Time flies!

So hard for me to believe that we're already into the second week of July! Every one of my posts here mention how I neglect this blog... :( But I know it gets traffic, so I hate to take it down. I post more to my New Jersey Osprey Project Facebook page then I do here. I find it to be an easier way to engage fellow osprey fans. I hope you'll check it out if you're on there!

If not, I'll be working on something new soon... Possibly a new website that will be setup to track young ospreys that I'm banding with a red alpha-numeric auxiliary band. The band will be used so the individual young birds can be identified during migration, on their wintering areas, and on their home Jersey turf! There I also plan to have a blog to share news about the tagging program, which is only occurring on Barnegat Bay. A total of 100 bands will be deployed. More news to come on this front later this year. For now I'm busy surveying nests along the coast of Jersey. So far things are looking pretty good. I still need to survey many of my colonies over the next 10 days, and look at data from the many volunteer osprey banders who survey all other colonies to get a better idea of how well they're doing.

The first alpha-numeric red auxiliary band (00/C) to be placed on a young osprey in NJ. July 7, 2014

First install of 2014!

This first install will provide a safe place for a pair of ospreys to nest inside Great Bay Blvd WMA.

Mark your calendars. At 1pm on February 18th, volunteers are needed to help install an osprey platform off of Great Bay Blvd (GBB) in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. The pair that formally nested on a short cluster of pilings (147-A-023) that is an "old electric transfer structure utilized to power submerged water pumps when active marsh flooding and draining research was conducted nearby." Two years ago 2 young were produced at this nest and last year the nest failed to produce young. It's low and provides no protection from ground predators, and it's too close to the boardwalk that connects the Rutgers Marine Field Station to GBB. The new site will be far away from disturbance and will also provide protection from predators giving the pair the best chance they have for successfully raising young on the Jersey shore.

Volunteers (at least 6 are needed) will need to bring knee boots, hip or chest waders to wear and a pair of work gloves. We'll meet near the end of the road. You'll see the platform staged along the side of the road.

If you'd like to help, please RSVP to Ben Wurst. Heavy rain will cancel.

They're back!

A sign of spring is the arrival of ospreys from their wintering areas to their breeding grounds. Here in New Jersey multiple sightings of birds have come in throughout the Atlantic Coast, from Avalon and Stone Harbor to Ocean City and north to Pine Beach and Berkley Township.

Have you seen any ospreys show up? Share your photos and sightings on our Facebook page.

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

It's been a while!

It seems like every time I write a post here I say "damn it's been a while!" As you may know I post news, photos and other osprey facts on my NJOP Facebook page. This past weekend was an osprey filled one, not so much with birds (their migration is winding down now) but a lot about them. On Saturday I gave a talk to the Friends of Island Beach State Park who host an osprey cam at the road nest in Island Beach State Park. Then on Sunday I helped to install three platforms with an Eagle Scout candidate in Ocean City, New Jersey. Two platforms were put in new locations to help build the local population and one platform was used to replace an old 4-post platform.

An old  "4-post" platform, constructed with 2x4s...hasn't produced young in a long time...predators. © Ben Wurst

Glad we took it down and it didn't blow down in severe weather this summer! © Ben Wurst

Eagle Scout candidate Andy G. helps raise up one of three platforms he built for his Eagle Scout Project. 

© Ben Wurst

I love letting future generations learn about life and how things work. It's always fun to watch the ropes come off! © Ben Wurst

Final product. This was a new location for a platform on Cape May WMA. © Ben Wurst

Hatching begins!

I apologize for my lack of any blog posts! I find myself to be posting updates, photos, and links to the NJ Osprey Project page on Facebook more often. I am also considering switching this blog to a WordPress site instead of Blogger. 

Back to ospreys...Late May is typically when many osprey eggs begin to hatch. Incubation takes 32-43 days. With warm weather on tap for this weekend I'm sure that there will be many hungry mouths to feed in the coming days throughout New Jersey! Osprey chicks are born semi-altricial or downy and blind. They require very close parental care. They will be brooded closely by the adults and the eggs will hatch in the order that they were laid. Ospreys start incubating with the first egg so there is often some age difference in young. This trait gives the oldest young the best chance at surviving if food becomes scarce.

The adult male does all the foraging for the female and young from courtship through incubation and until the young fledge after 7-8 weeks or in late July. As much a 6 lbs. of fish is required to feed the hungry mouths of 3 young. Last year we saw an average of 2 young produced/active nest and this year is on tap to be another great year for ospreys with a warm spring with calm weather (little rain).

Tune into the Osprey Cam on Island Beach State Park by visiting the Friends of Island Beach State Park's website. They should be hatching any day now!!

The pair nesting on the road nest at Island Beach State Park started incubating on April 17th.
Image courtesy Friends of Island Beach State Park osprey cam.

