New Jersey’s oldest osprey has returned to the Garden State after its winter flight.

At 17 years old, the bird is of record-breaking age. Most ospreys only live to be about 10. 

Many New Jersey scientists say that they did not expect to see the bird at his nest near the Delaware Bay this year.

“These birds face a lot of threats, not only here in New Jersey, but also on their wintering grounds. We just assumed he wasn't going to make it back,” says Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey biologist Ben Wurst.

Scientists tagged the osprey when he was just a chick in 2001. They have been monitoring him ever since.

And while biologists were celebrating the return of the osprey, there were some bird tragedies in New Jersey. The Duke Farms bald eagles who have been raising their young at the farm for many years saw their two eggs crack open and fail this year.

Many people have grown to know these eagles and their young by watching them live on a webcam.

“We don't know why it failed. It just failed. And it happened at a really bad time when the eggs were about to hatch,” says Wurst.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey did not disclose the exact location of the osprey’s nest so that it would not be disturbed.