Welcome to the home of the Barnegat Light Osprey Cam! We decided to pursue the installation of a camera system at this tall nest so that we can share the intimate life of ospreys with everyone from the Long Beach Island region and worldwide. This nest was first occupied and successful in , after it sat idle for many years.
The camera was installed before the breeding season, in March. He was banded as a nestling at a nest within Sedge Island WMA , which is less than 2 miles to the north from this nest. As many know, ospreys are an important bioindicator species and reflect the health of their surrounding environment. There are still many threats to ospreys, even though they have recovered from the effects of DDT and habitat loss.
You can also help ospreys by participating in coastal cleanups or by picking up plastic litter that you see. Since our last update, Duke the nesting male here returned! He returned on March 31 at pm. Everyone watching could tell he was home. He felt very comfortable and this year had no challengers to fend off. He immediately worked to strengthen his pair bond with his mate, Daisy by providing her with fresh fish.
Since then they both have been working on the nest to spruce it up and copulating. Soon Daisy will lay her first egg. Milestones from last year: Egg 1 β April Egg 2 β April Egg 3 β April Edit to add: somehow my previous update and footer on this page was deleted and there is no backup.. Time to start backing up. I know I added some more text about Duke and him turning 18 this year. By this time last year Daisy had already laid a full clutch of three eggs first on April Both birds have been perching on the platform at night, which is nice to see.
When Daisy is preparing to lay her first egg, then she will remain close to the nest bowl for extended periods of time. Will Duke encourage her to lay her first egg, like he did in ? By now, Daisy should be incubating a full clutch of three eggs, like most normal ospreys during this time of year. Both adults came back early and have had plenty of time to mate and spruce up their nest.
