by Ethan Gilardi, Wildlife Biologist

On June 24, CWF staff and PSEG Foundation representatives logged onto Zoom to celebrate the winners of the 2021 Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media contest. Viewers watched as CWF Executive Director David Wheeler and Wildlife Biologist Ethan Gilardi congratulated the winners, with special comments made by CWF Board of Trustees President Steve Neumann and PSEG Environmental Policy Manager Russell Furnari.

Winners had time to speak about their inspirations, aspirations, and love of wildlife while accepting their awards. Whether they plan to continue onto a career in wildlife conservation/education or not, we are incredibly proud of this group of talented high schoolers.

CWF would like to wish them the best of luck on their future endeavors!

Click on the embedded video above to watch the ceremony on the CWF YouTube Channel.

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Gallery:

2021 Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest Winners

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What is Species on the Edge 2.0?

The fun and educational Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest capitalizes on high school students’ expertise with social media platforms and provides them with the opportunity to showcase their talent, creativity, and love of nature.

Students create their own original content (for example: video, text, photograph, computer graphic) or utilize existing Conserve Wildlife Foundation content to create a series of posts focusing on one of New Jersey’s vulnerable species that CWF helps protect.

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Missed the Virtual Awards for

CWF’s Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest

for New Jersey 5th Graders?

View the ceremony on our YouTube channel now!

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by Ethan Gilardi, Wildlife Biologist

South Jersey Climate News recently took a deep dive into the relationship between horseshoe crabs and shorebirds on the Delaware Bay, and how global climate change has impacted this already delicate bond between species.

CWF biologist Larissa Smith was interviewed for the piece, providing context about what we are doing to help the horseshoe crabs and shorebirds through the Shorebird Stewards Program.

The article does a wonderful job explaining the precarious position NJ’s summer shorebirds find themselves in, detailing their arduous migration from South America to New Jersey to the Arctic and back, as well as explaining how and why our shorebirds and horseshoe crabs find themselves in peril.

Follow the link below to also find a video of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Employee and volunteer Shorebird Steward Ariel Poirier, who shares some of her experiences with the program and explains what it means to be a Shorebird Steward.

Read more on South Jersey Climate News.

The blog Green Philly interviewed Conserve Wildlife Foundation executive director David Wheeler for this profile on CWF’s work protecting and restoring at-risk wildlife species across New Jersey and beyond.

Wheeler notes, “The project that is really inspiring is our work in Delaware Bay at the mouth of the Delaware River, dividing Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. This estuary holds one of the largest gatherings on the East Coast of migratory shorebirds and horseshoe crabs. These shorebirds fly from as far away as Tierra del Fuego and come to this region in massive numbers to feast on horseshoe crab eggs, which is an ancient creature that has swum before the dinosaurs and has survived five mass extinctions. They then head up to the Arctic for a hemisphere-wide migration, and Delaware Bay is the centerpiece of that.

“Horseshoe crabs have been declining severely, so shorebirds have also been declining severely. Our scientists and teams of volunteers have helped to stabilize these populations and prevent further decline. This is not only tremendously valuable to the ecosystem built around horseshoe crabs because it feeds fish, Diamondback Terrapins, and birds. Horseshoe crabs also provide something called lysate through their blood, which is the single way to test vaccines for a toxin, including the COVID vaccine. It’s such an amazing story and it all comes back to this prehistoric creature.”

Click here to read more.

by David Wheeler, Executive Director

The Associated Press released a video story exploring how the rise in popularity of live streaming bald eagle nest cameras has revealed the diversity of personalities and behaviors of the U.S. national symbol.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation executive director David Wheeler and New Jersey Eagle Project volunteer Kevin Buynie are featured.

Watch the video above to learn more!

By Barbara McKee, NJ Eagle Project Volunteer

Seven months ago, I learned that “Duke” had flown back to Somerset County in central Jersey, and was perched along the Raritan River not far upstream of his natal nest at Duke Farms.  He was also very close to my home on the Millstone River in Hillsborough.  Thus began my shared adventure with Duke, the 2019 fledgling who was outfitted with a satellite transmitter at banding (E/88) that May. I wrote a CWF blog, “Duke’s” Homecoming in January about those months during the fall and winter, of following and photographing Duke as he explored areas I knew well from bicycling and volunteering for the Eagle Project. I am very grateful and humble to have “found” Duke on quite a few occasions throughout November, December, and January.  The trees were bare of leaves, and Duke’s full attention was on keeping himself fed.  I gradually learned his habits and noted he tended to stick with several favorite roosts, perches, and hang-outs!  It took patience, persistence, and a lot of luck! January 19, 2021, was the last time I saw Duke reasonably close, photographed and videographed him on a field in Hillsborough owned by Duke Farms.  

Following that frigid, breezy, gray day in mid-winter, January 19, Duke headed north to Tewksbury where he spent most of his time on large, private farms and estates not conducive to allowing access to a wandering, eagle-watching, trespassing photographer!  I could imagine he was finding prey in the fields, along the creeks, and in the occasional farm pond.  I took many photos of bucolic scenery to share with others who were interested in Duke’s travels. At the end of January, central Jersey got snow storms which dumped an estimated accumulation of more than 2 feet of snow on the ground.  Animals seemed to vanish.  Even road kill was scarce.  I worried that Duke would starve….that is, until while scrutinizing Google Earth, I realized he had settled on a hunting preserve that raised game fowl!  He simply perched near the pens, let the hawk do the hunting, and no doubt “stole” from the smaller raptors!  I stopped being so worried! For the entire snow-covered month of February, and half of March, Duke remained in Tewksbury.  A couple times he dashed back to Duke Farms (approximately 20 miles to the south) and the Raritan River nearby.  On one of those quick visits to his natal “home” he even visited me, perching again near our landing on the Millstone and downstream near the confluence with the main Raritan. 

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