Greetings,

This past Wednesday I saw my first Osprey over Green Lake (north end Seattle) for the season. About ten days earlier than my previous record (record kept for the past 13 years but since I'm not at the lake 24 hours a day.... take it for what it's worth).

Last summer a pair of Osprey brought their four young to Green Lake and taught them to hunt there. It was spectacular to watch the birds "work" the lake. The adults being "shadowed" by food-begging young above them. Since the lake has an abundance of food, is shallow, and the fish can't go anywhere it is the perfect place for these youngsters to be trained.

Before anyone asks, no, no idea where the Osprey's raised their young.

I predict that this year we won't be seeing this same kind of spectacle. Last year the Bald Eagles did not nest successfully at the Lake. Right around the start of incubation the female disappeared. The male stuck around for two months, then also disappeared right around the time when the State Department of Fish and Wildlife received a report of a sea plane taking off from Lake Union colliding with (and killing) an adult Bald Eagle over the Aurora bridge (may have been a coincidence). A pair of eagles has been at Green Lake on and off since October and as of last week they've started incubating in the same nest tree where a pair nested in 1999. The fact that they started this "late" is another indication this is a new (young) pair. Most older pairs in the region start incubation the first week of March.

This morning, while running around the lake I saw the type of incident that I think will preclude the Ospreys from using the Lake as a teaching ground later this summer. I heard an Osprey vocalizing and watched it being chased by an adult eagle. The Osprey dropped something, the eagle swooped after it but as far as I can tell failed in retrieving the item (presumably fish). The Osprey did it's typical body shake in mid flight (indicating it recently plunged down into the water) and circled up and flew off to the northeast. The eagle returned to one of its favorite perches on the island in the Lake.

Whatever happens, it will be interesting to watch not only the Lake but the sky above it as well.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com
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