The Lighthouse Center install

On December 23rd I installed a platform with some of the great volunteers that this project has at the Lighthouse Center in Waretown. The install went without a hitch besides not being able to start the boat motor at the ramp in Barnegat. The tide was unusually low in the morning, it was supposed to be high tide, but b/c of the prevailing NW winds with 50mph gusts on Monday it caused a blow out tide. So, we ditched the boat and went with Plan B, walk the platform around 50 yards onto the saltmarsh (should've been Plan A if I knew we were able to do that, so lesson learned...). Otherwise the install went great! I'm working on editing down the raw video I took for another example of how platforms are installed.

Thanks for the help with the install and awesome donations towards the project!!!

Happy New Year!



Alan White, Ben W.(author), McDuffy Barrow, Pola Galie, Jeff Ruemeli, Pat Filardi, and Curt Watts (from left to right).

Save the Date!!!!

What: Help transport and install 10 + platforms in Great Bay Blvd. WMA
When: January 16th, 17th and possibly the 18th, 2009.
Where: New Gretna to Seven Bridges Road.

Details: This event is weather permitting! If the forecast calls for any precipitation or gale force winds then we will be forced to delay this event. Please dress accordingly. The weather on the saltmarsh in winter is usually not very forgiving. There is almost always a breeze, which equates to wind chill. All skin that is exposed will be cold, no matter what. Knee boots, hip or chest waders are required!! (I have an extra pair, size 11, if anyone needs to borrow some). I'll be creating an event on Facebook for this install. I will post a link on here when I create it.

Day1- I will need 1-2 volunteers to help me load
the platforms onto a trailer to transport to the boat
ramp on Seven Bridges Rd.

Day 2- 3-4 volunteers to possibly man two boats to
transport the platforms to where they will be
installed.

Day 3- up to 10 volunteers, 5/boat to help install
the platforms and document the event.
(note: I will be inviting a photographer and writer from the local media to join us, at least for the installation of one platform)

Tide Chart for January 17th, 2009.

Construction complete!

(From left to right) Ben Wurst, Author; Greg Rineberg, Greg Molyneux, Giselle, Jack Gamble

Well we're on our way to installing the 10+ platforms in Great Bay Blvd. WMA from a donation by Exelon Corp. (Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River) and from my Facebook pledge. In all, 14 platforms were built on Saturday, the 20th. I had over 10 friends show up to brave the cold cloudy day to help build these. Overall the construction went like a breeze, besides the tiny compressors we had to operate the air ratchet, so we ditched that for good old fashioned hand tools.

We saved lumber to build one platform where we taped the construction from start to finish. I'm in the process of editing the video and should have it done before the weekend. I just like to thank Greg M. for being the camera man! Stay tuned for the video!

We plan on installing these platforms early this winter, probably in January. I believe that we could get all up in one day, that is if I tranport each one to the exact location where we are going to install it. We will also be taking video of the actual installation as a tutorial for future use by organizations, other states, and the general public.

I just want to thank all my friends who showed up to help out! THANKS!

-Ben

Platform construction day

Hey all, I'm back from my honeymoon trip to St. John, so....Back to reality!

This Saturday will be when we construct around 10-15 platforms at my house. If I do not have your e-mail address, please e-mail that to me if you are interested in coming (or you can txt or e-mail me).

Time: 10am-whenever we get done.
Place: My house in New Gretna. Please park down the old mill road just before my house, drive back and park near the wood pile.

Maybe we can all pitch in $5 and get either subs or pizza for lunch.


The weather does not look great all wee; however, Saturday they are calling for only a 10% chance of rain, so keep your fingers crossed, b/c we will be working outside.

Migration Revealed!!!

Since this past summer when myself and our volunteers banded almost 80% of the young (357 out of 454) that were produced we have gotten several recoveries of those bands. When a band is recovered, it is found on either a live or dead bird. So far we have had 5 bands recovered from this year's fledglings. Most of the time the bird is found found dead. In this case the bird was found dead and the USGS Bird Banding Lab was notified by the finder calling the phone # that was on the band (1-800-327-BAND).

This bird originated from a nest on a channel marker in West Wildwood and was banded by one of our volunteer banders, Hans Toft. Amazingly enough, this juvenile actually lost it's mom due to being entangled by monofilament. The adult was found dangling from the nest and had its legs bound by the line. Luckily a bulkheading crew that was passing by cut the bird free and got it to us so we could transport to our rehabilitator, Don Bonica of Toms River Avian Care. Tragically the adult did not survive, but we do know that the adult male was successful with raising its two young to fledge, and one of those young survived enough to make it to it's wintering area in South America.

The bird and band was recovered on 10/28 and was found near Tolima, Colombia in the town of Ibague. This recovery shows that this juvenile osprey traveled around 2,300 miles to its wintering area. Ospreys normally spend the next breeding season in that area then return to NJ the following year. So young that were produced this year will most likely return to NJ in late March, 2010.
However, not many young survive during the first year of life. A young osprey faces many difficult challenges and the mortality rate for most birds of prey including ospreys is around 80%. So of the 454 fledglings from NJ, only 91 may survive to return to breed in NJ in 2010. Not a very optimistic statistic.

While in their wintering areas ospreys face many perils that they do not see here in the U.S. In South America, many countries still have not banded DDT (however it isn't used as heavily as it was here in the 1960's) and other harmful chemicals which eventually runoff and make their way into the water table (where ospreys find food). Also, in many areas in the Southern Hemisphere there are large fish farms. These fish farms are bound to attract the attention of young ospreys and when they do, the farmers probably do not hesitate to shoot them! Other major causes of death are impacts with many man-made structures including buildings, power poles, and radio guide wires. Electrocution is another cause of death when an unsuspecting bird perches on a power pole.

I'll post more maps of where we have had other recoveries from this years young soon. If you'd like to see more detailed accounts of other fledglings from Delaware and Massachusetts, click here for a link to a satellite tracking project with UNCC.