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Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 15:05:59 -0700
From: Norm Menter <NMenter at Ci.Bellevue.WA.US>

Hello,

I work for the Bellevue Parks Department and I'm interested in soliciting
anybody's opinions regarding osprey. Towards the end of May, a pair of
ospreys began attempting to build a nest on a construction crane which
was working on the Meydenbauer Bay marina in Lake Washington.
Every weekend they'd begin nest construction only to have the nest torn
down by construction crews. A neighbor who was overseeing the
construction had the construction crews install a large osprey nest box
on a 75 foot pole sticking out of the water. The ospreys took to the box,
built a nest and laid eggs.

Unfortunately, the pole didn't conform to local laws, and it blocked the
neighbors' view, resulting in several complaints. The City of Bellevue
has plans to shorten the pole and move it onto land, less in the view of
the neighbors as soon as the ospreys vacate the nest in the fall for their
annual migration.

At the beginning of July, for a period of about 10 days, chirping was
heard from the nest box and it seemed like the chicks had hatched and
were doing fine. (There's no way to see inside of the nest box due to
the pole height). Then the nest was deserted and the chirping ceased.
For about a week, there were no osprey to be seen in the area and
we're guessing that the osprey chicks have died. Wednesday, the
ospreys were again seen in the nest and the area.

I'm wondering if anybody out there has any insight on osprey activity
when there isn't a nest to tend. We're trying to decide if we can move
the pole within the next month, or if we will need to wait until late
October when the birds will have begun their migration to South America.
Will moving the nest be a disturbance causing the ospreys not to come
back next year? Any insight is appreciated, thank you for your time.
Please send responses directly to me as I am not a subscriber.

Norm Menter
Bellevue, Washington
nmenter at ci.bellevue.wa.us