Looking up to the nest situated in the cell tower at Highland, MI. This nest was built by C42 and his mate. They started it last summer and completed it for nesting this spring. It is very large in size for a first year nest. It will be interesting to see how much larger it grows in the upcoming years.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

Skyline Services LLC climbers Steven Cirelli (top) and Jesse Smith (bottom) on their way up the 195 foot tower. They are just below the first of four antenna arrays when this photo was taken. The rope, to the left of the climbers, is used to ferry the chicks from the nest to the ground, using a canvas bucket.

This is the second year that Steve has helped the DNR and Detroit Zoo personnel with banding.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

As the climbers reached the top of the tower, mother osprey was off and flying. She was so startled with the arrival of the climbers that she took a fish (right talon) she had been feeding the chicks and a stick (left talon) with her as she left. The fish and stick both were eventually dropped as she flew around watching her chicks being kidnapped! Of course they were returned, but she didn't know that at the tiime.....

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

These are the three, 5+ week old chicks in the Highland cell tower nest that were removed, health checked, banded, and returned. What makes these three so special is they are the first, confirmed, third generation chicks to be born as part of the Osprey Reintroduction Program of Southern Michigan.

C42, these chicks father, is one of C09 and mates sons from the 2003 nesting season. He fledged from the Kensington Metropark Wildwing Lake Nest and here he is, back four years later, raising his own brood. Very cool!

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

After the chicks were returned to the nest, mother osprey returned to the tower and watched them from one of the antennas. C42 returned from catching a fish and was watching us on the ground before landing on the nest so that the chicks could eat.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

After the Highland chicks were banded, the operation shifted to the Milford cell tower nest. This nest was a second for this pair. They originally started building a nest on a cell tower in Brighton near Grand River and Euler Rd. but abandoned that location for this one. This nest is more typical of a first year nest in terms of size.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

Mother osprey at this nest must have been conditioned to intruders. She sat tight on the nest until climber Steven Cirelli reached the top catwalk and was opening up the trap door. You'll notice that the rope used to ferry the chicks to the ground was not taken up initially. That's because we didn't think there were any chicks in this nest, based on numerous observations.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

As the Milford banding operations were being completed, father osprey arrived with this fine looking large mouth bass for his mate and the chicks. This cell tower is very close to Moore Lake, Lower Pettibone Lake, Upper Pettibone Lake, and the waterways that join them. Good fishing in all of those locations!

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

The two Milford cell tower chicks shown in their nest after being banded. These two are about 5 weeks old.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

The first part of an ospey chick physical exam is getting its weight. Since they can't fly, once put on the scale, they just sit there, so getting an accurate weight is quite an easy task.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

Somewhere in the exam, each chick is inspected for mites, lice and other parasites. None of the chicks had any of these. If they did, they would get a dusting of a suitabe powder to rid them of these pests.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

A blood sample is drawn for DNA analysis. That is the only positive way of determining a chicks sex. It can be done by looking at the size of the tarsus and some feathering characteristics, but those are prone to error. DNA always works!

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

After the physical, each chick is banded using a US Fish and Wildlife band on the right leg, and a pair of colored class bands on the left leg. The class bands designate the year the chick was banded. This year, they are purple in color.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.

After the physical exam and banding, a chick goes back into the canvas bucket, covered with a bath tower so it can't escape, the bucket is then attached to the ferry line, sent back up to the tower top, and the chick safely removed and placed back into the nest. The total time to process a chick is about 20 minutes.

Jim Kortge photo; used with permission.