Brave Osprey Sets-up Residency High Above Garden State Parkway Exit 50

New Jersey State Troopers aren’t the only thing keeping a watchful eye on motorists on the Garden State Parkway.

If you have traveled north on the Parkway into the Bass River Township area, perhaps you have seen the osprey that has built a rather large nest on top of the overhead sign gantry right at Exit 50 for Route 9 and New Gretna / Bass River Township.

I’ve been watching this bird and its nest for several weeks now and I decided to do a little investigating the other day. And by “little” I mean the best pictures I could get were from rather far away and when I tried getting closer, it flew away.

But, determined to figure out exactly what type of bird this is, I reached out to our resident South Jersey hunting and fishing expert, Tom P., who confirmed it is an osprey. In fact, Tom wrote a whole blog about these amazing birds a few weeks ago — it is definitely worth a read.

What first caught my attention, obviously, was the rather large pile of sticks sitting high above the road. And as far as I know, the tops of those sign poles are flat and smooth, so kudos to this osprey for having built this nest that high, completely exposed to the elements.

Osprey and nest over Garden State Parkway Exit 50 in Bass River Township

Source: Brave Osprey Sets-up Residency High Above Garden State Parkway Exit 50