I have gotten SO far behind here...it always happens this time of year. So much time spent in the field, gathering the data, that the correspondence and the posting here falls by the wayside. Where do I begin...first of all the male who was tending two nests last year did show up at the west nest and displaced the other young male seen there earlier. I have seen two different males (one of them young male mentioned above) at his east nest, but have not yet seen him there. I am only there about once a week tho...but he is incubating with the female at the west nest. No eggs at the other. (A handful of nests in the metro are incubating now.) I can also happily report that our two oldest males have returned! 22 and 21 years old. Our beloved female in Edina has not returned, and we will miss her after watching her produce 20 chicks in 8 years. There are a number of banded birds who have not returned and I wish I knew what happened to them.
Many of you are aware of the demolition going on at the old Arsenal plant. Many osprey nests were removed over the winter and five new nesting platforms were placed in various locations to accommodate the birds. (I was not involved with this). Ironically, only one nest pole is being used! Four other pairs have decided to rebuild on power poles still standing on the property. Ospreys want to be where Ospreys want to be! There is a lot to be learned here about osprey behavior and management. I am still working hard at reading bands, and documenting the movement of birds from nest to nest.
Special thanks to all the new volunteers!!!! I can't do this without a lot of help! I appreciate all of you! Keep your eyes open for new nests popping up on cell towers, ballfield lights, power poles, transmission towers etc!
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