2011 Osprey Project Newsletter released!

All of the data from last year's osprey nesting surveys has been published in the "2011 Osprey Project in New Jersey" Newsletter. The report highlights the results survey results from several dedicated "osprey banders" and many other volunteers who reported active nests throughout coastal NJ. Volunteers observed a total of 345 active nests in 2011. Most were on the Atlantic coast on 1-post platforms designed specifically for ospreys. Many osprey continue to nest on communications towers and to help better manage the growing number of these nests and the maintenance of the towers, we created guidelines for towers that contain raptor nests. A total of 612 young were counted (new record) and 414 were banded (another new record). 

An osprey nestling hunkers down in its nest outside
of the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. © Ben Wurst

 

The next aerial survey has been postponed to 2013 with such great results and it will now be conducted once every four years to get a more accurate census of the entire population. We now estimate that the population is above 500 nesting pairs, the estimated size of the population prior to its decimation from DDT, habitat loss, and persecution from 1946-72. We alone are not responsible for such a great outcome. These positive results are the outcome of early conservation efforts by state biologists, habitat protection, water-quality improvements and support by many concerned citizens throughout the state. Thank you for your support!

• Read the full newsletter

A Rare Encounter from Columbia

Truth be told, ospreys are not protected in their wintering areas. In many areas they are seen as direct competitors with people for food (from the fish that they eat) or as pests at commercial fish farms in South America where they winter in large concentrations. I've herd that some fishermen shoot at them while they're on migration south over the Caribbean and Central and South America. Most band encounters from South America are not accompanied with a lot of photos and a report from a veterinarian. Really, we are lucky to get a report at all... This is one exception where an individual and a community became engaged in trying to save an osprey that originated in New Jersey.

Alberto Aguilar holds out the wings of the rescued osprey in Columbia.

This banded osprey (hatched in 2011) was encountered in Colombia recently near Cienaga del Cristo, Tamalameque, Cesar. Alberto, an environmentalist there, tried to help save this individual. He was found entangled in old fishing nets and was emaciated and dehydrated when found. He was examined by a local veterinarian and was found to be loaded with parasites, had an enlarged gall bladder, and had an ulcer on its left nictitating membrane (3rd eyelid). Unfortunately, the veterinarian was unable to save him. He was banded on July 7th on a nesting platform that is located to the north of Stone Harbor Blvd. by one of our volunteer banders, Hans Toft. Hans recalls visiting this nest:

"I remember this nest well because it is a long walk with the ladder to get to it. The nest is on the north side of Stone Harbor Blvd (175A024) and is easy to check on by car with binoculars. I am always going over to my boat in Stone Harbor anyhow . After we banded the two chicks I kept an eye on them and remember watching the two birds during the summer, and seeing them fledge. Also, the birds were eating a bluefish when we banded them.  Of course, we have our problems also with fishing lines, nets, etc.  good to hear that the bird will be put to good educational use."  Hans

We were sent a bunch of photos of the bird and the report from the local veterinarian. From the photos you can see that this bird has already molted most of its juvenile flight and body feathers (as a juvenile they have a buff tip and as an adult they are all dark). The eye is also yellow instead of orange. It weighed a total of 1200 grams which indicates that its a male (females weight from 1600 - 2000 grams). He also is lacking the dark necklace of feathers that female ospreys develop on their breast.

Alberto and many of the locals were very excited about this rare encounter. They have decided to mount the bird and use it as a way to educate people there about old fishing nets and the need to be careful with them.

To view more photos, click here.

A photo of the osprey after it was rescued in Columbia.

This bird was banded at a nest on a
platform off of Stone Harbor Blvd
by one of our volunteers, Hans Toft.

       

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.

The Results Are In!!

Mild weather helps boost Osprey population

This year was the most productive year for ospreys in the projects history. The reproductive rate was about 2 young per active nest (an all time high for the project). No doubt the calm weather played an important role this year. Calm weather makes prey easier for ospreys to find, especially fluke and flounder, one of their main prey sources. More food means larger broods. Nests with three, even four young were quite common this year.

An adult osprey calls to defend its offspring at a nest in Mantoloking, NJ. © Eric Sambol

Of the 308 active nests (where the outcome was known) 36% of nests had 3 young, 33% had 2 young, and 14% had one young. Only 11% observed had failed to produce young. For comparison, in 2006, 14% failed and in 2003, 46% failed. 2003 was the worst year for ospreys in recent history (to read the 2003 newsletter, click here). Weather played a large factor that year. Check out one of my previous posts for more on weather and production. To read the full results from the 2010 survey, click here.


Thank you to all our volunteers who braved the scorching heat this summer to collect data to help us manage and monitor the population! And thank you to all donors and supporters of the project! With out your support and contributions our work would not be possible!

Pictures from the field

June 24th, 2008 - Absecon WMA