April 26, 2012
Photos courtesy of Ken Wieme
Ospreys have taken up residence at the Osprey Project on Allen Road Beach! Constructed in 2010 for a Boy Scout Eagle Project, the nesting platform is now home to a family of osprey! Two adult ospreys have been sighted along with their offspring which can also be heard from the boardwalk.
Below are a few of the photos of the newest tenants in Berkeley Shores!
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September 18, 2010
by Nancy Wieme
photos courtesy of Howard Hoffman and Nancy Wieme
Can you name the largest raptor found in New Jersey? We may have some living on the Allen Road Beach sooner than you think!
Today on Allen Road Beach, Dan Hartig of Bayville saw his Eagle Scout Project of construction and installation of an osprey nesting platform come to fruition.
According to BSA, “The project plan must be reviewed and approved by the beneficiary of the project, unit leader, the unit committee, and the council or district advancement committee before the project is started.”
To earn the rank, a Boy Scout must:
• Progress through the ranks in Boy Scouts
• Earn 21 merit badges
• Serve six months in a troop leadership position.
• Plan, develop, and give leadership to a service project for any religious organization or any school or community.
• Take part in a Scoutmaster conference.
• Successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review.
Dan worked for months on his idea for his service project and had to research the project, find an appropriate location, acquire the necessary permissions and help from outside organizations.
JCP&L donated the pole, equipment and “man-power” for the installation of the osprey nesting platform. With the help of Recreation Supervisor, Tim Yurcisin, Dan chose a hilltop area on Allen Road Beach.
Accompanied by his parents Kurt (Dan’s Scout Master) and Anna Marie Hartig, other members of Boy Scout Troop 83 - Elks Club in Bayville, Charlie, Kevin and Ben and their dads, Dan observed as the towering pole with the osprey platform he built was positioned a short distance from the shoreline.
The osprey, formally known as the “fish hawk,” is one of New Jersey’s largest raptors. They are well known and highly visible along coastal marshes.
In New Jersey, ospreys arrive on breeding grounds in late March, usually to the same nests each year. Pairs begin courtship and nest building in early April. Eggs are laid in mid-April to early May and most young hatch in late May. In late August and early September, ospreys leave New Jersey for their winter habitat.
Ospreys winter in Florida, the Gulf Coast states, and as far down as Central and northern South America. New Jersey ospreys fitted with satellite transmitters have been tracked to Venezuela and Colombia to Brazil’s Amazon River Basin.
Make it a point to visit the Allen Road Beach to view the osprey platform. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to view this magnificent bird right in our own backyards!
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Click here for the Osprey Project Photo Gallery
Click here for more information about osprey in New Jersey
by Nancy Wieme
photos courtesy of Howard Hoffman and Nancy Wieme