[Tweeters] Nesting platforms for Ospreys

[Ronda Stark via Tweeters]

Hi Tom,

I am trying to respond to Charlotte  but it is not showing her email as
recipient. I have been working on Osprey nest platforms for the Seattle
area and the results are not encouraging. Even when the Seattle Parks
department puts up a platform, it is often not a good situation for the
Osprey because it is not properly constructed.

Two examples: First, there was an excellent nest built by the Osprey at
Dahl Field one of the light poles. It was removed during the off- season--
it is illegal to remove nests from towers when actively in use. But the
"replacement" on top on the light pole is a small metal grid with no depth
or sides to prevent sticks from rolling off and no protection for
hatchlings. It is truly  a terrible site now and even lacks a parallel pole
to allow the male to protect the female and young chicks from predators.

Similarly, Nathan Hale High School removed the excellent Osprey nest from
the light pole there and replaced it with an undersized box at the top of
the pole. Last year the dismayed parents did not know what to do. They
would come and stare at the box and even tried to bring sticks but the box
was too small to fit the sticks in. I guess due to site fidelity, they did
not leave but I don't know whether they produced any chicks. This had been
a productive nest for about 10 years.

NOAA put up the only well constructed platform in this area. It is
surprisingly expensive to do the work correctly. I have not seen the
platforms in eastern Washington but you might want to look at the website
for Sandpoint, Idaho as this nest is a total community wide effort and now
has a state of the art webcam as well.

Ronda

On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 10:07 PM Tom Benedict via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> I’ve wondered the same thing around here in not so affluent Burien we had

> Osprey nesting on a cell phone tower next to Highway 509 for a number of

> years, but I haven’t seen it for at least 10 years.

>

> Tom Benedict

> Seahurst, WA

>

> On Apr 11, 2024, at 17:05, via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

> Hello Tweeters,

>                 Today I drove over to a cell tower near Hwy 99, where, for

> the past number of years, Ospreys have had nests.  I have attached a photo

> showing a prospective parent on the tower with a bunch of sticks already on

> the tower.

>

> https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421@N07/53648198239/in/dateposted-public/

>                 I have been pondering this question:  why is it that in

> eastern WA and probably other places in western WA there are lots of

> platforms erected for Ospreys to use during nesting season, yet around here

> in affluent Edmonds, for instance, we have none that I know of?  My

> understanding is that the cell tower owners may need to clean off the

> debris from the nest, possibly interrupting the nesting season for these

> birds.  I wish we had some platforms around here in Edmonds!  I think there

> are several pairs of Ospreys that nest here every year, but all on things

> like cell phone towers.  Eastern WA appears to be way ahead of us here.

> I’d love to hear from some of you that are better informed than me about

> why this is the case.  Best regards, Charlotte  Byers, Edmonds

>

>

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