This nest was erected on State Wildlife Management Area (as are many). The former owner of the property who saw fit to preserve his property was/is named Bauer, so we named the nest in his generous honor. I don't have much to tell about this particular nest; it certainly takes a knowledgeable person to navigate to it for the ditch leading up to it runs much differently that one might suspect and it is easy to run aground when servicing the nest. Probably the more interesting story that one could tell has to do with Canada geese. One of the NJ State biologists, Ted Nichols, placed a goose enclosure not far from this platform in order to see the effects of herbivory of the wild rice by the geese. For a number of years, the grazing geese decimated this keystone species. Canadas generally snap off grass shoots but because the substrate of our meadows is so soft the entire plant is uprooted, leaving the marshes somewhat of a wasteland and lacking a critical link in the food web. Inside the enclosures, rice was hearty and outside of the fenced areas, the marsh was a mudpie, void of green. But there were a few other exceptions to the eat-out. Along the tree-lined marsh edge, the geese feel threatened by possible predators and they stay about 20 feet from shore. And at the base of most osprey nests, nary a goose will roam. The Bauer bird's circle of influence was a tad more spectacular than other birds' nests; clearly it was more intolerant of the geese. These patches have acted as seed set to populate the marsh surface in years when the geese have been kept at bay.

One day I witnessed a fantastic display of intolerance for geese by the osprey that nests closest to my home. The male osprey repeatedly dive-bombed a line of marching geese. And the reaction by the geese was to hit the deck in anticipation of the attack. In short course, the geese dispersed.

Crew puts up Bauer nest

Closest River Reach: Ferguson, Strabmuller Farm

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