Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘osprey platform’

Photo(s) from the Field

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
Volunteers help build new osprey platforms

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

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.

We’d like to thank all the volunteers who helped out and all the donors who purchased the materials for the build day! Without your support this project would not be a success: Tri-County Building Supplies in Pleasantville, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Home Depot of Manahawkin, Brian Kushner and Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River, THANKS!!

Photo from the field

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Students help provide homes for ospreys on New York Bay

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Students and teachers from Bayonne High School stand in front of an osprey platform that was built this past week. © Ben Wurst

This past week I spent the day with students and teachers at Bayonne High School (BHS). I was there to help students construct three osprey nesting platforms. The platforms are being placed at the Bayonne Golf Club (BGC) along a portion wetland habitat that was restored by the BGC along New York Bay. This whole project began when I was approached a couple months ago by Tom Tokar, a teacher at BHS, about assisting them with the construction and placement of the platforms with some of his students. Tom and Larissa Drennan, a teacher at the Woodrow Wilson School, have involved their students in many environmental projects in Bayonne, one of which is where they grow mussels and seed them at the BCG. Ron D’Argenio, with BGC has supported their efforts from the beginning not only by offering up the BGC as a location to seed the mussels but also through financial assistance. Ron and the BGC are also fully funding this project as well, with a very generous donation to CWF. (more…)

Photo from the field

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Not your typical osprey platform!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

A 30 ft. tall osprey platform is installed at Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, NJ. © Ben Wurst

For the past two years we’ve worked with staff from the Army Corps of Engineers to enhance osprey nesting habitat within the Shrewsbury River Watershed inside Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, New Jersey. We first began work during the summer of 2009 when an osprey nested on a utility pole at the Fort. The pair had eggs when their nest caused $10,000 worth of damage to a transformer. To alleviate the problem the nest was going to be removed from the pole and the nest would have been lost.  Instead Joe Fallon, Chief of the Environmental Division at the Fort decided to install a new pole next to the nest on the live power lines. I met with Joe and gave him a platform “top” and braces to attach to the top of the new pole. After the new pole was installed the nest and eggs were moved. The adults immediately took to the nest platform and successfully raised two young that year. In 2010, they raised another two young that we banded with USGS bird bands.

After completion of work this spring there will be a total of 18 nesting platforms there (not including a nest on a light pole over a baseball field). We hope to use part of this funding to install more nesting structures on several islands to the west of Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach in 2012.

A Unique Opportunity

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
Manasquan Reservoir Osprey nest repairs

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

A "natural" osprey nest in a snag on the Manasquan Reservoir. Image courtesy Tanya Dinova, Monmouth County Parks.

On January 17th I was forwarded a message from fellow osprey conservationist and colleague Jon Rosky. Jon has been helping provide nesting structures for ospreys since the early 90s with his Osprey Recovery Project. Tanya Dinova, a naturalist/interpreter at the Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center contacted Jon to get assistance with a snag (a dead standing tree) that held an osprey nest since 2008 on the reservoir. This past October a storm caused the snag to snap and the nest was lost.

Luckily this occurred during the non-breeding season, otherwise the nestlings would not have survived. Tanya reported that the nest produced 2 young in 2010 and 2 in 2009. Great results for a natural nest that is directly over water! One might argue to not do anything and allow ospreys to find another snag to build a nest on. There are multiple snags in the water that could provide another natural nest site. If we were not going to do anything then this would be the likely outcome. However, many of the snags are not large enough to hold an osprey nest and there is a good chance the nest could fall during the breeding season.

Ospreys return to the same nest site year after year. And young adults return to where they originated to reproduce when they are 3 years old. Ospreys usually live till around 10 years old in the wild. The oldest osprey that was ever encountered in New Jersey was a female that was 18 years old. She sustained injuries from a close encounter with an eagle near Avalon several years ago and did not survive.

Here you can see the extent of the damage to the tree. Image courtesy Tanya Dinova, Monmouth County Parks.

In her message Tanya stressed the importance of having ospreys that nest on the reservoir as an educational resource to visitors of the park. A total of 3 pairs of ospreys nest on the reservoir. Naturalists, like Tanya, educate the public about ospreys, their decline, their importance in the ecosystem, and their return to historic numbers in New Jersey. This is a very important part of the recovery of ospreys in New Jersey and it will help foster awareness for them in the future.

Monmouth County has been an area of interest to me. Since I began working with ospreys in 2004 there were only a few nests in Monmouth County that were monitored. In 2010 there were 14 active nests (not including those on Sandy Hook and the Raritan Bay) where nesting observations were made. These observations help us determine the health of the local and state populations. In 2010, productivity averaged 1.86 young/active (known-outcome) nest. It was recorded at 1.25 in 2009. The population is continuing to grow in Monmouth County and with only limited areas to nest, ospreys are nesting in peculiar locations.

Many ospreys are choosing to nest on cell towers, boat lifts, and other tall structures. Because of habitat loss these are the only a few structures that are available to them. Manasquan Reservoir is an exception. When the dam was installed it killed trees when the water levels rose. This created new nest sites for ospreys from the snags that were left. However, today many snags are beginning to decay and osprey nesting sites are lost.

This situation has created a unique opportunity to collaborate and find a solution. I suggested that instead of installing a new nesting platform, to install a box-top (3×3′ wood box) on top of the snag. The box would allow the ospreys to nest in the same tree and it would provide added stability ospreys rely on to incubate eggs and raise young. We will perform this delicate task before ospreys return in mid-March.

Photo from the Field

Monday, October 25th, 2010
Installing Osprey Platforms

By Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

This past week I installed two osprey nesting platforms with the help of some dedicated volunteers. The platforms were installed on two islands known as Little Sedge Islands off Lavallette in Barnegat Bay. I originally planned on only installing one platform there for a woman who donated to help support our osprey project. However, this past spring on the day we were planning to install the platform my wife went into labor with our first child. So I made up for not having the platform installed before this year’s nesting season by installing two this past week.

The islands are preserved as open space and are great habitat for ospreys. They prefer to nest over or near water (their source of food). Islands provide additional protection from ground predators, like raccoons. There are several nesting platforms nearby that are always occupied, so it’s likely that these platforms will be occupied within the next couple years.

Thank you to everyone who helped out!!

Volunteers finish installing an osprey nesting platform on an island on Barnegat Bay. © Ben Wurst


More photos from the installation: