Species Clash

Sandy Hook is home to many beach nesting shore birds. Several sections of Sandy Hook's beaches are closed off from April-August to provide habitat for these migratory birds. Beach nesting birds (as their name implies) lay their eggs directly on the sand and are particularly vulnerable to human traffic on beaches. Closing off sections of the beach provides a safe haven for these birds to nest.
Oystercatchers are a species of special concern in NJ because their populations appear to be declining. They nest both on the bay side and on beaches. While participating in an event last week, I noticed one pair of oystercatchers that chose not to nest in the protected area. Rather, they decided to nest at one of Sandy Hook's busiest beaches. In the middle of all the beach traffic sat one tiny egg and two frantic parents. I'm not sure what made this pair decide to nest here, I guess that they chose the spot before the nice weather and the beaches got busy.
One woman at the event placed some sticks around the egg so that it wouldn't get stepped on. Unless you're looking for the egg, you would never notice it intermingled with all of the rocks and shells in the sand. Before human traffic on beaches was an issue, the eggs of beach nesting birds were beneficially camouflaged from predators. Unfortunately, this adaptation does not protect the oystercatchers from their biggest threat, people.
New Jersey Fish and Wildlife has since put up string and flags around the area to keep people away from the egg. This pair of oystercatchers appears to be pretty skittish. Even though the egg is protected, the parents are still weary of the people on the beach and often fly away from the nest sight. Hopefully the mother is spending enough time on the nest for the egg to incubate. If the egg does hatch, there will certainly be problems if the parents continue to leave the chick alone at the nest site. Young chicks are often predated upon by gulls, fox, raccoons, and feral cats.
The odds are certainly against this oystercatcher family. However, if they are successful, it will be a wonderful opportunity for Sandy Hook's beach-goers to get an up close look at life on the hook.

The other night I joined up with some volunteers to monitor horseshoe crabs. During high tide, between now and June, female horseshoe crabs start to come ashore to lay their eggs. The volunteers disperse to several locations and count the number of male and female horseshoe crabs present. Trained volunteers also tag some horseshoe crabs in order to monitor their populations more efficiently. The tags actually look like beach badges (rather appropriate for the Jersey shore) and have to be attached using an electric drill.
The weather was pretty miserable and apparently the horseshoe crabs weren’t anymore fond of the wet and cold than we were. So we didn’t find any horseshoe crabs, but the evening still held one big surprise.
After leaving the monitoring sight, right in plain view was the largest nest I had ever seen, and inside of it was a juvenile bald eagle. What an amazing sight! We waited a while for the mother to come back, but the chick was big enough where she must have felt comfortable leaving it alone for a while. The juvenile was about the size of an osprey so I can just imagine the size of the parents. I would say spotting that nest definitely made up for the lack of horseshoe crabs. Check out this great link from Duke Farms to get a live view of the bald eagles nesting there: http://www.dukefarms.org/Education/Research/Duke-Farms-Eagle-Cam/Farms-Eagle-Cam/

We did get to see some horseshoe crabs at the Littoral Society’s open house two weeks ago, which I finally got pictures of (check out our special guest from Jenkinson's Aquarium below). Kids (and adults) seem to get really excited when we pick up horseshoe crabs. Most are also relieved to find out that these ancient arthropods do not have giant stingers and can’t actually hurt you. I always like to point out that the bumps on the sides of their heads are actually eyes. I think that being able to see the eyes of an animal allows you to connect more with it. I developed a bit of a soft spot for horseshoe crabs after taking notice to those big eyes so maybe others will too.

Littorally Yours,

Stevie

Say hello to spring.

As a kid I never really got all that excited about spring. To me it just meant that we still had three more months until summer. Looking at the world through a naturalist's eyes has certainly changed my opinion. It's hard not to notice all the beauty of spring when your commute to work is through a national park and the bay is right outside your office window.
After a long peaceful winter, Sandy Hook (Littoral Society headquarters) is bustling with excitement. While riding my bike to work today, I was truly able to appreciate the arrival of spring. In the blink of an eye, winter has left the Hook and made way for a blanket of green. Beach plums are in full bloom with a plethora of flowers that will hopefully bring a lot of plums! I also saw a pair of horseshoe crabs over the weekend, another sure sign of spring. The male (smaller of the pair) had clasped on to the female in anticipation that she would drag him (literally) the place that she had layed her eggs.

For me, nothing beats the return of all the spring residents of the Hook. The end of March was a waiting game for the first osprey to arrive. We had a pretty dreary March and I was itching for a sign of spring. I finally spotted him on March 26th at Horseshoe Cove, soaked to the bone from all of the rain. Now you can't drive through the Hook without seeing one. There's even a rumor that a pair is trying to nest on a crane towering over the Highlands bridge.

Sandy Hook is also a major stopover for spring migrants so we have to opportunity to get a good look at some really neat warblers. So far I've seen black and white warblers and a couple of pine warblers. Because we are so conveniently located right next to the Audubon Society building, we are lucky enough to get the inside scoop about any interesting sightings. Yesterday, Jeff got a call from Scott over at the Audubon Society. We deemed it necessary to unglue our eyes from our computer screens, grab our binoculars, and head on over. Waiting for us was a red headed woodpecker, a pretty rare find and a first for me!

Littorally Yours,
Stevie