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.

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