Post Sandy surveys equal good news!

So far, in the areas that I've surveyed most osprey nesting platforms are still standing (like this one pictured below)!

A new platform that was installed only 8 days before Sandy hit the NJ coast, Ocean City, NJ.  © Ben Wurst

Volunteers needed!!

Volunteers are needed to help move an osprey platform in Waretown at the Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education. The proposed work is to performed on February 22nd beginning at 9:30am. A total of 3-4 strong able-bodied volunteers are needed. They should bring work gloves and a pair of knee/hip boots or waders. If you would like to help, please Email Ben.

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Ospreys are on vacation, but we are not!

I'm sorry for my lack in posting frequent updates to the blog. Currently ospreys are down south. All NJ birds are currently wintering in the Caribbean, Central America and N. South America. There are still a few osprey that have been seen in NJ though. All are probably birds that breed up north and winter in areas like Florida. In other news, the annual newsletter will be out next week with amazing news about how well the population did in 2011. A short summary is that production was above 2 young/active nest and 25 new nests were occupied. This puts the state population well above the estimated level before DDT and habitat loss decimated the population in the 1940s & 50s. I'll post the newsletter once its final version is finalized.

Here is a video I produced last night from a platform relocation done last winter. Enjoy!

Unexpected Outcome!

New B. Bay platform gets instant use

Usually I use April 1st as a cut-off date for getting new structures installed. This was not the case with this particular platform. After several delays (mainly because of weather) we finally got it up on April 20th. John Faus donated to have the platform placed near his summer home off Harvey Cedars inside Forsythe NWR. The platform was made from 100% salvaged wood.

John Faus and the 100% salvaged wood platform on B. Bay. © Ben Wurst

John sent me some photos today that confirms that the nest is occupied and that the pair is incubating a clutch of eggs. I did not think this platform would become occupied this late in the season, especially since there are other unoccupied platforms up on B. Bay. Maybe the birds prefer platforms to be made from salvaged materials or maybe they can sense that this platform/wood was used before by other ospreys in its past life...

A female osprey sits on eggs. Photo courtesy Steve Wright.

Pre-Season Platform installs & Reducing impacts on our Environment

Reusing Wood from the Atlantic City Boardwalk

It's been a busy Spring! Over the past few weeks I've been working to finish installing osprey platforms before the nesting season begins in mid-April. From Fort Monmouth to Stone Harbor, I was there. Funding for these platforms came mostly from private donors, other non-profits, and the federal government. One particular platform was made exclusively out of salvaged wood. The wood was sourced from the Atlantic City Boardwalk by a contractor, Rich Bishoff, who was passionate about finding a better use for the old wood.

I paddle across the dike while straddling the salvaged platform at Forsythe NWR. Photo courtesy Ann Marie Morrison.

I'm very passionate about reducing mine and my families impact on the environment. I also bring this philosophy with me to work. At home I recycle, reuse or re-purpose a lot of stuff; #5 plastics, all metal, e-waste, wood, and more. If you'd look in my garage you'd see what I mean... A couple of years ago when one of my best friends was going to be demolishing his old home to renovate and enlarge it, I was ready to go to work to demolish and collect salvaged materials from there. I managed to collect much of what was demolished at his house and that included a lot of knotty tongue and groove white cedar which covered his walls. I make a lot of stuff out of the salvaged wood; mostly frames to hold my photographs, mirrors, and other customs items that I occasionally sell on Etsy.

Below are photographs from all our platform installs and relocation efforts this spring. A total of 17 platforms have been moved or installed in the past 7 weeks (one more is in the planning stage and should happen next week)! Thank you to the generous donors, Becky Hedden-Atlantic Audubon, Mary Lenahan, John Studdiford, John Faus, Joe Fallon-US Army Corps, and to all the volunteers who helped me to install all of these platforms. THANK YOU!!

A platform being carefully moved across a creek on Patcong Creek in Linwood. It was relocated to a more suitable location than where it was placed. © Ben Wurst

Wetlands Institute staff helped move this platform that has never been occupied out to a location that is farther away from human disturbance. © Ben Wurst

Mary Lenahan donated to have this platform placed near Ventnor. © Ben Wurst

Out with NBC News 40 to install the salvaged platform at Forsythe NWR. Image courtesy Loralea Kirby

Installing the salvaged platform at Forsythe NWR. Image courtesy Loralea Kirby

Ed Green, Ben Wurst (blog author), Dave Flinter, Allison Anholt, and Brian Bovasso (L to R) helped install two platforms near the infamous "F" cove near Mantoloking, NJ on April 6th. Photo by Alf Breed

Workers at Fort Monmouth installed ten 40' platforms there in late March to enhance nesting habitat on the Shrewsbury River. © Ben Wurst

Ospreys in the News!

