This nest is near the Mauricetown Causeway Bridge and is probably one of our most-viewed nests. It was placed behind a stand of especially thick phragmites (common reeds). We have accessed it for many years via a watered gut in the marsh. Over the years the gut has filled in with silt and phragmites, so that recently we moved it about 100? to the edge of the river.

The most memorable aspect of this nest is the day we put it up. You might say it was the meeting of two young organizations that are now well established in the local fabric of our community. The entire time we were putting up the nest we could hear pumps running in a steady drone. We also had a type of spectator group aboard the deck of what resembled a sunken or grounded ship. We went about our business of erecting the pole and when we completed the task at hand, we decided to see what was going on. We said, “Hey, what are you folks up to?” And they replied, “What are you up to?” We said we had just put up an osprey nesting platform. They thought our goal was optimistic; after all NJ had had 500 pair of osprey and was probably down to around 50, so not too many osprey were being seen in those days. We returned to our original inquiry, “What are you up to?” They responded, “We are restoring a ship; want to take a look?” We looked around at our work crew to see if folks were game and the head nodding seemed to imply that we would soon be on tour. There looked to be more water in the hull of that ship than in the river. We tried to be polite and hide our skepticism. I think our smirks likely gave us away. They explained that the hull of this forgotten oyster vessel was not always part of a motorized craft, but at one point in its glory, it was an oyster schooner, traveling only with the wind. They planned to remove the pilothouse and restore the low profile entrances to the galley and berths, equip it with masts, and sail it as a floating classroom. We offered our best wishes: “Good luck.” And their reply seemed to have a trace of equal uncertainty: “Good luck with the birds.”

Today, the boat is NJ's Tall Ship, the AJ Meerwald and it is owned by the Bayshore Discovery Project and in fact, it is a floating classroom. And now the dream focuses on the completion of a museum on site. And our osprey colony fledged 74 chicks in 2008. Any more skeptics out there?

Phragmites begin to take over causeway nest #1

Crew moves causeway nest closer to river's edge

Lois Abbott learns to band osprey

Closest River Reach: Mauricetown

http://www.cumauriceriver.org/reaches/pg/narratives.cfm?sku=33

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