Today nine volunteers assisted with the installation of this nesting platform inside Great Bay Blvd. Wildlife Management Area. The platform was built during last year’s Sandy relief effort and was several “extra” platforms that were built using donated materials. It’s being used to replace an existing nest that is too close to disturbance and prone to predation. The new platform is far from disturbance, gives them protection from predators, but is close enough to the road for wildlife photographers and birders to observe them at a safe distance. You can report nesting activity for this new nest platform on Osprey Watch.
Last week we set out to finally repair the osprey cam at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR. (Note: we do all of the technical repairs and maintenance to the camera system) Initial repairs were delayed to protect the osprey young. Timing restrictions are set in place to reduce disturbance to nesting ospreys and nests cannot be disturbed from April 1 – August 30. This is a good thing! When we finally set out to figure out the issue with why the camera suddenly lost power, we had to wait until it was safe to enter the nest. When we first went out (August 15) for a quick diagnosis (after we knew all young were flying and not relying on the nest as much) and got the cam online again…but it died after 30 minutes of streaming…
We went out again in late September and determined it was the solar charge controller but had to wait to get a new one. In October we went out out to replace the charge controller but the system was still down and the equipment was not getting power. The two batteries only had 6 volts of charge and needed to be recharged. So, the two 50lb. batteries were lugged a pretty long distance and charged up. Once they held a charge we made plans to go back to re-install them and hoped it would work. Success!! The batteries powered up the system and within minutes the camera was streaming online!
Special thanks to volunteer Joe Bilotta for helping out with the re-installation of the batteries!
Volunteers help to “re-plant” leaning osprey platform
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
This past week I was joined by a large group of volunteers to remove and re-plant a leaning osprey tower in Point Pleasant. It all began after Superstorm Sandy barreled through the area a little over a year ago…
This nest, along with many others, were uprooted from where they were originally installed. Many homes in the area were flooded by the storm surge associated with the storm (and many were still rebuilding when we were there). Any and all debris that was created ended up being pushed to the high areas of the marsh and in turn, people’s yards. This platform ended up in a homeowners backyard. Fortunately the platform was not lost and was thankfully re-installed by a bulkheading company who was working on the homeowners house. This was great news for the ospreys! Their nest had been returned to the saltmarsh and was, in turn, used again by them this past summer. They raised one nestling on the platform.
Things a-drift…a strong Nor’easter ended up pushing over the platform, which caused it to lean…significantly. However, the ospreys adapted and added nesting material to make sure their only nestling would not fall out. At the same time we made plans to re-plant the platform in a section of marsh with more soil, so the platform would have a firm foundation and support. A crew of strong and able volunteers met up with me to help fix the problem. They pulled out the platform and then we transported it to the new location. There we dug a new hole (around 2-3′ deep) and they easily dropped the short (around 12′ high) platform into the hole. These volunteers did a great job, and I was happy to see that many of them lived in the local area. It’s great to see locals getting involved in their local environment and I know that they’ll continue to watch over the nest if anything should happen to it in the future. I’m planning on working with the local community association (who owns the land) to install a couple more platforms for ospreys. There’s little suitable nesting habitat for ospreys up on N. Barnegat Bay and in the past we’ve had problems with birds nesting on houses, so this will only help reduce those occurrences.
Not exactly stable…Not much dry land either…Down she goes…All better!
Last year I started collecting trash and marine debris that I found at osprey nests along the Atlantic Coast. I’ve always removed trash from nests, especially trash that can harm an osprey through entanglement. Now it’s collected to use as an educational tool to make people more aware of the amount of trash that winds up in our waterways. Continue reading “Marine debris: Post-Sandy”
I just wrapped up the most intense field season in my entire career. In cooperation with NJ Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program I help to monitor and manage the state population of ospreys. For the first time in four years we are conducting a statewide census for nesting ospreys. Almost all areas that I’ve surveyed, from Monmouth Beach to Atlantic City (and Wildwood) have done quite well, and the effects of Sandy on nesting ospreys appears to be minor.
Barnegat Bay is an area where I’ve concentrated much of my work. Over the past 5 years the number of available nesting platforms has tripled, from only a handful to over 50. Almost every platform was active this year. Amazing enough, this year on Barnegat Bay, a total of four nests produced four young each (one can be viewed on a live streaming camera at Island Beach State Park)!! This is quite a rare occurrence and is something I’ve never seen, especially for all of them to be on the same watershed is simply amazing!! Full results from all the surveys will be released in early fall. All of the data collected from surveys will be used in the census and we are looking for the public to help fill in valuable gaps in data.
Ospreys are indicators of a healthy marine environment. Ospreys are top tier predators who feed exclusively on fish. Many contaminants runoff into our coastal waters and over time become biomagnified through the food chain. Ospreys are extremely sensitive to many contaminants, including organochlorine pesticides (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals. Since ospreys eat the same fish that we do, then their health also has implications for people. So, the bottom line is that it is important to monitor the nesting activity of ospreys in New Jersey!
We need your help:
For the first time in the project’s history we’re attempting a statewide census of nesting ospreys without the use of aerial surveys! This was a common (and very effective) way of surveying large areas in a short amount of time with only very minimal staff effort. Some things have changed since the 1970s and 80s….the survival of ospreys are not in jeopardy and helicopter surveys are much more expensive now! Over the past 6+ years, with help from many dedicated volunteers, we have surveyed around 70% of the known population in New Jersey. This year, CWF and NJ Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program decided to release the locations of almost 1,000 known nest sites for ospreys to the Center for Conservation Biology’s Osprey Watch, a global osprey watching community website.