Salvaged platform placed inside Forsythe NWR is made from A.C. Boardwalk!

Counting Down...

Ospreys headed North!

In the next week some of the first adult ospreys will be arriving at nest sites throughout New Jersey. Usually, we get the first reports from nest sites along the Maurice River, where Jane Galetto and her group of dedicated volunteers with Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries monitor over 50 nesting platforms. Let me know when you first see or hear an osprey calling to announce their presence. 

Repairs to the nest were performed while young were in the nest. I was there to ensure that the young were healthy and banded them at the same time. © Ben Wurst

Some recent news, we're working with Ocean City and partnering with the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association to get a grant from NJ American Water to help connect a camera that has been on a nest platform that is just north of the 9th Street Bridge (Rt. 52) into Ocean City. The camera has been up for two nesting seasons. This will be it's third. The ability to share the daily behavior and nesting activities of ospreys in New Jersey has long been an interest of mine. This will allow us to bring ospreys into homes, offices, and classrooms and will help spread awareness for this threatened species that is vulnerable to human disturbance, environmental contaminants, and lack of suitable nest sites.

Check this off my list of stuff to do...

I've been wanting to move this platform for years!!

I finally got around to moving a platform at the Wetlands Institute yesterday. I had help from staff at the Institute. I believe the platform was never occupied because of its close proximity to human disturbance. It was near areas that get high use by people who visit the site in the spring and summer months. At its new location, its closer to water and farther away from humans, a perfect fit for a pair of ospreys!

I was assisted by Wetlands Institute staff, Dan McLaughlin, Phil Broder, and Kaitlin Gannon (from L to R) to help move this platform that has never been occupied. It was moved to the SE, in more suitable habitat at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. © Ben Wurst

Prepping for Another Nesting Season

Adult Ospreys Begin Heading North in 2 to 4 weeks!

Volunteers with the NJ Osprey Project help install this platform that was moved to a more suitable location along Patcong Creek in Linwood, NJ. © Ben Wurst

Building an Appreciation for Ospreys!

Students help install braces on the platform. © Ben Wurst

This past week I met up with approximately 25 students from the Folwell School in Mount Holly. The 4th and 5th graders chose to help ospreys by constructing an osprey nesting platform for the Disney's Planet Challenge. "DPC teaches kids about science and conservation while empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities and planet." I was very happy to work with Maria Rivera, teacher of the students, from the beginning. Constructing the platform with the students was a rare treat and I was slightly envious of them. I was thinking, if I could only say that I helped to build an osprey platform when I was 9-10 years old....

I plan on inviting the students to help me install the platform near New Gretna, in eastern Burlington County in late March.

• Read more

Making It Right

A Bad Installation...

Each year I am contacted by more and more individuals who find osprey nesting platforms that are placed in unsuitable habitat or in areas with high levels of disturbance. This week I was contact by Harry Cottril and his daughter Laura about this platform. In my last post, I stated that I'd be installing a platform in Linwood (where this platform is located) this winter/early spring. Harry commented on my post and was wondering if I installed it. I know just about every nest structure for ospreys in the state, many of which I've climbed to band young in late June/early July. I wasn't familiar with one at the location described by Harry. In many cases people contact me for guidance on suitable locations to install osprey platforms and I am more than happy to offer guidance to avoid these types of situations!

This platform was placed in the one of the worst locations, right next to a primitive boat ramp on Patcong Creek in Linwood, NJ. Photo courtesy Harry Cottril.

I may not have installed it, but I'm planning on moving it! I have not seen the platform firsthand, but from the photo it looks like a sound platform that was built from our plans. It's current location is at the west end of Hamilton Ave. in Linwood on Patcong Creek. The land is owned by the City of Linwood as municipal open space. The location is too close to the parking area/boat ramp on the creek.

A map of Hamilton Ave. and one osprey platform to the south of Bargaintown Lake. Courtesy Google Earth.

There is a parcel to the south that is much more suitable for ospreys. It's farther away from disturbance, the main threat to ospreys at its current location. With constant disturbance, the platform would just go un-used. In the next month we will recruit some local volunteers to help us move the platform to a more suitable location.

To help address this issue, in partnership with NJ Fish and Wildlife, we are going to amend the Osprey Nesting Platform designs to include specific instructions on the proper placement of nesting platforms.

