by Ben Wurst / Senior Wildlife Biologist
We always go out of our way to help provide ospreys with safe, suitable nest sites. This has been our mission since we began working with them over 15 years ago and has helped the population surpass the historic population estimate of over 500 nesting pairs. Our loyal New Jersey Osprey Project volunteers follow this same principal — always on the lookout for damaged nest platforms — to take meaningful action.
(more…)by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
After migratory birds depart, leaves fall and northwest winds prevail, a small group of dedicated volunteers descend on our coastal saltmarshes. They’re there to maintain osprey nest platforms. Around 75% of our nesting ospreys rely on these wooden structures to reproduce. They were used to help jumpstart the early recovery efforts of ospreys in coastal New Jersey, where much of their native habitat was lost to development in the 1950-60s. Today many of these platforms are reaching their life span or are very close.
(more…)by Deborah Valletto
New Jersey’s osprey population has a wonderful group of young biologist looking out for them in Cape May.
Cape Tech’s Natural Science Technology class recently took the initiative to install an osprey platform in the saltmarshes of the Delaware Bay to help out these imperiled raptors. With some help from CWF, the project helped to engage students to actively participate in an interdisciplinary bit of wildlife conservation.
Preview the article by Deborah Valletto below and continue reading on PressOfAtlanticCity.com
CREST HAVEN — Anticipation and excitement were rising in early October for Cape Tech students in the Natural Science Technology class. Hanna Toft, Natural Science Technology teacher and FFA advisor, shared, “The perfect tide to complete our project is approaching.” On Oct. 9, Toft gathered the students, equipment, materials and boat to go into the local saltmarsh and install a new osprey plaftform for the local wildlife.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ contacted Toft and a few other volunteers regarding their NJ Osprey Project. According to Toft, the class patrols the local area for osprey data. It was a match, and they agreed to do it.
Continue reading here.
Learn more about New Jersey’s Ospreys here.
Learn more about the CWF Osprey Project here.
By Ben Wurst, CWF Habitat Restoration Manager
Ospreys have made great progress toward recovery in New Jersey, rebounding from a low of 50 nests in 1974 to 589 active nests in 2018. This progress should be celebrated, and victory can and should be declared, as The Press of Atlantic city suggested in their March 1 editorial “Maybe it’s time NJ declares victory in restoration of ospreys.”
But as a biologist who has studied ospreys for many years I also know that declaring victory doesn’t just mean we should walk away and abandon them.
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
On a brisk November morning, a couple dedicated NJ Osprey Project volunteers joined myself and CWF Biologist Larissa Smith to install an osprey platform on the coastal saltmarsh of New Jersey. The new platform was installed to replace a very old and unstable platform that fell this summer. The new structure is more than twice the size of the old one and will give the nesting pair, who return in the spring, a much more resilient nest site. As you can see from the video above, it takes a bit of strength to raise up a 16′ tall wood nest platform. We decided to slow it down when WCC Volunteer, Wayne R. gives it a final push. (more…)
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