Subject: The OSPREY Again!!!!!
Date: Apr 19 20:28:49 1999
From: Michael & Janka Hobbs - MJCT_Hobbs at email.msn.com


>How common are OSPREY in general? Endangered? Threatened? Populations
>growing? Declining?


Osprey are definitely NOT endangered or threatened today. I believe they were
heavily hit by DDT, but osprey populations have mostly recovered. They are an
indicator of the health of nearby aquatic/marine environments - they need lots
of fish to eat. Last summer, we saw what we thought were tremendous numbers of
osprey along Route 2 in Idaho. But last week, in south Florida, we saw
*phenominal* numbers!

In western Washington, including over settled areas, Osprey are not that
unusual, although their nests are few enough to be enumerated.

Question - in western Washington, are there more Osprey pairs or Bald Eagle
pairs? Anyone have a guess at an answer?

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== MJCT_Hobbs at msn.com