Health & Fitness
Four Eggs in Island Beach Osprey Nest
Island Beach State Park Osprey Cam couple now tending to four eggs
We are pleased to announce that our osprey couple featured on the Island Beach State Park Osprey Cam now have four eggs in the nest! The first egg was laid April 17, the second April 20, the third either April 22 or 23. A fourth was spotted today by one of our cam viewers.
This is the second year the cam has been in operation at the park. It was sponsored by the all-volunteer, nonprofit Friends of Island Beach State Park, Inc., with assistance from Conserve Wildlife Foundation New Jersey and a host of technical volunteers.
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Of the three eggs laid last year, only one hatched, and the fledgling, named Memo by viewers, was born on May 27. The state park, located in the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township, has about 30 nesting osprey pairs. Statewide there are about 500 pairs.
This year's couple, which may be the same pair as last year, arrived at the nest
featured on the Cam in March. Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager of Conserve Wildlife Foundation, said he is not sure if this year’s couple is the same pair.
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“But, I would assume they are since pairs mate for life and return to the same nest year after year. This pair arrived at the same time and seemed to look like the same pair," he said.
“But I think it’s safe to say that they are the same pair. I was aware last year that you could use the feather pattern on their heads as a way to ID them, like a fingerprint. I would suggest the Friends of Island Beach get good still images from the cam to use to ID the breeding pair from now on,” said Wurst, who banded the fledgling born last year to the couple in the nest.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation also has a new high resolution, wireless camera on an osprey nest at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville in Atlantic County. Its osprey couple are currently tending to three eggs.
To view the Island Beach Cam, visit http://stream.friendsofislandbeach.org/
You can check out the Forsythe Cam by visiting: http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/education/ospreycam/
Bonnie Delaney 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.
