Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary

Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary may get grants, if not birds
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Published: Saturday, June 10, 2006
Updated: Saturday, June 10, 2006

STONE HARBOR — A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program will help find grants to help the 21-acre Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary pump life into the wooded preserve situated amid a sea of concrete.

Robert Bartke, chairman of the sanctuary's advisory committee, said he hopes the borough's partnership with the federal Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program will make the sanctuary more hospitable to herons and egrets.

With enough money, Bartke said work would include fixing or replacing a pipe that brings tidal water into the marsh.

It could also involve removing invasive species and phragmites — where potential bird eaters may lurk — and planting more trees for migrating birds.

Bartke said he hopes for a three- to five-year project that will eventually include observation stations for visitors to peer into the sanctuary, which is offlimits to pedestrians.

“We want to get the sanctuary to where it was many years ago. Make it so we hope the birds will return,” he said.

In September, Stone Harbor Borough Council approved a $50,000 study, one in a long line of speculations and attempted solutions.

At the time, borough officials estimated making the sanctuary more hospitable might cost several million dollars.

For more than a decade, Stone Harbor officials have tried ways to bring more birds to the sanctuary. Herons and egrets abandoned breeding at the site more than a decade ago.

There are a total of 1.3 million birders in New Jersey, 15 percent of whom are nonresidents, said Lillian Armstrong, director of birding and wildlife trails for the state Audubon Society, citing a federal study from 2001.

David Mizrahi, vice president of research at the New Jersey Audubon Society, said the issue of herons may likely be a simple one: predators. Raccoons, possums, feral cats.

“That's likely what drove the birds out. It's hard to know exactly what a bird sees when it looks at a patch of habit, but from our perspective, I don't think there's anything wrong with the habitat per se,” Mizrahi said.

“I'd like to think, if you build it, they'll come, but I don't know if that's the case.”

Mizrahi said there are many things that can be done to improve the habitat and make it a nice place for migrating songbirds. They can remove invasive plants and replace them with fruit bearing shrubs, he said.

As the barrier islands were built out with development, patches of good habitat diminished. The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary remained and is one of the few shows around on the barrier islands.

With a habitat the circumference of three-quarters of a mile, the sanctuary stands out. In 1965, it became a registered National Landmark.

“When they can find a patch in our world of nearly complete build-out on barrier islands, when they find a patch it can be important, even if it's just a place to rest,” Mizrahi said.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press:BIanieri@pressofac.com