Viewing an osprey nest from an acceptable distance.
It used to be if you wanted to see osprey in Massachusetts, you went to the Westport River. It was well known for an osprey-recovery program started in the mid-1960s by a local couple, Gilbert and Josephine Fernandez, who took the initiative to build several nesting platforms on tall poles. They theorized that the osprey’s comeback might hinge on nesting spots provided by humans to replace all the trees that had been cut down.
The Westport River is no longer the only osprey real estate. Essex County Greenbelt in our neck of the woods has created a “colony” of ospreys in the past five to ten years. Greenbelt has even launched a popular webcam where you can view the nest of Allyn and Ethel who hatched a chick around June 1. Way to go, Allyn and Ethel!
We were out paddling recently and passed by another active nest (not on TV) near Choate Island, as seen in photo. The platform was installed privately on private property sometime after 2005, and has definitely been active since 2010. Last year, this osprey pair successfully fledged three young.
Dave Rimmer, Osprey Program Director for Greenbelt, noted that after a recent survey, what he and his crew discovered was mostly encouraging: four nests with chicks in them; two nests abandoned.
Accomplishments to date in Essex County:
* Installed eight new nesting platforms and repaired countless others on Greenbelt and other properties
* Created Osprey Watch and coordinated monitoring of approximately 25 active osprey nests in 2013 using Greenbelt staff and more than 15 volunteer citizen scientist nest monitors
* Installed a webcam in 2013 at the Cox Reservation Osprey nest in Essex and fed a live stream to the Greenbelt and other websites
* Installed two informational kiosks in 2013 about osprey biology and conservation
* Banded 13 Osprey chicks and placed satellite transmitters on two juvenile Osprey in 2013 as part of a long-term research project on Osprey migration with lead investigator Dr. Rob Bierregaard
Go the www.ecga.org, click on Osprey Program, and check out the webcam.