Katina Tsakiris, former assistant program director of the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center, developed the Sedge blog because she was inspired by Linn Pierson's "Nestbox News." Katina has suggested that we dedicate the Sedge Blog to Linn (see article below.) I think I can speak for all Friends of Sedge as well as all program participants when I say we would be honored to dedicate the Sedge blog to Linn Pierson.
NOTE: As many of you know, the falcons in Jersey City (and most of those found in the northeastern United States) are likely descendents of the first birds brough from Alaska to Sedge Island Marine Conservation Zone by Pete McLain in the late 1970's . This spring our falcons have three chicks in the nest. Linn must be smiling down on these tiny birds. Logon to njfishandwildlife.com to see Linn's birds in Jersey City. Then come see ours in real life.
April 10, 2007
We are extremely saddened to report that Linn Pierson, naturalist and author of Nestbox News since 2002, has passed away from cancer. Linn combined her passion for peregrine falcons with her brilliant writing skills to paint a picture for readers of Nestbox News. She was the interpreter of the nest-box and roof-top action, putting the pieces into the context of the entire nesting season and the life history of peregrines.
We know from your feedback and donations that thousands of viewers looked forward to new entries in the log, and we attribute that popularity to Linn?s beautiful writing and shared enthusiasm for her favorite birds. In addition to her involvement in Jersey City, she monitored the re-establishment of peregrines on their historic cliff areas in the Palisades, and surveyed everything from songbirds to eagles for the Endangered and Nongame Species Program. Labors of love, all. As is so often the case with wildlife, there are the heights of joy in life and the tragedies of untimely death. Linn wrote about both so eloquently.
New Jersey's wildlife conservation community, and especially the Endangered and NongameSpecies Program and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, lost a great ally and friend yesterday. Soar high and free, Linn - we will miss you so.
We dedicate this 2007 peregrine season to our friend, Linn Pierson.
Taken from the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife's website - Please visit the Peregrine webcam page and the Nestbox News
Friday, May 25, 2007
Happy (almost) Memorial Day Weekend
Here is the latest intern news.
Last week Emily and I set up a few trials for her shellfish scholarship project. We had oysters vs mussels filtering competition at both the New Jersey Marine Education's Teach at the Beach on Friday and Ocean Fun Day at Island Beach State Park on Saturday. (If you don't know who wins this competition every time, you better contact Emily ASAP.) Alton and Semantha also helped out at Ocean Fun Day answering questions and talking with people at the Sedge display and the Stockton College display respectively. I received many comments about how good these young people are. I was very proud!
Rutgers University students and faculty visited Sedge this week. Semantha did a great job working with the first group from Rutgers staying for all three days. Alton was there for the beginning, left for the ReClam the Bay meeting Tuesday night, and then returned on Wednesday for one group to leave and another to arrive. Ryan conducted a round of checking on shellfish and monitoring water quality on Monday, helped out at Sedge in the afternoon, and then left Tuesday morning to attend the ReClam the Bay meeting and later work at his other job setingt up the Seafood Coop Restaurant/fish market in Point Pleasant. Sherry has been in the Virgin Islands (I can't wait to hear her stories,) Emily is in school finishing out her senior year at MATES.
After Memorial Day things will get really busy. Ryan, Alton and I will go to the ReClam the Bay meeting on Tuesday night May 29th. On Wednesday, May 30th the first group of freshmen from MATES will arrive with Sherry helping as a supervisor teacher. Alton and Semantha will also be helping with this group. At the same time a group of special education students from High Point High School will be arriving at A-21 for a day of surf fishing, hiking, seining and kayaking. The teachers from High Point are a great group but they are less familiar with the local fauna than we are. It would be a great experience for any of you to work with a group of developmentally disabled young adults helping out several very experienced special education teachers. Thursday, May 31st is a Blue Moon and we expect the horseshoe crabs to be laying their eggs near the dike that night. Jenny Buck and a crew from Save Barnegat Bay have asked for help counting crabs that night. I will paddle to the dike from Sedge with any interested interns. MATES leave on Friday June 1st at 9:00AM. June 1st is also the day when Save Barnegat Bay has their Nitrogen Pollution press conference in Lavallete at 11:00AM. Mike Kennish, top Barnegat Bay scientist will be speaking. Helen Henderson wants me to come and talk about "Gunga Gunga!" I'd like to do the oyster vs mussel race and bring other things for show and tell?? Ryan and Alton could talk about their water quality/shellfish growth study. Since the MATES group will be leaving at 9:00AM and the AMC group will not arrive until the afternoon, we will have time to attend this important meeting (Your attendance at this press conference is optional of course - if you need to waste time taking a shower, resting or doing something else, feel free.) Later that afternoon the kayakers from the Appalachian Mount Club begin to arrive. These folks paddle out in their own boats (some homemade with handcarved paddles) and some very sophisticated gear. They can really paddle and the are very good at helping teach skills. And, they cook really good food! As good as this is, some of us will leave on Sunday June 3rd to help out at the Barnegat Bay Natiional Estuary Program Festival in Island Heights. This is a gathering of nearly all of the environmental groups in the Barnegat Bay watershed. We will set up our display (Emily will hopefully have some oysters and mussels for a race) and help out were we are needed.
