Long Island osprey celebrated on World Wildlife Day

PSEG Long Island celebrated the strong return of the local osprey population this week for World Wildlife Day.

The utility inspected known osprey nesting areas, performed maintenance on the osprey cams it installed and cleaned out debris and garbage in the nests located near the cameras in Oyster Bay and Patchogue.

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 Group for the East End, a nonprofit organization that has advocated for the protection and preservation of nature on the East End since 1972. Volunteers with the nonprofit conduct their own surveys of the area and share osprey data with the company, which maintains a team dedicated to mitigating risks and relocating nests safely and in accordance with all regulations protecting the wildlife.

Osprey breeding activity on the East End has grown by 200% in the past seven years, with 199 active nests in 2014 growing to 460 in the summer of 2021, according to a report issued by the Group for the East End late last year.

“The theme of this year’s World Wildlife Day is ‘recovering key species for ecosystem restoration,’ and the osprey’s recovery on Long Island is one of those success stories,’” Michael Sullivan, PSEG Long Island’s vice president of Transmission & Distribution, said in a company statement. “PSEG Long Island is proud to play a small role in this multi-decade 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.”

For more information about osprey and to view live webcam feed of the nests, visit: psegliny.com/wildlife/ospreycam