r 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.
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
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