• Current Placement Guidelines (NJDFW)
• Current Platform Plans (CWF)

A new year, more project areas

From Oceanport to Linwood, I'll be there

I already have several new platforms that are being set for construction and installation. I've spoken with several individuals who are interested in having nesting platforms placed to help the population reach historic numbers and in areas where they can be easily observed. In Oceanport we are working with Fort Monmouth and the Army Corps of Engineers to install several more platforms there. I'll be installing some more on Barnegat Bay, an area of interest of mine. When I started working with ospreys in 2004 there were only a couple platforms there, many of which were on channel markers. I've installed over 30 from Forked River to Tuckerton in the past 4 years. Then I'll be installing another in Ventnor on municipal open space near no other platforms. Finally, my last (for now) installation will occur in Linwood out on salt marsh owned by the city. 

Ice blankets a shallow creek along the D. Bay in December.

This is a good amount of platforms to install before April. With cold weather settling in and ice on the bays, I'll be stuck on land for a bit. In the meantime, I'm working on getting salvaged wood from the Atlantic City boardwalk. I'll be using this wood to construct these platforms. 

Happy New Year!!

Another Installation...

Mild Weather Great for Platform Installations

This week I finally got the chance to move a platform located on an island in Little Egg Harbor. Earlier this year I mistakenly placed a new platform on private property (a small island off Brant Beach on Long Beach Island) which I thought was owned by US Fish and Wildlife Service. It was not occupied this year, but you can tell ospreys used the platform as a perch. When I performed a survey this summer, I saw one adult on the platform but no nesting material. 

Well, long story short, the owner of the property didn't want the platform on his property. He believed that it would only attract gulls. I asked if we could keep it up for another year to give ospreys another chance at nesting on it. He declined and asked that we take it down. Yesterday, two friends and volunteers helped me move this platform to its new home on an island that is owned by US Fish and Wildlife Service. The (Marshelder) island is located approximately 1.3 miles to the south off of North Beach Haven. 

We shot video of the installation to be used in the creation of a video tutorial to demonstrate how to properly install an osprey nesting platform. Some of it will also be used in a documentary that I will be filming over the next few years. The documentary will highlight the projects history with interviews with biologists and others who worked to restore the population of ospreys in New Jersey. It will also address the current threats (pollution from run-off, contaminants, and litter; disturbance, and climate change) to ospreys.

Volunteers Paul Petrone and Joe Bilotta stand next to a platform that was installed on an island off Brant Beach in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

Fall is for ...

Platform Repairs and Installations

Fall is upon us and while ospreys are headed south or already in their wintering areas I am still keeping busy. This past Sunday I helped a Boy Scout with his Eagle Scout Project to install 4 nesting platforms. The platforms were installed near Ocean City and Somers Point. All platforms were placed on public property, state and locally owned. Two platforms were placed near duck blinds where ospreys nested in the past two years. Both nests failed to produce young. When ospreys nest on duck blinds their eggs and young are very vulnerable to predation from ground predators, like raccoons. The platforms we placed are specifically designed for ospreys and have a sleeve-type predator guards to deter predators from climbing up into the nest. 

Scouts from Troop 79 help Eagle Scout Holden Gentilini raise a platform. © Ben Wurst

One of the other two platforms was used to replace an old platform that has never been used by ospreys. It was large enough but very unstable. The main pole was only a 4x4". We only use 6x6" poles for our platforms. They have been shown to withstand strong Nor'easters we get in late winter and can easily support a biologist when they climb to survey and band the young in late June each year. The last platform was installed in a new location that is close to where a local dispute has occurred over a group that installed a platform on private property. The property owner removed the platform earlier this year just as ospreys were returning to nest in early April (also the time when it is illegal to remove a nesting platform). This platform will hopefully attract that pair since it is not far away and is in my opinion in a much more suitable location away from any human disturbance. 

Holden (left) finishes back-filling the hole on the final platform.

© Ben Wurst

Photo from the Field

I had the pleasure of receiving this photo from Joe Orlando shortly after we installed this platform on August 13th. Joe donated to have this platform placed near his house in Ocean City. His donation goes far beyond this single platform. It will be used to repair and replace other platforms to support our goals of helping the state population recover to historic levels (pre-DDT). A few days after we installed the platform Joe sent me this photo. I was happy to see a pair of adults that were already starting to place some nesting material in the platform before they fly south to their wintering areas. This is a good sign that this pair might return to nest on this platform next year! 

Thanks for the donation and the photo Joe!

A pair of ospreys instantly take to a new platform installed on August 13th in Ocean City. Photo by Joe Orlando.