Day 37 Monday May 9, 2016 To Nummy Lake .

Day 37  Monday May 9, 2016  To Nummy Lake .

Let me say that in the morning after a fine guided tour by the Cape May Audubon we headed to Nummy Island. (Never did find it) and then headed to Nummy Lake (not in the same area at all) Talk about confusing, Even the locals did not know much about them. Between the hike in the AM and Nummy Lake, we did garner 48 Species including  some new ones…the SPOTTED SANDPIPER, HERMIT THRUSH (Which almost came through our truck window it was so close.), PINE WARBLER (Quite close),and the  RED EYED VIREO. We are approaching 140 species on the trip.

The morning birders at 7:30 ready to go with guide.
We traversed, Meadow, Forest, mud flats, and sand dunes
where the Piping Plover nest sites  will be  located. They
are not here yet.

One half way through the hike at the Beach of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is the southernmost part of New Jersey.

The oldest standing home since the 1600;' in Lewes, Delaware.
We believe it was added on.

Another of the older homes n Delaware at Lewes.

But I promised some background on the Horseshoe Crab today, and here it is.

Horseshoe crabs are evolutionary survivors that have remained relatively unchanged in appearance for 850 million years. The horseshoe crab is not really a crab at all. Think scorpion and spider.

The peak  of the spawning season on the Atlantic Cast occurs on Delaware Bay where thousands of crabs will arrive on the sandy beaches in May and June.

In an evening of egg laying a female crab can lay several egg clusters (a cluster contains about 4,000 tiny green eggs) and she may spawn repeatedly over several nights to lay 100,000 eggs or more. There may be a half dozen males trying to mate with her during this process.

Adult crabs may live another 8-10 years after spawning, giving them a lifespan of as long as 20 years.

Horseshoe crabs have several pair of eyes. This is important as some of the eyes are sensitive to sunlight or moon light. This is important to accurately place  the spawning time. They have no jaws or teeth. They have an impressive array of spiny mouth bristles at the base of five pair of legs  to maneuver food items into their centrally located mouth.

Delaware Bay boasts the second largest population of shorebirds in North America. More than half of the shorebirds (5 species) depend on Delaware Bay’s horseshoe crab eggs as a rich food supply.. Each bird can DOUBLE its weight  in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, by eating thousands of horseshoe eggs.

Medically it is very important. A clotting agent called Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) is derived from they amoebocytes found on the horseshoe crab egg. When LAL goes in contact with bacterial toxins, a clotting reaction occurs. There is no synthetic substitute for LAL.

Human development threatens horseshoe crab survival here and in other parts of the world.

Earlier they were used (the eggs and crabs)  for animal food and fertilizer. At present they are used for bait in the conch and eel industries.

In 1998 The Atlantic Sates Marine Fisheries Commission developed a crab management plan with the eight Eastern Seaboard states, affected. This is helping, but the results will not be known for nine or more years as these affected crabs mature.

A few photos from today on the bird walk this morning. I will tell more about Nummy Lake tomorrow. We willed for “Jake’s landing” tomorrow and the Research HQ of Cape May Observatory (Birds).