NEWARK — NJ TRANSIT in partnership with the Borough of Bay Head and the New Jersey Audubon Society celebrated Earth Day with the installation of new nesting sites for three bird species at the Bay Head Rail Yard.
The goal is to attract breeding pairs of Ospreys, Wood Ducks and Eastern Screech Owls to the rail yard, where nearby woods and bodies of fresh and brackish water provide ideal natural habitat.
Eleven nesting boxes and platforms have been installed on rail yard property to attract the birds, including seven boxes for Wood Ducks, two for Eastern Screech Owls and two platforms for Ospreys. Wood Ducks are among a very few North American duck species which nest in trees.
The locations of the nesting sites were selected in consultation with officials from the New Jersey Audubon Society’s Sandy Hook Bird Observatory. The duck and owl boxes have been installed in the woods inside the rail yard track loop, in an area that is off-limits to the public due to the train activity. The Osprey platforms, on the other hand, have been positioned between the rail yard employee parking lot and Twilight Lake, easily visible from Twilight Road and Lake Avenue.
Volunteers in Bay Head built the nesting boxes and platforms, which were installed by NJ TRANSIT rail operations personnel.
The goal is to attract breeding pairs of Ospreys, Wood Ducks and Eastern Screech Owls to the rail yard, where nearby woods and bodies of fresh and brackish water provide ideal natural habitat.
Eleven nesting boxes and platforms have been installed on rail yard property to attract the birds, including seven boxes for Wood Ducks, two for Eastern Screech Owls and two platforms for Ospreys. Wood Ducks are among a very few North American duck species which nest in trees.
The locations of the nesting sites were selected in consultation with officials from the New Jersey Audubon Society’s Sandy Hook Bird Observatory. The duck and owl boxes have been installed in the woods inside the rail yard track loop, in an area that is off-limits to the public due to the train activity. The Osprey platforms, on the other hand, have been positioned between the rail yard employee parking lot and Twilight Lake, easily visible from Twilight Road and Lake Avenue.
Volunteers in Bay Head built the nesting boxes and platforms, which were installed by NJ TRANSIT rail operations personnel.
