Along the coast, there seems to be a huge number of these mushroom cap and bowling ball jellies that are washing up on our beaches,” he said… They just chose to pop out much earlier because it was such a cold winter and they just sprang to life.

Different bacteria produce very different types of cyanotoxin. While some can cause very minor symptoms, such as skin irritation, some will actually damage our liver or nervous system, and cause much more severe impact on human health.

Maybe you were swarmed by gnats on your daily walk or heard the chirping of crickets outside of your window as if it was a warm summer evening and not an evening in the beginning of November.

You’re not alone as several insect species that would typically be gone by November are still hanging around due to the warm weather that we have been experiencing.

Most insects in New Jersey like gnats and mosquitoes lay their last batch of eggs in late summer/early fall and then just kind of ‘hang out’ until a hard frost which kills them. Since it has been so warm, we haven’t had those killing frosts yet, so ‘yes,’ there are many insects that would typically be gone by November still hanging out now, and possibly biting if that’s what they do! Basically … until we have some real cold weather (i.e. below freezing), we’ll continue seeing adult insects flying around.

You also want to make sure to check yourself, your kiddos, and your pets when spending time outdoors, making sure you get your scalp, behind your ears, armpits, groin, belly button, and behind your knees. And hop in the shower after a hike or camping trip, to further ensure they’re off.

A tick searching for a place to bite is much easier to remove than a tick that has already started feeding. So check for ticks frequently during hikes or whenever spending an extended amount of time outdoors.

Dr. Paul Bologna said these gelatinous animals are commonly found across the Jersey Shore during the warmer months.

Jellyfish are about 95% water and are simple creatures, lacking a heart, brain and blood, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Yet these animals are successful predators, feeding on sea creatures like plankton, small crustaceans, fish eggs and larvae, Bologna said. As jellyfish get larger, they will consume common bait fish and full-sized fish, he said.

Jellyfish “could be really devastating to fisheries around the world,” said Bologna. “Where you get these big plumes of these guys coming through, they can really knock back fish populations.”

Seaweed farming could reduce the pressure on natural seaweed forests by replacing wild harvesting. Yet, most of the seaweed consumed by humans is already farmed (97 percent of the 30 million tons of seaweed used by humans in 2018 was farmed, according to an article published in 2020 by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations). Given that the decline of habitat-forming seaweed is a worldwide concern (due primarily to climate change), further reducing wild harvest should be beneficial to ocean conservation.

Listening and watching birds has made me more aware of the times of day, and times of year, when certain birds become more active. Healthy environments too, of course, attract more birds.

You can see the seasons. You’re looking at birds but you can’t help but see everything else too. You see the entire ecosystem.

Some bird-watchers upload their sightings into , a scientific database that tracks avian populations, which have  in past decades.

“We know that people protect what they care about, and you really only care about what you know,” said Smith. “So Merlin is our way of making learning about birds available and accessible to everybody.”

About 30 years ago, Dr. Smallwood, set up 100 nest boxes in what should be some of New Jersey’s prime kestrel habitat, attaching them to utility poles and trees near fields and meadows. The first year, 1995, kestrels made three nests. The next year, there were seven, then 26. By 2002, they reached a high of 61. But then the number of nests started dropping. Last year, there were only 21. This year again, the vast majority of his boxes sit empty of kestrels. On a recent afternoon, some contained only wood chips. One had been claimed by bluebirds.

The kestrel nests that do exist are carefully tracked.

Here’s how to catch a kestrel in a nest box: Approach slowly, ideally masking your sound with a passing car or plane. One person covers the nest hole with a net while another climbs a ladder and unlatches the box from the side. (This is all illegal without federal and state permits.)

“Hello. We’re old friends, we know each other from way back.

Dr. Smallwood and two graduate students record data for each bird: band number, weight, molting status. A plucked feather yields DNA. Studies have shown, he noted, that kestrels tolerate such handling without suffering nest losses.