Through Project RedBand, young ospreys on Barnegat Bay are affixed with red auxiliary field-readable bands to enable future tracking. According to Ben Wurst, senior wildlife biologist with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, “since 2014 more than 600 red bands have been deployed, and in recent years we have had more re-sightings of birds that are alive as opposed to those that were found dead.”

A HOME ON THE MARSH: Osprey 04/P, known as Jeff, has a meal with his siblings in their Loveladies nest last summer. (Photo by CWFNJ)

This includes, just last month, a young osprey known as 04/P, or Jeff, who had been banded on July 9, 2024 during a junior wildlife biologists camp at…