Seaside Park Will Be Getting a New Osprey Nest

An osprey looks out over the nest at the Seaside Park Marina, May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Seaside Park officials, backing an effort spearheaded by a resident, will play home to a new family of osprey in the future.

The borough currently has a man-made osprey nest in the reeds between the J Street Marina and the curvature onto Bayview Avenue. While there has not been an “official” placement decided for the new nest, it will likely be in the marina area as well. The plans happened almost by chance, with resident Cindy Kleva, a member of the the borough’s Environmental Advisory Committee, taking things into her own hands. Now, JCP&L, the local utility company, may gift the borough a free pole to use as a future nest.

“It started with a conversation a resident had with a JCP&L person who was in town working on some of the poles,” explained Mayor John Peterson. “On the council, I’ve given some thought a while back if another pole for an osprey nest would be beneficial, and the issue was the question as to whether you could have them that close to one another.”

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As it turns out, the answer is likely directly across the bay at Good Luck Point, however officials said they would consult with naturalists before deciding on a final location.

“I’ve noticed that at Good Luck Point, there are close nests there and they all have nesting birds, so it seems to work,” the mayor said.

JCP&L has long hosted a program that helps provide materials to communities for projects like this one. The borough, through the program, would receive a pole in good condition rather than one of the usual poles used for nests that have often been weathered down over the years.

“One thing led to another, and rather than getting a used pole which was half-rotten, we found out there was a program where JCP&L likes to assist municipalities with donations and actually give us a pole,” said Peterson.

Last year, the Environmental Commission advocated for a new nest on the opposite side of town – somewhere near 13th or 14th avenues – but increased flooding in the area seemed to make a second pole at the J Street Marina a more feasible option. The second pole would be placed in a different portion of the marina grounds for a not-so-obvious reason.

“The benefit of that location is that it’s not as close to where the blackbirds’ nests are, and they have been dive-bombing osprey nests,” Peterson, who tries to keep up with the ospreys’ comings and goings in town, has noticed.

The last time the borough installed an osprey nest, it received help from neighboring Seaside Heights, which operates a bucket truck.

“There would obviously be no [electrical] service to this pole, so it wouldn’t be a safety issue in that sense,” said Borough Administrator Karen Kroon.

Ospreys returning to Ocean County. (Photo: Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation)

An osprey flies from a nest in Barnegat Bay on a hot summer night, July 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Peterson floated the idea of a camera being installed near the new nest so residents and visitors can keep track of its resident birds and hatchlings. Each year, it’s always a wait-and-see to determine if and when the current nest becomes occupied.

“They’re there, but whether they’re nesting is the question,” said Peterson. “There has always been interest in this, it’s very nice, and there is a lot of sentiment toward this. If there is a camera where we could watch them, it would be a great bonus.”

Once the borough formalizes the agreement with JCP&L and chooses a location, the new nest should see a quick installation and, hopefully, a quick move-in by its new residents.