From the Field - New Jersey Preserves

Winter Eagle Festival

Every winter, the skies above Cumberland County fill with Bald Eagles, Red Tailed Hawks, and other raptors on their yearly migration. It is a spectacular sight to see...especially if you're with someone who knows what they're looking for, and has a good spotting scope!

On Saturday, February 3, Cumberland County will be hosting a Winter Eagle Festival. Volunteers from New Jersey Audubon and Citizens United to Save the Maurice River will be set up at four different sites in or near Natural Lands Trust's Glades Wildlife Refuge, ready to help visitors spot and identify raptors.

Between rounds of bird watching, you can stop by the Mauricetown Fire Hall to warm up, get some lunch, view the displays of local non-profits and vendors (be sure to stop by NLT's table and say hi!), and hear speakers. Lecture times, speakers, and topics are as follows:

10am: Kathy Clark of NJENSP, "Eagle Recovery and Rehabilitation"

11am: Jason Guerard of Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO), "How to Get Started Birdwatching"

1pm: Don Freiday of CMBO, "Owls and How to Find Them"

2pm: Pat and Clay Sutton of CMBO, "Birds and Birding at Cape May"

3pm: Pete Dunne of CMBO, "25 Things That Changed Birding"

There is an admission fee of $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under, payable at the door of the firehouse. For more information, call 1(856)453-2177 or 1(866)966-MORE.

We hope to see you there!

Old Growth Forest

Many land protection deals are complex, and can take months or years to complete. The protection of Bear Swamp West, which took 25 years, is one of the longest efforts Natural Lands Trust has undertaken. But it was well worth the effort.

Bear Swamp West first came to our attention in 1981, when Dr. Stevens Heckscher, NLT's ecologist, stumbled across a letter from a man who lived near Bear Swamp and recommended it for protection. After visiting the swamp, Dr. Heckscher recognized what an important piece of land it was, as it contained some of the last remaining old growth forests in the Mid-Atlantic region. Years of research and negotiating with the land owner and the state followed this "discovery", and in June of 2005, Natural Lands Trust finally closed on the purchase of Bear Swamp West.

Last Sunday, a group of Natural Lands Trust members got the chance to visit the old growth area with New Jersey Manager Steve Eisenhauer.  The edge of the forest is bordered by a lake created when groundwater filled in the pit created by the sand mining that once occurred in this area. From the edge of the lake, you can look towards the forest, and see the old growth trees towering above the rest of the forest, sometimes by as much as 30 to 50 feet. Some of these trees--mostly sour gum, sweet gum, and tulip poplar--seem small compared to the old growth redwoods of the west coast, but they are huge compared to other trees of their species, and are estimated to be more than 400 years old. (They can't be dated with certainty since most are hollow, rendering tree cores ineffective.) 

And as if it weren't exciting enough to see trees that pre-date the European arrival in the Americas, a number of Bald Eagles showed up as well! At one point we counted nine Eagles on the shoreline across the mining pit from us. The Eagles were too far away to photograph, so here's a picture of everyone on the hike lined up with binoculars to look at them!

Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival

On Saturday, February 4, Cumberland County, NJ will be hosting its annual Winter Eagle Festival. (Formerly known as the Raptor Festival.) This is a great chance to see Hawks, Vultures, and Eagles, and there are plenty of knowledgeable volunteers around to you spot and indentify them.

The Festival will start with a 7am Sunrise Walk at Turkey Point, lead by NJ Audubon's Pete Dunne. Various viewing sites will be staffed by the NJ Audubon Society and Cape May Bird Observatory from 10am to 5pm. At 5pm, Pat Sutton will lead a Sunset Owl Watch at Turkey Point. There will also be exhibits, lectures, and food in the Mauricetown Fire Hall from 8am to 4pm. Natural Lands Trust will be one of the exhibitor - be sure to stop by and say hello! Lecture topics include: "Endangered and Nongame Species Program," "The Crucible of Migration," "Identifying 'em Far, Far Away," "How to Spot an Owl," and "Raptors of the Bayshore."

The cost of admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. For more information about the Festival, or for directions, call 856-453-2177.

