Osprey nests cleaned ahead of breeding season

PSEG Long Island prepared for the upcoming breeding season of the resurgent osprey by inspecting known nesting areas and cleaning out debris and garbage.

In the osprey nests near company-installed webcams in Oyster Bay and Patchogue, crews removed garbage, including a prescription pill bottle, rope and gloves, helping to ensure the birds and their chicks do not get tangled as nesting season begins.

The cleanup tied in with World Wildlife Day on March 3, the theme for which was ‘Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation.’

“PSEG Long Island is proud to play a small role in this multi-decade, collaborative effort, because good environmental stewardship is part of being strongly involved in the community, and also because protecting these birds from high-voltage equipment improves reliability for our customers,” Michael Sullivan, PSEG Long Island’s vice president of Transmission & Distribution, said in a company statement.

Osprey build their nests on the tallest structure near a body of water. To proactively monitor its utility poles for osprey nests, PSEG Long Island partners closely with the nonprofit Group for the East End, which has advocated for the protection and preservation of nature on the East End since 1972. According to their report issued earlier this year, osprey breeding activity on the East End has grown by 200 percent in the past eight years, with 199 active nests in 2014 growing to 477 in the summer of 2022.