On Osprey Watch anyone can see nest sites and then report nesting activity at those nests. Users can join our monitoring group “New Jersey Osprey Project” and report on any nests they watch or where we are lacking data. You can also map new nests, add photos, and even indicate the type of nesting structure. It’s a pretty awesome website for anyone who is into ospreys!! 🙂
If you haven’t noticed, we now have three healthy osprey nestlings at the nest at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, as viewed by our Osprey Cam. The first chick hatched on May 25th, the second on the 26th, and the third on the 28th. The eggs hatched in the order they were laid, referred to as asynchronous hatching. The incubation period was ~38 days for all three eggs (average is 35-37 in NJ; 32-43 throughout their range). With the cooler temperatures the longer period is expected. Osprey young are born semi-altricial, or are downy and require close parental care to survive. The male osprey has been very busy foraging and catching more prey to feed all the hungry mouths. Have you tried to identify the prey that they’ve brought in?
Single use plastic bag wrapped around ospreys neck…
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
We had quite a scare last week, on April 30th around 12:30pm, after getting a report from an observer of our Osprey Cam on our Facebook page. A single use plastic shopping bag had gotten wrapped around the neck of the incubating female. After getting the report we started to monitor the situation to see how it would unfold. The bag was loosely wrapped, so we hoped she would be able to free herself…which she did after an hour.
Here you can see the single use plastic bag around her neck.
A lot of viewers and FB fans were asking why we weren’t going out to remove the bag from her neck. We answered each and every question to help make sure people knew that we were doing everything we could to protect her safety. First, we couldn’t just walk out to the nest (which is out in the middle of the salt marsh) without the female reacting to us and flying off the nest (with the plastic bag around her neck). Her flying off the nest with the bag around her neck would have only caused even more harm to her. She could have gotten snagged on a piece of nesting material and in the struggle could have choked to death or she could have fractured one of her eggs… Second, if she would have been tied down to the nest, then we would have enacted a plan to go out to the nest (after a certain amount of time) and released her. Our policy is that we will only intervene if it is a life or death situation. When we enter their nest sites we introduce stress to the birds which can ultimately do more harm than good. Finally, at least we have a camera to monitor the nest! Think of all the other 500+ nests in New Jersey where we only go out to monitor them once or twice during the nesting season. So much plastic winds up in osprey nests that it is a serious concern. People need to be more aware of their surroundings and do their best to make sure waste is properly disposed of.
There are ways you can help make a difference:
Reduce the amount of stuff you buy and the amount of trash you produce
Reuse what you can, recycle what you can’t
Pick up litter when you see it. There is a great movement in Australia called “Take 3” and their message is simple: “Take three pieces of rubbish with you when you leave the beach, waterway or… anywhere and you have made a difference.”
Stop or reduce your dependence on single use plastics
Use reusable shopping bags
Don’t release balloons!
The female struggles to get free of the bag.
Statistics for plastic recycling are dismal… According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “In 2010, the category of plastics which includes bags, sacks, and wraps was recycled at almost 12 percent.” We’re lucky that she was able to free herself. This just proves that ospreys do not have an easy life. There are many threats to ospreys and they have very high mortality rates, which are around 80%.
On the positive side, the female and male continue to incubate three eggs at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR. We should start to watch for hatching around May 19-20th. We have been writing nest news with other life history information on a weekly basis on our Osprey Cam page.
I must admit, I’ve been anxious for the return of this pair of ospreys (and all others for that matter). The return of ospreys is a sign of spring, regrowth, and of recovery (from the effects of Superstorm Sandy) as we watch them rebuild their nests as we have helped to repair and replace many of their nesting platforms throughout our coast.
Over the past 6 weeks I had the task of installing a new remote/solar powered/high definition camera system on the coastal salt marsh of New Jersey. The camera system was installed inside Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville next to an existing osprey nesting platform. The camera system streams live video 24/7 from the nest to the Visitor’s Center at Forsythe and on our website. Since the system has been installed we’ve had crows, peregrine falcons (one that was a juvenile who was ID’d by her leg band and originated in Delaware), and a great horned owl (not good since owls are predators of osprey young) perch on the platform.
The nesting pair of ospreys arrived back from their wintering grounds on Friday, March 29th. We don’t know anything about the breeding pair other than neither is banded with USGS bird bands. The female has a very heavily streaked and prominent “necklace” of brown feathers on her breast. The male is smaller and has a bright white breast. Since arrived they have already been copulating (breeding) on the nest and will continue to do so over the next few weeks until the female will lay eggs in late April. For now they will continue to spruce up their nest and the male will perform courtship displays, after a successful hunt or while carrying nesting material, near the nest to help strengthen their pair bond.
There is a microphone out at the nest and it works. Some issues have come up with pairing the sound and video feeds and we are working on getting that sound online. I will be writing a weekly “Nest Cam News” journal on the Osprey Cam page with information about osprey reproduction, life history and other cool facts about ospreys! Some other great news is that the Wildlife Drive at Forsythe NWR will be open this weekend!!
As you may know, ospreys are returning to New Jersey from their wintering grounds in the tropics. Most North American ospreys winter in N. South America, with large concentrations in Columbia. Our “jersey birds” are unaware that our coast was devastated by a huge post-tropical storm in late October last year. Some might be coming home to nests that were damaged or lost to Superstorm Sandy. We’re working diligently to replace or repair any and all platforms that were damaged by the storm. Last week we replaced the first nesting platform in Ocean City. We were lucky to have met a local filmmaker who put together this short film.
On January 19th more than 30 volunteers showed up to help us build 20 osprey nesting platforms. The platforms will be used to replace or repair any that were damaged from Superstorm Sandy. We already have six that sustained damage from the storm and are making arrangements to replace them before the nesting season begins in early April.
