Tuesday, February 4, 2014

First install of 2014!

This first install will provide a safe place for a pair of ospreys to nest inside Great Bay Blvd WMA.
Mark your calendars. At 1pm on February 18th, volunteers are needed to help install an osprey platform off of Great Bay Blvd (GBB) in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. The pair that formally nested on a short cluster of pilings (147-A-023) that is an "old electric transfer structure utilized to power submerged water pumps when active marsh flooding and draining research was conducted nearby." Two years ago 2 young were produced at this nest and last year the nest failed to produce young. It's low and provides no protection from ground predators, and it's too close to the boardwalk that connects the Rutgers Marine Field Station to GBB. The new site will be far away from disturbance and will also provide protection from predators giving the pair the best chance they have for successfully raising young on the Jersey shore.

Volunteers (at least 6 are needed) will need to bring knee boots, hip or chest waders to wear and a pair of work gloves. We'll meet near the end of the road. You'll see the platform staged along the side of the road.

If you'd like to help, please RSVP to Ben Wurst. Heavy rain will cancel.

No comments: