Jamaica Bay has some new flight patterns (QnsCourier)

Coley nurturing her family.

Photo by Shalini Gopie

July 24, 2014

SALVATORE LICATA

Jamaica Bay has some new flight patterns.

Coley and Coley Two (C2), the ospreys that call Jamaica Bay home, just added some new chicks to their nests about a month ago.

While Coley, whose nest can be seen from Cross Bay Boulevard in Broad Channel, had three chicks for two years in a row now, C2, whose nest is on the Yellowbar Marsh, has had some trouble. Last year she did not make her nest, which can weigh over 500 pounds, soft enough for the hatchlings, causing the eggs to crack before they were ready to hatch. This year she had two baby chicks that are doing well, according to Shalini Gopie, a representative from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

 Adult ospreys just back from the hunt. (Photo: National Parks Service/ Jamaica Bay Gateway)

While C2’s chicks are still too young to fly, Coley’s offspring just started to take flight about a week ago.

“They’ve gotten their freedom,” Gopie said.

Both Coley and C2 are part of a tracking project, where the wildlife refuge collects data on where the birds fly during their migrations, according to a 2012 New York Times article. During their southern migration, Coley has been tracked as far as Colombia and C2 has been tracked to Venezuela, according to Gopie.

The refuge has been low on funding for these tracking projects which can help keep the osprey population growing in the bay.  To find out more about the project or to follow the osprey, visit jamaicabayosprey.org.