Eagle nest monitors kept watch over bald eagle nests throughout New Jersey during the 2026 nesting season. As with every nesting season there were ups and downs as some pairs failed to hatch eggs or their young didn’t survive, while other pairs successfully raised young. I asked the nest monitors to send me two of their favorite photos from the season. Below is the collection of their excellent photos.
All photos were taken by the trained volunteers at safe distance so as not to disturb the eagles.
In central Jersey, where I live, the banding of eaglets has taken place at several nests. The nest monitor reports on the chicks growth, so that the eaglets can be safely banded around six weeks of age. E83 a male, was banded in 2019 at the Three Bridges tower nest with at least four of my fellow central Jersey Eagle Project Volunteers present.
E83; photo Joe Mish
photo Diane Cook
In central New Jersey a group of six Eagle Project volunteers will support, cooperate and share nest news with each other. Occasionally, we spot a banded sub-adult from a local nest, and that is cause for great jubilation. H/22, banded at the Mt Airy nest in 2022 was spotted along the South Branch of the Raritan near the Three Bridges tower nest in May of 2025. Another eagle E88, “Duke” was banded in 2019 at Duke Farms and fitted with a solar tracker. Being able to follow his movements taught us that sub adults spend considerable time within 50 miles or so, of their natal nest, even landing in the nest tree. The parents seem to tolerate such visits until a new season produces eggs and tiny chicks. I have seen sub adults at or perched near nests that I observe while the adult pair was quite tolerant. I have wondered if the “visitor” was an offspring of the pair.
Bulls Island pair nest exchange 3-14-26: photo Barb McKee
E83 at the Bulls Island nest 3-11-26: photo Barb McKee
My fellow central NJ volunteers and I hoped to find a new nest with a locally banded adult and its mate. For as long as I have been an Eagle Project volunteer, I have watched and reported on the nest at Bulls Island State Park. So, I was absolutely thrilled in early 2026 when I was able to read the band of the new male at the Bulls Island nest: E/83.
The distance, from the Three Bridges nest to Bulls Island nest is 14 miles.
Bulls Island 4 week old chicks, 4-27-26; photo Barb Mckee
Barb McKee
Even more exciting, E/83 and his mate successfully fledged triplets this season! It will be interesting to see what happens at the Bulls Island nest next season.
Photos and/or history and encouragement by Diane Cook, Joe Mish, Dan Kroon and Mary Ellen Hill
Three nestlings. Approximately 2.5-3 weeks old. June 17, 2026
My summer has been filled with death and despair.
Every. Single. Day. I have seen or heard about osprey pairs that lost young to starvation. I now carry their stories with me, hoping that somehow they will be okay.
It is not okay.
Ospreys are now in decline in New Jersey. Their remarkable recovery, made possible by reducing pollution, protecting nesting habitat, and conserving our natural resources, is now in jeopardy. We are not alone. At nests all along the mid-Atlantic coast, ospreys are no longer producing enough young to sustain the statewide population, largely because of the scarcity of their primary prey: Atlantic menhaden.
Every summer, volunteers across New Jersey spend their evenings watching the skies as bats emerge from their roosts. Through the Summer Bat Count, these observations help us better understand the status of New Jersey’s bat populations.
The Summer Bat Count is a volunteer-driven program led by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP). Volunteers monitor known summer bat roosts such as attics, barns, bat houses, and churches, and count the number of bats that emerge at dusk.
Earlier this spring, CWF received a grant from The Boston Foundation to study a new predator exclosure design to assist with piping plover recovery. Exclosures or nest “cages” have been used over the past several decades to protect plover eggs from predators such as red fox and crows. Although nest exclosures greatly increase hatch success, they can also increase the likelihood of an adult being killed by a predator. Unfortunately, over the years, New Jersey has struggled with high adult mortality associated with the traditional round exclosures.
This shorebird season 43 stewards worked a total of 1,374 hours over a two week period from May 9th thru May 25th. Stewards were posted at restricted access beaches in Cape May and Cumberland Counties. Stewards help to protect the migrating shorebirds that stop over on the Delaware Bay to feed on the horseshoe crab eggs. They keep people off of the restricted beaches by educating them about the importance of letting the shorebirds feed undisturbed so that they can gain the weight needed to continue their journey north to their breeding ground’s. Continue reading “NJ Delaware Bay Shorebird Stewards: Protectors and Educators”
An occupied but empty osprey nest at Sedge Island WMA as viewed by a small action camera.
This spring, we have been conducting osprey nest surveys to better understand nesting outcomes across New Jersey’s coast. These surveys are focused on coastal colonies, where signs of food stress have become increasingly evident in recent years due to the scarcity of Atlantic menhaden, the primary prey of nesting ospreys.
The 2025 nesting season for ospreys in New Jersey began as others. Breeding adults returned to their nests in March and April, pairs reunited, and nesting activity got underway on schedule. But as the season progressed, it became clear that this year would be anything but typical.
A nor’easter in late May marked a turning point. Lasting nearly three days, the storm brought strong winds, heavy rain, and coastal flooding. Conditions that made it extremely difficult for ospreys to find food. As observed in previous years, these types of storms are known to disrupt foraging in the ocean, and in many cases, lead to brood reduction or nest abandonment. However, weather alone does not explain what we observed.
Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts across New Jersey — and beyond — tune in to watch one of the state’s most exciting conservation success stories unfold in real time: the Union County Falcon Cam. This season, viewers witnessed an unusual change when the nesting female was replaced mid-season. What makes this especially remarkable is that the new female is now incubating the five eggs laid by the previous female.
