Photo from the Field

An aerial view of an osprey nest at Fort Monmouth. I visited the base on Tuesday, June 29th to survey several platforms there. We found that 5 platforms were occupied. Four nests produced a total of 8 young. Great results! One nest was "house-keeping."

Tis the season!

I apologize for the infrequent posts to the blog. I've been very busy on the home front (my first child, Kaitlin, was born on April 6th) and at work (just relaunched the new website for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and blog and have started a new project working to protect terrapins in NJ).

Ospreys are currently incubating. Hatching occurs in late May-early June. High winds have been reported of having negative effects on nests along the Maurice River. 70mph gusts blew eggs out of nests. We will have to wait and see if this is reflected in the results from data collected during ground surveys in late June/early July. Otherwise, weather has been very good. Warm temperatures and normal precipitation are optimal for successful nesting by ospreys.
Otherwise, in mid-April, we installed six platforms on utility poles at Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, New Jersey. Platforms were 4 ft. square and were attached to 35 ft. utility poles. There are already three pairs of ospreys that nest on utility poles at Fort Monmouth. While we were installing the first platform, as soon as it was up, a male osprey briefly perched on the platform (see photo below)!!!

2009 Osprey Project Newsletter

Ben Wurst checks a nest at Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area

in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. Photo by Bill Steiner.

Today the 2009 Osprey Project newsletter was released to volunteers, cooperators, and the general public. The newsletter summarizes all the results from the breeding season. The results indicate how healthy the state population is and breaks down the production for each colony along the Atlantic coast and Delaware Bay. It also highlights the aerial survey that was completed this year, which helped identify more than 50 new nests this year. In all 485 pairs nested in New Jersey in 2009, a post-DDT milestone. To read more, click on the link below.

 2009 Osprey Project Newsletter

In other news, many ospreys are at their wintering grounds in northern South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.  Some ospreys are still migrating or have yet to fly south yet, but they will be doing so soon. I look forward to installing platforms in the coming weeks. I recently got a shipment of lumber to construct some platforms for installation at Fort Monmouth in Monmouth County. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ was awarded a contract to construct and install 6 nesting platforms inside the fort. Stay tuned for progress on this project!

Thank you all for the support!