Forsythe NWR Banding

I remove one nestling from a nest to band with U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service interns and staff. Photo by Jonathan Carlucci.

On July 8th, I visited Forsythe NWR to survey and band any osprey young that were produced. Of the 6 available platforms (2 are new structures that were installed this spring) 4 were occupied (1 new structure). Those 4 pairs produced 10 young, which are great results! This puts the average productivity rate on the refuge at 2.5 young/active nest. This is above the statewide productivity results from 2008 which was 1.88, but on par for the area (Great Bay to A.C.), which was 2.08 last year. Eight young were banded with USGS bird bands. Two young were approximately 3-5 days old when we were there and were too young to band. We plan on visiting this nest soon to determine if the pair was successful at raising its young.

I'd just like to thank Jonathan Carlucci for joining me and taking such beautiful photos that are featured in this post!

Deanna, an intern at Forsythe NWR

holds a nestling while I place a band on its leg

for future tracking. Photo by Jonathan Carlucci

A candid photo of one of the young.

Photo by Jonathan Carlucci.

I reposition one of the young while I band up at the nest.

Photo by Jonathan Carlucci.

This shows how little the young are affected by the banding process. These nestlings are

approximately 6 weeks old and tend to be more defensive at this age. I constantly try to minimize stress to the young and when I band up at the nest I simply fold back the left leg and then attach the band. The young hardly move unless you "stir them up" by moving them round. Photo by Jonathan Carlucci.

Banding on Great and Little Egg Harbor Bays

On July 3rd I was out conducting ground surveys on Great Bay and Little Egg Harbor. My friend, Bill Steiner joined me to photograph the event. Below you will see a bunch of Bill's photos of the excursion. Some are excellent, where you can see the molting feathers of an adult in flight and that it is banded.

Here you can see that this female Osprey is banded on its right leg

and it's molting the 7th primary (flight) feather.

You can see the molting and band in this photo as well.

Here I am banding nestlings at a nest near

Osbourne Island in Little Egg Harbor.

This is one of the new nests that we installed in March from a

grant from Exelon. Of the 10 platforms we installed, 4 were occupied.

This has been a problem and will always be one. This chick had both its

legs wrapped in ribbon from a mylar ballon. If would have not visited this

nest within the next week, then this nestlings could have died due to

being entangled by the ribbon.

Me cutting away the ribbon to free the bird.

If you want to support ospreys in NJ, please

DO NOT buy Mylar balloons and release them into

the air for any reason!!!!!! You can see the negative

impacts that it can cause.....

Climbing to a nest in front of the Rutgers Marine Field Station at the end

of Great Bay Blvd.

At some point we were being followed

by an adult osprey. She followed us for approximately

1 mile away from her nest.

Here I'm entering data and you can see two addled eggs that I

collected for contaminant studies (if we get funding).

An adult Osprey dive bombs me as I band its young.

Thanks to Bill for taking all these great photos!

All photos are by Bill Steiner.

Photos from the Field

 

  

 Charles Hofer, a seasonal with the Endangered Species

Program bands some osprey young

 A adult male flies by with a fish

 An osprey nestling stares me down

 

Charles Hofer checks a nest up at Sedge Islands WMA
 

A large ground nest at Sedge Islands

2009 Aerial Survey begins and Suburban nesting pairs, only in NJ!!!

This week, biologists with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program will be conducting an aerial helicopter survey. This is the first survey since 2006 when just over 400 nesting pairs were found, statewide. To read the newsletter from 2004, click here. The survey will determine how many nests are occupied and will give us some insight into how healthy the population is. The survey will also be conducted in mid-June to determine the outcome of all the nests and will help us calculate the productivity rate or the number of young produced per nesting pair. So, if you see a helicopter buzzing over osprey platforms along the coast, do not be alarmed! 

Vote in my poll for the number of nesting pairs you think we will have this year.

 Photo by Peggy Davis

On another note, a concerned citizen spotted a pair of ospreys that were building a nest on a boat lift on Blackberry Bay in Oceanport. She called our office and I spoke with her about the issue and started my hunt to find out who the owners were of the property. After several calls to the local township office, NJDFW Law Enforcement, then DEP's Land Use Regulation Program, I eventually found out the owners name and phone number. Basically, our position was to inform the homeowners of the occurance and to let them know that the nest could be removed, with special permission. The nest could only be removed if there were NO EGGS; if there was eggs, then they would have to get a permit from US Fish and Wildlife Service. So today I called the owner and spoke to her about the nest. I was surprised to know that she already knew about it and was not concerned!!!! She is actually happy to give up her boat lift and dock for the summer to give a pair of ospreys a chance to raise their young. This is great news! For the most part, I would have thought that most people would not want to give up the use of their dock and boat lift for a season, but this is not the case! I hope we do not see any major storms this spring and summer that could possibly blow off the nest and cause the nest to fail. Time to wait and see....
The hard part will be to try and get permission from a local private landowner for us to install an artificial nest platform near the site so the pair has a place to nest next year.