Last week Emily and I set up a few trials for her shellfish scholarship project. We had oysters vs mussels filtering competition at both the New Jersey Marine Education's Teach at the Beach on Friday and Ocean Fun Day at Island Beach State Park on Saturday. (If you don't know who wins this competition every time, you better contact Emily ASAP.) Alton and Semantha also helped out at Ocean Fun Day answering questions and talking with people at the Sedge display and the Stockton College display respectively. I received many comments about how good these young people are. I was very proud!
Rutgers University students and faculty visited Sedge this week. Semantha did a great job working with the first group from Rutgers staying for all three days. Alton was there for the beginning, left for the ReClam the Bay meeting Tuesday night, and then returned on Wednesday for one group to leave and another to arrive. Ryan conducted a round of checking on shellfish and monitoring water quality on Monday, helped out at Sedge in the afternoon, and then left Tuesday morning to attend the ReClam the Bay meeting and later work at his other job setingt up the Seafood Coop Restaurant/fish market in Point Pleasant. Sherry has been in the Virgin Islands (I can't wait to hear her stories,) Emily is in school finishing out her senior year at MATES.
After Memorial Day things will get really busy. Ryan, Alton and I will go to the ReClam the Bay meeting on Tuesday night May 29th. On Wednesday, May 30th the first group of freshmen from MATES will arrive with Sherry helping as a supervisor teacher. Alton and Semantha will also be helping with this group. At the same time a group of special education students from High Point High School will be arriving at A-21 for a day of surf fishing, hiking, seining and kayaking. The teachers from High Point are a great group but they are less familiar with the local fauna than we are. It would be a great experience for any of you to work with a group of developmentally disabled young adults helping out several very experienced special education teachers. Thursday, May 31st is a Blue Moon and we expect the horseshoe crabs to be laying their eggs near the dike that night. Jenny Buck and a crew from Save Barnegat Bay have asked for help counting crabs that night. I will paddle to the dike from Sedge with any interested interns. MATES leave on Friday June 1st at 9:00AM. June 1st is also the day when Save Barnegat Bay has their Nitrogen Pollution press conference in Lavallete at 11:00AM. Mike Kennish, top Barnegat Bay scientist will be speaking. Helen Henderson wants me to come and talk about "Gunga Gunga!" I'd like to do the oyster vs mussel race and bring other things for show and tell?? Ryan and Alton could talk about their water quality/shellfish growth study. Since the MATES group will be leaving at 9:00AM and the AMC group will not arrive until the afternoon, we will have time to attend this important meeting (Your attendance at this press conference is optional of course - if you need to waste time taking a shower, resting or doing something else, feel free.) Later that afternoon the kayakers from the Appalachian Mount Club begin to arrive. These folks paddle out in their own boats (some homemade with handcarved paddles) and some very sophisticated gear. They can really paddle and the are very good at helping teach skills. And, they cook really good food! As good as this is, some of us will leave on Sunday June 3rd to help out at the Barnegat Bay Natiional Estuary Program Festival in Island Heights. This is a gathering of nearly all of the environmental groups in the Barnegat Bay watershed. We will set up our display (Emily will hopefully have some oysters and mussels for a race) and help out were we are needed.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Watershed Ambassadors
By spring the Watershed Ambassadors have had months of experience dealing with water issues in all parts of New Jersey. Some of them have even spent time working and living in Watershed 13, almost all of which drains into Barnegat Bay. But they still have new experiences when the visit Sedge.
Kayaking was a big hit for everyone as we paddled into the salt marsh. Not everyone was a thrilled when our hike across one of the salt marsh islands took us through some wet areas where the new shoots of Spartina are just emerging through the mud. When we returned we tried some clamming. Several of the Ambassadors really got into it and didn’t even use waders in the 58 degree water. Although they didn’t find many clams they had the opportunity to see over 50,000 oysters we now have in bags and Taylor floats attached to the dock.
For their last meal at Sedge the cook out of hamburgers and hot dogs was supplemented by over a dozen green crabs which, although small, provided a tasty treat.
