A Bird's Eye View of Island Beach State Park

Every morning I have the same routine - two cups of coffee, read  the daily newspaper, watch the morning news. And then I click on my computer to see what the osprey couple at Island Beach State Park are up to by viewing the Osprey Cam.

This is the second year that the cam has been in operation at the park in Ocean County. Thanks to the all-volunteer, nonprofit Friends of Island Beach State Park, Inc., the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, and a host of technical volunteers, osprey fans were able to watch an osprey couple build their nest, feed, mate and produce three eggs in 2012. Of the three eggs laid last year, only one hatched, and the fledgling, named Memo by viewers, was born on May 27.

Island Beach State Park, by the way, has about 30 nesting osprey pairs and statewide it is estimated that there are more than 500.

This year’s couple, which may be the same pair as last year, arrived at the nest featured on the cam in March. The first egg was laid April 17, the same as last year. By the time this blog appears on the Patch, it is possible that egg #2 may have already arrived since last year’s second egg was laid on April 20. A third arrived on April 21 last year.

What is so great is that osprey cam fans have reported on the comings and goings of our osprey couple on the Friends of Island Beach State Park Facebook page.

By sharing, we learned that last week the couple dined on a flounder. Thank you all for providing photo captures off the cam and sharing with all what has been brought into the nest.

Last year’s couple, for example, brought a black flip flop and beer can into the nest and lots of blue plastic. This year, the nest is  also decorated in the blue theme.

To view the cam, visit: http://friendsofislandbeach.org/ospreycam/ or  http://stream.friendsofislandbeach.org/

Bonnie Delaney, a longtime Point Pleasant Borough resident, is a member of the Friends of Island Beach State Park executive board and a fan of Island Beach State Park and its Osprey Cam.