Subject: Re: Spencer Island Osprey
Date: Nov 1 19:26:51 1998
From: "Ed Schulz" - eschulz at gte.net


Mary Shane asks:

> Where do osprey go at this time of year? Is it true that
they and eagles
> don't "get along"?

Mary, I am not aware of any western population Osprey that
have been tracked in their migration journeys. I often
wonder this when they leave and ponder about their sights and
experiences as they travel and often feel quite jealous as
the rains set in here. West coast birds that have been
banded have been recorded in Southern Mexico, Panama,
Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil and as far south
as on the Parana River south of Asuncion, Paraguay (according
to Alan Poole in OSPREYS: A NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY,
1989). I am told that the many of the birds at Sanibel
Island, Florida only migrate a couple hundred miles and are
gone for a short time. They are back and working on their
nests as early as late January and February. Ours are
returning in April/May.

I have read that some of the southern populations are
resident and we will occasionally have one or two winter
over. There was one on the Lake Stevens Christmas Bird Count
a few years ago and prior to that there were a pair that
found the winter hunting prosperous at the Steelhead hatchery
on the Skagit River. Since it would seem that the impulse to
migrate is not as strong for this bird as many others, I
would not be surprised if some did not go as far as Central
America, say Baja, for example.

Yeah, they do not appreciate the presence of eagles. At
Everett there is a colony of Osprey that nest here and there
are typically about twenty nests within a two square mile
area in the Snohomish River estuary. There are many fewer
solitary nesters and I think it is because as a colony they
can fend off the eagles better. There are always Bald Eagle
here early in the season and some do hang around until later.
It is not unusual to see the Osprey escorting a Bald Eagle
out of the area. It is impressive to see how fast an Osprey
can climb to altitude to engage an intruding eagle. A friend
of mine once witnessed an impact which was interesting
because the spot in the sky was marked by a small cloud of
feathers that just hung there while the two birds flew on at
max speed. We have had some nests fail due to predation, but
no eyewitness accounts of what is actually getting the young.

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA
----------
>
> >Tweeters,
> >
> >A couple unusual sightings at Spencer Island this
afternoon
> >included an Osprey fishing the ponds on the north side of
the
> >cross dike. Saw no dives in over half an hour of hunting.
I
> >was certainly surprised to see an Osprey this late,
although
> >they have been known to winter over here once in a while.
A
> >group of FIVE river otters was having better luck fishing
in
> >the slough near the bridge. It seemed every time one came
up
> >it was munching away. We were able to watch them slowly
work
> >their way south in the slough.
> >
> >Ed Schulz
> >Everett, WA
> >
> >