Many members braved the chilly night air to sleep under the stars and awake to a beautfiful sunrise!
Although kayaking at Sedge was a definite highlight of the trip, the ambassadors also had a great time working together to navigate the 6-person canoe.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Ridge and Valley Charter School
April 2, 2007
Seven parents and trustees accompanied nine students to Sedge Island for the weekend. Although these are by far the youngest students who come to Sedge (they range in age from four to fourteen) they are some of the most conservation minded. They are comfortable in the outdoors no matter what the weather because many of their school classes are taught outside. They have studied the water cycle and food webs. They all recycle and compost at school and at home.
As a result of the conservation knowledge base, activities at Sedge focus on the specifics of the salt marsh environment. As we kayaked through the mosquito ditches between the osprey nests and the peregrine falcon hacking tower, we discussed the negative impact caused by spraying DDT on the marsh and the success of the efforts by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife to bring back these threatened and endangered species. One of the parents is the manager of the community based gardening program at Genesis Farm. He especially enjoyed making comparisons between his land farming in Warren County and our aquaculture program at Sedge.
Seven parents and trustees accompanied nine students to Sedge Island for the weekend. Although these are by far the youngest students who come to Sedge (they range in age from four to fourteen) they are some of the most conservation minded. They are comfortable in the outdoors no matter what the weather because many of their school classes are taught outside. They have studied the water cycle and food webs. They all recycle and compost at school and at home.
As a result of the conservation knowledge base, activities at Sedge focus on the specifics of the salt marsh environment. As we kayaked through the mosquito ditches between the osprey nests and the peregrine falcon hacking tower, we discussed the negative impact caused by spraying DDT on the marsh and the success of the efforts by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife to bring back these threatened and endangered species. One of the parents is the manager of the community based gardening program at Genesis Farm. He especially enjoyed making comparisons between his land farming in Warren County and our aquaculture program at Sedge.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Rutgers University Human Ecology Class
April 19- 21, 2007
Dr. Bonnie McKay brought students from her Human Ecology Class in April to become the first group to be in residence in 2007. Many of the students are majoring in environmental policy. As a result we had some interesting discussions as to how both government and non-government organizations could be involved in issues regarding wildlife and other conservation issues. Dr. Roger Locandro, former Dean of Students at Cook College, got things started as he led a discussion on Friday night.
The next morning we boarded the kayaks and paddled through the marshes that had been completely submerged during the big northeaster that hit the state several days earlier. We noted that the pair of peregrine falcons appear to be guarding eggs in their new “igloo” house and osprey are setting up their nests on almost all of the platforms. We stopped for lunch at one of the last remaining “shacks” on the islands in the Marine Conservation Zone. As we ate we watched several types of migratory warblers resting in the trees around the house. In the afternoon we returned to the house and got involved in a variety of the usual activities including clamming, and fishing. On his first cast one of the students caught the first fish of the season, a twenty-four inch striped bass.
On Saturday we celebrated Earth Day. We took a hike along the ocean beach to Barnegat Inlet. On this, the warmest day of the year, we enjoyed our walk along the jetty to the Army Corps of Engineers Dike. We found that this last northeaster has eroded the dike even more to a point where much of the sand has blown back into the inlet and the geo-tube is broken in several places. These observations led to more discussions of environmental policy.
One member of the class had been a professional photographer. Using his digital camera he took many pictures. If he sends a disc of his pictures as promised we will post them on this site.
Dr. Bonnie McKay brought students from her Human Ecology Class in April to become the first group to be in residence in 2007. Many of the students are majoring in environmental policy. As a result we had some interesting discussions as to how both government and non-government organizations could be involved in issues regarding wildlife and other conservation issues. Dr. Roger Locandro, former Dean of Students at Cook College, got things started as he led a discussion on Friday night.
The next morning we boarded the kayaks and paddled through the marshes that had been completely submerged during the big northeaster that hit the state several days earlier. We noted that the pair of peregrine falcons appear to be guarding eggs in their new “igloo” house and osprey are setting up their nests on almost all of the platforms. We stopped for lunch at one of the last remaining “shacks” on the islands in the Marine Conservation Zone. As we ate we watched several types of migratory warblers resting in the trees around the house. In the afternoon we returned to the house and got involved in a variety of the usual activities including clamming, and fishing. On his first cast one of the students caught the first fish of the season, a twenty-four inch striped bass.
On Saturday we celebrated Earth Day. We took a hike along the ocean beach to Barnegat Inlet. On this, the warmest day of the year, we enjoyed our walk along the jetty to the Army Corps of Engineers Dike. We found that this last northeaster has eroded the dike even more to a point where much of the sand has blown back into the inlet and the geo-tube is broken in several places. These observations led to more discussions of environmental policy.