A Splash of Color at Glades Wildlife Refuge

The changing colors of the tree leaves have added a splash of color to the landscape at Glades Wildlife Refuge. Below are some pictures of fall colors at the Glades:

More Coral Fungi Photos

Here are a few more pictures of orange and yellow Coral Fungi, as talked about in the last post:

Turf War

There was a ‘Turf War’ this past summer was between Coral Fungi (or Club Fungi) in our Glades Wildlife Refuge. The 2 opponents were:  Clavulinopsis Fusiformis (Yellow "Army") and Clavulinopsis Miyabeana (Orange "Army").

Here's a photo of a Yellow Army "Soldier" (Clavulinopsis Fusiformis):

Here the Orange "Scout" is taking inventory of the Yellow Army’s strengths and weaknesses. Notice the buffer zone between the main bodies of the species.

In the photo below, the Yellow "Scout" is taking inventory of the Orange Army's strengths and weaknesses.

In reality, I do not know the association between these 2 species of Coral Fungi.

These photos were taken in August 2005 in The Glades Wildlife Refuge, Newport, New Jersey. If anyone has specific knowledge of these 2 species and/or the interaction between them, feel free to email me at: aselleman@natlands.org.

Coral Fungi may take the form of simple fleshy clubs as these were, or may be multi-branched coral-like forms (hence their name) in a variety of colors. The colors include yellow and orange, and white, brown, purple and pink.

They can grow from an inch or 2, up to 8-9 inches in length. The samples included here ranged from new shoots up to 5-6 inches. They can grow singly as the Clavulinopsis Fusiformis (yellow) were, or in small groups or clumps as the Clavulinopsis Miyabeana (orange) were.

Coral Fungi usually grows in soil but can also be found on rotting wood.All our Coral Fungi pictured here were found on the damp forest floor in the Glades.

Lost Roots

There exist many natural wonders that are rarely if ever seen. Everyone has their opinion about saving and preserving land, but without protecting land, occurrences like this may never be known.

These "lost roots" exist deep in the woods in our Glades Wildlife Refuge. As you can see, a hollow has formed in a tree trunk. Inside the hollow, the tree has sent out roots to re-establish a secure footing.

What makes this unique is that the roots re-attach themselves to the softened trunk and dirt now found within the tree trunk, and this re-attachment occurs 4' - 8' above the ground.

Resident of the Glades Wildlife Refuge

Here is a local resident of our Glades Wildlife Refuge in Cumberland County, New Jersey.

This Northern Diamondback Terrapin has camoflaged itself on Turkey Point Road in Downe Township. During the spring and summer months, turtles are commonly seen crossing roads. Turtles cross these roads going to and coming from their nesting sites.

These terrapins prefer salt water or brackish water habitat and are found all along the New Jersey coastal areas.  Along the Atlantic Coast of NJ, coastal development has led to considerable habitat destruction on the barrier beach islands. This makes the protected areas in the Glades Wildlife Refuge vitally important for the future of the Diamondback in our region. Our many tidal areas, marshes and estuaries provide excellent habitat for many turtles including this Diamondback.

The female Northern Diamondback Terrapin will grow to 9 1/2", while the male will only grow to 5 1/2". This species has a wide range of colors and can be identified by the pattern on the shell and the skin coloration. The skin coloration of the diamondbacks can either be gray with dark spots, as our friend pictured here is, or they can be dark with light spots.

Please take care to avoid these residents while driving.

Extended Shorebird Migration beach closures

Due to the late arrival of the horseshoe crab spawning this year, the annual beach closures for the shorebird migration and horseshoe crab spawning has been extended through Thursday June 23, 2005.

The horsecrab spawning was very active last week, as you can see from this picture. 

Please respect the continued closures and enjoy this spectacular annual event.

Annual Shorebird Migration

The Annual Shorebird Migration is upon us.

The migration officially begins Saturday May 14th and runs through Tuesday June 7th. Many beaches along the Delaware Bay (including our own Raybins Beach in Fortescue, NJ) will be closed during this time. Please respect our visitors and observe this Spring phenomenon from outside the signed and fenced areas. Here's a photo from last year's migration (you can click on the image to see a larger version):

This migration coincides with the annual spring nesting of the Prehistoric Horseshoe Crabs. Millions of eggs are laid and the shorebirds feast on the eggs that wash to the surface.

These birds fly thousands of miles from Central and South America to this region for the feast, and then will complete their journey to their nesting grounds in the Canadian Arctic.

Special Note:  One of the birds banded along the Delaware Bay last year was observed in the Turks and Caicos Islands in February 2005.