December 20, 2008:
Four brave Babelers hit the road for some high-stakes team building and first-rate volunteerism. Longtime friend and blogger, Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, organized an osprey nesting platform construction initiative at his home in New Gretna, New Jersey.
Ben author’s the New Jersey Osprey Project which is responsible for monitoring, managing, and supporting New Jersey’s ospreys and their role in the ecosystem. As a lifelong naturalist, Ben brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and dedication that is clearly evident in his proactive safeguarding of the environment. He is a true champion of nature and his work supports many wonderful causes.
On with the Build
Eager to get our hands dirty and support a most excellent cause, Jack Gamble, Gregory Rineberg, Jeff Ruemeli, and myself cleared our calendars to assist with the single day construction of fourteen osprey nesting platforms.
And now after a solid month of procrastination (Babeled style) we’ve got the video to prove it! In this award winning piece of naturalist filmmaking, Ben Wurst takes the viewer on an epic journey of platform creation. Â I must warn you that this was my first ever experience behind a video camera.
It should be noted that Jason Morgan and Andrew Blanco were unable to attend this event as they were keynote speakers at the biannual basket weaving conference at an undisclosed Young Men’s Christian Association.
For the record, it was actually an Underwater basket weaving conference. Remember, we were banned from the Above-Ground basket weaving conference last summer.
Awesome write up Greg!!!! Thanks! I can’t wait to make Part 2 of the series!
This is awesome. The red marker just north of the Rt. 72 bay-bridge in Manahawkin, NJ has a nice little family of Ospreys. We pass it all the time when we go out on fishing trips. I think they are the coolest birds…an excellent cause for sure!
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Great video but they left one important thing out. There is a layer of galvanized fencing secured inside the nest to keep the nesting materials from falling out.