Hi Tweets,

The Osprey colony in Everett will soon be fledging young
birds. Thirty-five young from 18 nests have been banded and
nestlings from three nests remain to be done when the
nestlings get a bit older. It looks like five nests have
failed from either non-viable eggs or predation. Six nests
were constructed but not actually used, ie. the female never
began incubating. A couple pairs are still busy building some
new nests, even now, and one of them quite an impressive nest,
but these birds will definitely not succeed in breeding this
year, as it is too late to begin laying. It looks like there
will be about 41 young birds out of 22 nests this year.
Again, we are seeing Starry Flounder being a very significant
part of the Osprey diet here.

Also some 350 D.C.Cormorant nests now have young, many of them
close to fledging. Most of these nests have three or four
young and it really quite impressive to see so many birds on
one row of pilings.

The free ferry is now operating to Jetty Island which is a
great place to see Osprey hunting. The ferry runs Wed thru
Sun until Sept 1. Call 425-257-8305 or 8304 for more
information.

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA