to get a photo of the females band and we could read the code as D/15.

D/15 in CT @Cyndi Pratt Didan

In 2010, D/15 was one of two female chicks banded at the Duke Farms nest. Yes, she is Tiny’s sibling. Tiny was banded in 2009. It is interesting that two eagles from the same nest in NJ ended up as a pair nesting in CT and that we are able to know this information via bands and the Duke Farms cam. Cyndi has not yet found where the pair is nesting but will keep us updated.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Duke Farms eagle cam, Eagles, Raptors | 1 Comment »

Fly Eagles Fly!

Tuesday, February 5th, 2019

Eagle Viewing Event at Mercer County Park ~ Feb. 8 from 1-3pm

Bald eagle in flight. photo by Northside Jim

This breeding season, the Mercer County Park Commission is pleased to announce that two pairs of bald eagles have chosen County Parks for nest sites, continuing their expansion in New Jersey and the greater mid-Atlantic region. To celebrate the resident eagles, the Park Commission, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF), PSE&G and the Wildlife Center Friends have launched a partnership to provide bald eagle-themed programs.

The first free public event will be at Mercer County Park at the West Picnic Area on Friday, Feb. 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. Participants will meet with naturalist staff and walk to the viewing site, where interpretation on eagle nesting will be offered. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view eagle activity through a spotting scope and binoculars.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Birds, Eagles, Events, Raptors | Comments Off on Fly Eagles Fly!

Continuing To Track NJ Eagles

Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

by: CWF biologist Larissa Smith

We keep track of all re-sightings we receive of NJ (green) banded eagles. This information is important as it lets us know where eagles raised in NJ go after leaving the nest and eventually where they end up nesting. In 2017 we have had NJ banded birds sighted in NJ as well as PA and VT.

On April 15, 2017 Mary Dunham photographed NJ banded D/18 near Lake Como in Belmar, NJ.  The female was banded in March 2011 at the Manasquan Reservoir, Monmouth County. She was with another smaller adult, assumed to be a male. While Mary  watched a third adult eagle came into the area and the pair chased it away. This is an indicator that D/18 was paired up and perhaps was nesting in the area.

D/18 @ Mary Dunham

In August we received a report that D/18 was sighted once again. This time she was up near the NY- Canada border. We don’t know much about the movements of nesting eagles so we can only speculate why she made such a big move north. Perhaps she went north with a recent fledgling or maybe she was kicked out of the pair by an intruder eagle and headed north?

D/40@ Reid Hoffer

In March we were contacted by Reid Hoffer who monitors an eagle nest along a reservoir in Rockland County NY.  He was able to get a photo of a green band, D/40, she was banded May 2011 at Newton Reservoir in Sussex County. Mr. Hoffer reports that unfortunately the pair did not produce any offspring this year.

D/40 & mate at nest in NY@Reid Hoffer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Telemetry

We are also currently tracking three NJ eagle with transmitters attached.  The New Jersey Bald Eagle Tracking project shows the movements of all three of these birds as well as their history.

Two of the transmittered birds  fledged from Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County, NJ. Harmony 2, has spent the last four years in a 100-mile swath of western Connecticut and Massachusetts. She fledged in 2012 making her a 5th year bird and breeding age. We suspect she’ll nest in the same area next season.  Haliae fledged in 2013 and has spent the past three years mostly around the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Perhaps she’ll stay in that area to nest? So two birds from the same nest, but one has settled to the north and one to the south.

Nacote, a male from the Galloway nest in Atlantic County, has stayed more “local” to his home area. He’s spent the last three seasons in Atlantic, Cumberland and Cape May Counties. He favors the CMC landfill and local sand pits where other eagles are known to roost and feed.

All this information helps us to locate roost and foraging areas and protect them.  It’s also fascinating to know where NJ eagles go after leaving their nest area, especially when they begin nesting. Why do some head north, others south and yet others stay near their “home” range? We don’t know, and that’s ok, it’s what makes them wild!

To learn more:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Birds, Eagles, Mapping, Raptors, Wildlife Protection | Comments Off on Continuing To Track NJ Eagles

“For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest: Second Place Winners

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016
CONGRATULATIONS, KAYLEIGH YOUNG AND HOWIE WILLIAMS!

by Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

Earlier in 2016, Conserve Wildlife Foundation launched the “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest. Our photography contest was meant to showcase the love for and need to protect the endangered and threatened wildlife that call New Jersey home. We encouraged youth and adult photographers across the Garden State to submit photographs in the following categories:

  • New Jersey’s Rarest Residents: Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Wildlife Species Only
  • The Garden State: New Jersey Landscapes
  • Experiencing Nature: People Enjoying the Outdoors
  • Wild New Jersey: All Animals in the Garden State

We were blown away by the amount of submissions we received! Over 1,470 entries were counted! New Jersey wildlife photographers, CWF board members and staff poured over the entries to choose our winners. Today, we are thrilled to announce both second place winners.

Youth Photographer: Kayleigh Young
Cresskill, New Jersey
Golden-crowned kinglet

Youth second place winner Kayleigh Young.

Golden-crowned kinglet, youth second place winner Kayleigh Young.

Kayleigh was happy to share more about her image with us! She said, “after placing third in CWF’s 2015 Species on the Edge 2.0 Multimedia Contest, I was invited to join a birding trip on which I took this picture. I’ve always loved photographing wildlife, because I absolutely love nature, hiking, and the outdoors. I don’t think I can choose a single favorite species because I truly do love all animals; if I had to, I would say a fox maybe.”

Howie Williams: Adult Photographer
Oceanville, New Jersey
Mobbed Eagle

Mobbed eagle, adult second place winner Howie Williams.

Mobbed eagle, adult second place winner Howie Williams.

Howie Williams has been photographing nature, especially raptors, for over 8 years. Peregrine falcons are his favorite bird (because of their raw speed), followed by ospreys, and eagles are a close third. Howie was hooked on photography after watching an osprey family at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) several years ago. He watched the chicks grow from when they were two weeks old to their first flight!

 

Howie frequents Forsythe NWR, which is where his winning photograph was taken. A juvenile eagle was sitting on an osprey nest platform. Howie heard a screech and a yell, looked up and saw another juvenile eagle fly in and land on the platform too. He took the above photograph at that moment! Howie couldn’t get both eagles in the frame. In the original shot, you can see just the talons from the other eagle, but he cropped them out for the image he submitted for our contest.

 

Howie is retired and spends five days a week photographing raptors. He often posts his photographs in the “visitor post” section of our Facebook page. Howie told CWF, “what’s the point of taking pictures without sharing them with people? Where’s the fun in that?”

 

Stay tuned as we announce the second place winners of the “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest over the next few days!

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Birds, Events, Get Involved, Raptors, Wildlife News, Wildlife Protection | Comments Off on “For the Love of Wildlife” Photo Contest: Second Place Winners

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »