On Mon, 16 Jul 2001, Ed Schulz wrote:

> I have been watching the Osprey colony in the Snohomish River
> estuary between Everett and Marysville. This year there are
> around 54 young birds in 23 nests.

That's remarkable. When the Department of Fish and Wildlife was surveying osprey nests
statewide during 1985 and 1990 there were few, if any, known nests in that area. The
closest thing to a "colony" of similar size in Washington is probably on the Pend
Oreille River near Usk and Cusick. The small ponds and lakes around Bonneville, on
the lower Columbia River, once had a good concentration of nesting pairs that might
be a considered a colony. I don't know whether that colony has persisted to current.

I can't think of anywhere else in Washington State that even comes close. How about
British Columbia or Oregon?

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington
Reply to: mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov