By Sandy Stuart Perry
Communications Manager
New Jersey Conservation Foundation

This past winter was the mildest in recorded history. While this was a plus for many – no plowing, no shoveling! – it wasn’t good for our honeybee colonies.

Instead of staying snug in their hives, expending little energy and consuming little food, the confused honeybees buzzed out into the warm weather, searching for pollen and nectar. Not finding much, they returned to their hives hungry and quickly depleted the stores of honey they needed to survive. Beekeeper Shaun Ananko, who teaches beekeeping courses for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey and Grow It Green Morristown, says some colonies actually starved.

Local decoy and bird carver Anthony “Tony” Hillman will return to New Jersey Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May

Local decoy and bird carver Anthony “Tony” Hillman will return to New Jersey Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May on May 15 to share more of the lore and legend associated with this historical art form unique to South Jersey.

Hillman, who has been carving decoys for more than 30 years, will be the featured speaker 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of the Nature Center’s Seaside Connections Lecture Series. Typically, speakers share experiences and knowledge of topics that touch on the history, economy, development and the challenges to the local environment.

Dustin Laricks fished with captain Joe Hughes last Saturday and caught himself a dozen bluefish and one striper behind Sea Isle City.

Cloudy skies, showers and chilly temperatures couldn't keep anglers from casting their lines last Saturday for the opening day of flounder season. A drive over just about any bridge last weekend gave a view of the waters flooded with boats throughout the back bays. Those trying to catch their first keeper flattie of the year complained of the cold weather but where thrilled with the start of the season.

hummingbirds

Cape May County naturalist Pat Sutton says the hummingbirds are coming, so fans of this tiny bird better get their gardens ready.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds – the most common type of hummingbird found in South Jersey and the only hummer that breeds east of the Mississippi – spend the winter in southern Mexico and as far south as Costa Rica, migrating north in the spring.

They began arriving in the United States in late February and are moving north at a pace that coincides with the opening of their favorite nectar flowers.

Ruby-throats generally arrive in the Cape-Atlantic region between April 19 and 23, timing their arrival with the blooming of flowering quince, Sutton said. In other regions, crabapple, azalea, autumn olive, blueberry or tulip tree blossoms might be the food source to which they are drawn.

Boat aficionados browse the dock at last year’s boat show.

 Three years ago, South Jersey Marina hosted a new in-water boat show designed to appeal to the serious boating enthusiast. For the first three years, the show was called the Strictly Jersey Boat Show.

This year the show’s focus has been expanded to make it more accessible to buyers in neighboring states, and the name has been changed to the Strictly Boaters Boat Show.

The show continues to be open only to boat manufacturers, dealers and companies that furnish products and services used by boaters.

The Cape May County Utilities Authority is a member of the Earth Day committee and will have a hand in many aspects of the celebration, according to county recycling coordinator Linda S. Crumbock.

There will be an information table set up where people can stop to pick up brochures and ask questions about recycling.

Crumbock will be involved in a number of activities with the MUA’s community partner, the Rutgers Master Gardener Program. In one, they will help visitors make biodegradable paper flowerpots, a project that she said gives her the opportunity to expose participants to the concepts of biodegradability and composting.

The Nature Center of Cape May is holding its annual Wildlife Plant Sale. The plant selection emphasizes the use of New Jersey native plants, which benefit wildlife and have a strong ornamental appeal for the backyard landscape.

Some nonnative (but noninvasive) perennials and annuals, which offer an added boost to butterfly gardens, will also be available.

Plants can be ordered anytime before April 28 and can be picked up 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 12 and 13 at the Nature Center, 1600 Delaware Ave., Cape May.

Take advantage of the Nature Center of Cape May’s Backyard Habitat Plant Swap Saturday, April 30 to add hummingbird nectar plants to your garden.

This year’s theme is caterpillar host plants. Now is the perfect time to thin out the perennial garden and share some of your unwanted plants with others.

Art teacher Rick Horn landed this 31 1/2-inch bass April 14 in the back bay behind his Ocean City home. His reel is spooled with 8-pound test line.

Tautog bite steady off bridges, jetties

Fishing in recent weeks has been like the weather: cold some days, hot on others. One fish that takes the trophy for hitting the lines the most is tautog.

The season for this spiny fish runs through Aug. 31 with a changeup of limits beginning May 1. Through April 30 anglers are permitted four fish at 15 inches or more, but starting May 1 the limit drops to one.

The tautog is an easy fish find. They can be found off of any jetty or bridge as well as from a vessel. But hooking one might be a different story. Most times tautog prefer crustaceans such as crab or clam. Bait such as squid or mullet will very rarely entice this fish, and they won't bat an eye at minnows.

Joan Barrett at Dolfin Dock in Somers Point said that the tautog bite is out of control off any bridge, jetty or piling. She reported that Barry Jacobsen of Egg Harbor Township limited out twice last week – all keepers at 15 inches – using green crab at the Ocean City Bridge. Jim Akers of Landisville nailed a 14.2-pound tautog that was 28 inches long from the Ocean City Bridge using green crabs.

Friends, neighbors and fans of Cape May Harbor are invited to come out and assist with a spring beach sweep 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21. In addition to rounding up debris on the harbor shore, volunteers will assist with the removal of invasive plant species from the upland areas of the Nature Center campus.