Osprey: Alive and well in NJ

On May 20th, my daughter and I did Birding by Boat on the Osprey from Cape May and saw an amazing array of different bird species. In this entry, I will focus on the many osprey we saw.

As we headed out to the harbor, we passed this nest created with an variety of materials and
located on top of a marker:

At this nesting site, shown below, an osprey has a fish in its talons and below it is either its mate or offspring waiting to be fed. This nesting platform was certainly created and erected by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ as part of their efforts to help increase the osprey population. For more information, be sure to visit their site: http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/osprey/

In 1974, the osprey population had plummeted from normally 500 to only 50 nests due to the effects of DDT. Because of the banning of DDT and then excellent conservation and management efforts of osprey, the number of nests rose to 486 in 2009. Another survey and census will be conducted this year.

As we motored around, we passed many osprey hunting. Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, so the lighting wasn't optimal.