Its been an interesting week! I have received several financial donations, one from an anonymous donor and the other from Sally Donart. I am so deeply grateful for this generous support. This will allow me to fill the tank, visit more nests and gather more data. I cannot express how much these donations mean to me. I have not established this project as a non profit, as that costs money too. I am hoping to find an established non profit organization who would like to take me under their wing as a sub project. (Any ideas?)
I  also investigated a problem nest on an active power pole and shared my insights on Osprey behavior with Xcel Energy. It appears that the problem is now resolved. I appreciate  Xcel  Energy's interest in doing the right thing when the Ospreys begin building nests on their structures.
So once again I say, THANKS to the donors and to Xcel Energy!

Sadly, we have reached the point in the nesting season where it appears that some nests are starting to fail. I visited a nest that had been incubating for the past few weeks but  I found the female struggling with a large piece of landscape fabric that they hauled up there. She tugged and pulled and pushed and tucked and yet it remained in the way. She did not sit in incubating posture the entire time I was there (almost an hour). I am wondering if the eggs are under the fabric. I hate it when they do stupid things. But Ospreys are known for picking up odd stuff to line their nests...over the years we have found hats, gloves, a lanyard with keys on it, an arrow, twine (lots of killer twine), plastic bags, etc.
I found another nest totally empty. No clue about what happened there, tho I am not sure they laid eggs at all. With well over 80 nests to monitor, its hard to visit as often as I would like.
I have identified 79 birds by their bands so far, with a few difficult birds still elluding my prying eyes.