Hi All. My first thought is of the 6 or 7 nests on adjacent power poles along Rte 5/20 near the Montezuma NWR. Also, I have seen at least two active osprey nests on the same power tower in N Carolina. At Caumsett State Park on L.I., an osprey platform was occupied one year by a Canada goose family. Near Sandy Hook, NJ, a platform was used as a nest site by a Great Horned Owl. The owl nesting was done by the time the ospreys showed up. On L.I., there was a nest of house finches immediately below an active osprey nest.
My point is, I don't think proximity to other nest platforms is a deterrent to ospreys and may even provide some surprise nesters. Is there a down side? For the ospreys, the limiting factor would be food availability. If the fish supply dwindles, the birds will go elsewhere. For humans, the presence of more raptors means more opportunities to observe how the natural world works, and that is not a bad thing. My vote would be for more platforms. Bill McAneny, TBurg _____ From: bounce-113698130-7495...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-113698130-7495...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:18 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] How close to one another will Ospreys nest? I noticed that an Osprey platform has been installed on the hill above Myers Point. There are already two nests in the area, the first on a pole within the Cargill mining complex at Portland Point, which Robin Bailey's husband Paul (whose last name I forget, sorry), who works with NYSEG, provided with a platform after the nest sticks touched live wires and caused a fire. The second is at Salt Point, on a platform and pole installed for the purpose. They are about a mile apart, and this new platform is midway between them. At the south end of the lake, in Allan H Treman State Marine Park in the field east of the Hog Hole, there is another Osprey platform and pole. It took a few years to become occupied, but since has produced young multiple years. I just got word from Rick Manning, "Friends of Stewart Park was just notified by Jeanne Grace, city forester, that NYSEG wants to install an osprey nest or two in the park." I'm wondering what people's thought are about how many Osprey platforms would be appropriate at the south end of the lake and where? By the way, I've seen a young Bald Eagle perch on the platform at Treman a couple times, but it was skittish and left when it noticed me. I wonder whether Bald Eagles are likely to take over Osprey platforms the way they did on the power pylon by Mud Lock for several years. If so, it would be good to have a place for those Ospreys to go. --Dave Nutter -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> The Mail Archive <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> Surfbirds <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
