An eagle nest tree reused and an eagle viewing site refurbished.
The Stow Creek Viewing platform was built and installed in 1990 along the Stow Creek in Cumberland County. In 1990 there were only four eagle nests in New Jersey. The Stow Creek pair built their nest in a large sycamore tree in an active farm field. The Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program built the viewing platform across the creek, and it was featured in the first New Jersey Wildlife Viewing Guide. This beautiful site gave the public a safe spot to view nesting eagles without disturbing them.
In 2005, the eagle pair moved to a new location about 1 mile away along the Canton Drain, inside an active blue heron rookery and have nested there ever since. The sycamore tree remained empty until this season when a new pair of eagles built a nest in the tree.
The viewing platform hadn’t been maintained once the eagles moved away, so repairs were needed. The local staff of NJ Parks and Forestry recently trimmed the overgrown vegetation and refurbished the platform, adding a new deck and seats. It now looks wonderful and is ready for people to come view the nest.
Today there are eagle cams that let people get a close up view of nests right from their couch. Eagle cams are great, but it’s also nice to get outside and view a nest in the wild. This new pair, named for the nearby Canton Drain, started incubating on February 18th and should be hatching around March 24th. When you visit bring binoculars or a scope and enjoy scenic Salem County, it has the highest number of eagle nests in NJ, so you have a good chance of seeing other eagles in the area.
Directions: Coordinates 39.46134; -75.403890 .
From the junction of NJ Route 49 and Route 45 in Salem, travel 0.7 mile east on Rt 49 to CR-658. Turn right onto CR-658 (Hancocks Bridge Road). CR-658 makes a left turn onto Grieves Parkway in 0.3 mile. Turn right onto CR-623 (New Bridge Road) and travel 8 miles to parking area on the right (south) side of the road, just before the bridge over Stow Creek.
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Exciting news! It is similar to what is happening to one of the nests we monitor. Perfect nest, perfect location, so hey, why not use it!
I’m a great believer in re-purposing “historic” sites and this is a great example of making what was old new again. Good luck new eagle nest owners.
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