One member of the class had been a professional photographer. Using his digital camera he took many pictures. If he sends a disc of his pictures as promised we will post them on this site.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sedge "Open House"
I write this sitting in my “office” (desk in the corner of my bedroom) looking out over the Bay in South Seaside Park. This is the height of the April 2007 northeaster. The wind is “blowing like stink” (about 30 kts with gusts to 40) Most of the rain passed us to the north so our streets are only moderately flooded. It snowed some a little while ago but has now changed over to rain. Our beach was getting eroded last night at high when the wind was strong NE but now it has switched to NW so the ocean is calm while the waves are so high in the bay the wild wind blown white water it looks like the ocean did yesterday.
Ten members of Friends of Sedge, including three new interns, worked all day Saturday to get everything ready for our first group (Students from Rutgers will be arriving Thursday night.) Before leaving the dock at Island Beach, we did some work in the parking lot to replace some of the fill eroded away by the winter storms. (There is more work to be done here as much of the sand has moved into the boat slip making it difficult if not impossible to get the pontoon boat in at low tide.)
Once we got to the island we quickly set about working on many projects. We turned on the hot water and the stove. We washed all the dishes and replaced them in clean closets. We took all the kayaks out of the boat house and swept the floor. We launched the jon boat, put on the outboard and the interns had their first lesson in small boat handling.
After lunch we went to work on the shellfish. We checked the six predator screens covering the 600,000 10mm clams on the shellfish lease to the west of the house. They are still in place but are beginning to get fouled even though we cleaned them three weeks ago. Then we turned our attention to the shellfish at the dock. We scrubbed 8 bags of oysters removing thousands of 1 MM blue mussels growing on the outside and blocking water flow. We separated some of the oysters into additional bags to avoid over crowding. We cleaned the Taylor Float. We were disappointed to find that about 40% of one bag of 20mm clams has died- perhaps as a result of the poor circulation of water due to fouling by mussels, algae, and other organisms. But when you consider mortality in the wild is more like 95% we are not doing too badly.
Although we had intended to spend the night, the threat of the pending storm made leaving seem like a good idea. Even though the tide was blown out and we had to walk to pull the pontoon boat over the sand bar, this was a wise choice. We are now in the middle of a major storm and, had we waited, we would have been forced to stay on the island until it blew itself out. As it was we came back to my house and made clam chowder. GREAT IDEA!
Thank you so much to all the members of FOS , both new and experienced. We would not be able to run our programs if it were not for your help. Jim
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Spring News!
As our 2007 season is about to get underway we look forward to a great season. Many of last year's groups are returning. In addition we have many new groups for what is shaping up to be our busiest year yet. Here are some of the things which have been, or are about to happen this Spring.
Hopefully some of you will be joining us for our "Open the House" on May 14 and 14 (see previous entry and contact Jim 609 658-7965) We are planning to get some work done cleaning the house and getting out equipment but we will have some fun too. Come on out to Sedge!
We have a whole crop of new interns. Sherry Martin, who volunteered at Sedge last fall, is graduating from MATES and will be starting as a freshman at Cornell after the summer. Two students will be coming to us from Richard Stockton College. Samantha Tennick is a sophomore marine bio. major and Ryan Ballou is getting his degree in Environmental Science. Erin Denniston is presently a Watershed Ambassador working at the Forest Resource Education Center in Jackson. In addition, Alton Hallgreen who is graduating this May with a Bachelor of Biological Science from Rowan University, will be spending a majority of his time working with the aquaculture program both at Sedge and other sites around Barnegat Bay.
Several weeks ago Jim accompanied by Ryan and Alton paddled out to Sedge. The tide was low and the water was blown out of the bay. It was evident that shifting sand over the winter will make it even more difficult to get to the island by pontoon boat at low tide. Low water made it easier for us to see the winter accumulation of sand and decaying plant material on the predator screens covering the 600,000 baby (8-10 mm) clams we planted last fall. Cleaning the screens proved far more difficult than we imagined. It took almost five hours of hard, back breaking work lifting and clearing the six screens. We noted that the screens are providing habitat for shrimp, blue and green crabs, sea squirts, sea stars and millions of tiny blue mussels.
As we were eating lunch we checked out the Peregrine Falcons who seem to be adapting quite nicely to their new house on the hacking tower. We also noted that the osperey are back and at least one pair was setting up its nest in preparation for the breeding season. When we took a quick walk around the island we noted that a fox had dug in the Diamond Backed Terrapin nest plots on the west side of the house. Hopefully the fox didn't get all the eggs.
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