Patience….

 Well folks…..I drove a big loop today in the cold, snowy, windy weather. I visited 30 nests….and only saw 8 ospreys on those nests. These strong north winds are slowing down the migration a bit apparently. These early birds made it when the those southerly winds were in their favor. The saddest thing this year is the massive removal of nests which has occurred. We are now up to nine known nests that are no longer on their cell tower or ballfield light. And we are just starting to visit all nests….I suspect we will discover more missing nests. In my 29 years of studying this population if birds I have never seen so many nests removed. Perhaps this is related to the 5G upgrades in cell service. Most towers still look nestable. Some of the removals from lights were to replace lights that now look unnestable. sigh.

Ospreys can rebuild in a heartbeat if the structure is still the same, so our fingers are crossed for many of these birds.

I also want to send out a ginormous thank you to John Howe and The Raptor Resource Project for their generous donation. It means the world to me to know that what I am doing is valued and supported. I am so deeply grateful for their ongoing support, especially this year! A million thanks!