This nest is located on the second level of an electric pylon at the northwest corner of what is now a super fund site. The paper factory is completely demolished. The pylon appears to be decommissioned, the wires do not continue across NJ route 29 that I could see.
1:42 p.m. I was heading north on PA route 32 when I spotted this nest clearly visible from the PA side. The parking there is non-existent, but I managed to pull off along someone's driveway entrance. I saw first the two chicks, then the female flew in and sat between them. It was not long before all three looked up, and I saw another osprey circling, which I assumed was the male. He came down flying fast and very quickly "buzzed" the nest, seeming to knock the female off. They then soared and circled above the nest while the chicks vocalized excitedly. Photos reveal that the male was maybe trying to pin down one of the chicks and Mom intercepted him and both careened off into the air.
I drove to the NJ side. The two were still in the same perches on the nest. No sign of the adults. Then I heard more vocals, and saw an adult fly right at the nest. I was shooting a video which showed he tried to pin one of the chicks down by standing on it, but it stood and the adult flew off. I heard lots of vocals and after this adult flew off, I saw two adults soaring and circling high above. These fledglings were not alarmed or they would have flown off to get away had they believed they were in danger. I believe this was the adult male and he tried two more times always aiming for the same chick. The third time he succeeded in pinning his off-spring to the nest! The chick flattened itself on the nest bottom and the adult male then stood on top of the chick for at least 5 minutes!! Neither moved much. I had never seen anything like it! I got the entire "show" on video!! Otherwise, how would anyone believe that this happened!
When the adult finally took off the "pinned" fledgling stood and appeared to take something first in its beak then in its talon, and fly off the nest with it. Less than a minute later, the second chick flew off. So...what was going on? No doubt some sort of survival lesson by the parent? If the chick had a fish and was mantling it, perhaps the parent was showing it how to protect its food from another bird who would steal it? Or perhaps it was the parents trying to encourage the chicks to fly....but they already had fledged so that did not make much sense. In any case, very interesting day at this nest!!
12:00 p.m. There was one chick alone on the nest. Apparently its sibling has fledged. I also saw a bird flying above the nest, circling in the wind. I couldn't tell if this was an adult or the fledgling. It is possible both chicks have taken their first flights, but I did not observe this yet. 2 days ago, both were on the nest.
10:55 a.m. The adult, probably the female, was on the edge of the nest. Two big, healthy looking chicks were in the nest. I didn't see a third. There were three here last year. Unfortunately, I did not get to this nest during May and June to see if there was ever a third chick. I watched for about a half hour, but nothing much changed and not much was happening.
12:15 p.m. I drove by so I stopped to check on this nest. I saw only one of the three fledglings, perched alone on the wooden structure that is east of the nest tower. I saw no other osprey today, but didn't stay long.
4:00 p.m. I stopped by this nest tower area hoping to see the two fledglings that I had discovered very late in the season (on 8/5), or better still, to see that there were THREE! I was rewarded by the THREE fledglings all perched together on another decommissioned tower standing in front of the nest tower. THREE FLEDGLINGS CONFIRMED!! It is a good thing that I discovered these when I did as they will surely be leaving the area soon.
12:15 p.m. I decided to take another, closer look at the tower in the northwest corner of this super fund site which I mention in the entry from July 17. I had looked on a very zoomed in Google Earth, satellite view, and there was definitely a tower! Sure enough! It is a good thing I looked more closely today, with different lighting because I not only spotted a nest, but TWO FLEDGLINGS! It is possible these two were both branching, but I assume they have fledged. If there is a third sibling, it was off somewhere. I will try to check again but it is good I spotted these two as they won't be around the nest much longer! I can't believe I missed this entirely on July 17, but in my defense, the lighting on the tower was poor as it was 7:30 p.m. and quite in shadow. The tower appears to be decommissioned. The wires drape down to the ground and do not cross the road (I had looked for wires when trying to find this "electric pylon" the first time). In addition, the tower is covered with green, growing vines--camouflaged rather effectively--making the tower blend in well with the green background! It is difficult to get very close as the entire site is surrounded by chain-link fence and off-limits. In any case, two beautiful chicks were present thus boosting our successful Delaware/Northwest Jersey nest success and chick count!
The Crown Paper factory no longer exists; it has been completely razed. The entire area is fenced in and is a super fund site. There is no electric pylon here. There is a tower visible on satellite view which sits at the northwest corner of what is now the super fund site. I did not see any nest in this tower. There is no evidence of nesting on a smaller transmission tower to the south where last year, on that line to the south (the one listed as nest #3530), the ospreys nested on the PA side, right along route 32 (nest/tower #7408/Red Cliff Village). This nest in PA was not active this year either.
There is a cell tower in the town of Milford a half mile to the north which bears watching, but as of July 17, there was no evidence of nesting on this cell tower, just a flock of vultures. Should an osprey pair decide to nest on the cell tower in town, a new listing can be added. I will keep an eye on this cell tower next season.
Past Seasons
Show reports, diaries, and photos from:Current 2020 2019
Activity reports
Photos of this nest
Nesting Diaries