Breaking News 2009

Breaking News for 2009

August 10th
By now, all of the chicks in the various nest have fledged. The last to go were the male and female chicks from the Old Farm Lane nest. They fledged approximately 2 weeks ago. Now is a good time to get out in the field and see how young ospreys learn to fish for themselves.

We finally have all 18 nests surveyed and the number of chicks in each confirmed. Below is the table showing the nest, number of chicks expected to fledge, and the observers providing chick occupancy information. 2009 has been a remarkable year, both for the number of active nests and the huge quantity of chicks they produced.

Nest Name	Chicks	Observer(s)	Confirmer(s)
Skuse Rd. (C33)	1	Craig Wickham	Jim & Kathy Kortge
Elm Ave.	3	Ken Currie	Photograph
Sterling State Park #1	3	Jim & Kathy Kortge	Photograph
Telb Rd.	3	Jim & Kathy Kortge	Photograph
Onstead	2	Jim & Kathy Kortge	Corky Kelley
Pte. Mouille (Lead Unit)	3	DNR Banders
Rockwood	2	Walt Pawloski	Val Valoppi
Acme (C22)	3	Steve Cirelli	DNR Banders
Wildwing Lake (C09)	2	Jim Ridley	Photograph
Hilton Rd.	3	Steve Cirelli	DNR Banders
Dawson Rd. #2	3	Susan Kuroda	Photograph
Old Farm Lane	2	Glenn Werth	DNR Banders
Milford (PT)	4	Steve Cirelli	DNR Banders
Highland (C42)	3	Jim Kortge	Photograph
Lake Nepessing (C37)	3	Steve Cirelli	DNR Banders
Mead Rd.	2	Sergej Pospupalsky	Barb Jensen
Gratiot Rd. (County line)	2	Sergej Pospupalsky	Barb Jensen
Ranger Rd.	2	Sergej Pospupalsky
Total Nests = 18	Total = 46

On a field trip to the Monroe area on July 31st, Jim and Kathy Kortge were able to verify that two of the chicks at the Elm Ave. nest had already fledged, with a remaining third chick still in the nest. After leaving their, we found the nest in the cell tower on Telb Road. While there, we met several of the folks who work at Doug's Transmission Repair, the business below the cell tower, who were able to tell us some of the history of this nest. As expected, it is a new nest, being started this nesting season. Our expectations were that it might not have any chicks or maybe one in it. After setting up the spotting scope and camera a few hundred yars away to be able to better view the nest, we discoved that there were 3 chicks there, all of them quite large and beginning to hold their wings into the wind for lift and trying out flapping. From there, we moved to Sterling State Park. We had heard that the nest there contained 2 chicks and wanted to verify that information. While observing, we could clearly see that there were 3 chicks also in that nest, a bit smaller in size than those at Telb Road. The chicks were active, but none of them were observed flapping or learning flying skills.

Banding of the 2 chicks in the Onstead cell tower nest occured on July 17th. Lori Sargent came down from Lansing to band, and she was assisted by DNR staff from Hillsdale. Our climbers for this outing were Corky Kelley and Larry Bonness from ClearLink Wireless, the same cell service company that supplied the climbers for the banding activity at Old Farm lane (see below). From Onstead, we travelled down to the Skuse Rd. nest near Hillsdale. We were not able to band that chick. It flew off the nest like it had a jet pack on its back as the bucket from the bucket truck was about half-way up to the nest. It was obvious watching the chick soar to 1000+ feet that it had fledged earlier and had learned to be a very good flyer in the interim.

July 11th
Yet another new cell tower nest has been discovered and reported by Joe Lambert. This nest is on Telb Street, just East of Detroit Ave. It appears to be very active and have chicks in it based on photos that Joe sent showing a great deal of white wash on the cell tower structure. We are indebted to Joe for finding this one and providing very excellent documentation showing its location The Sighting Map has been updated to include this nest. With its discovery, we are now at 18 active nests and counting. Who will find the next one?

Speaking of the Sighting Map, it has also been updated with the number of chicks verified to be in various nest where that information is known. Within these 10 nests, there are a total of 26 chicks. There are still 8 nests where chick counts need to be confirmed, so please keep watching, photographing, and reporting what you see.

Banding at the Old Farm Lane nest in Commerce Twp. was conducted on Friday, July 10 by DNR and Detroit Zoo staff, with assistance from OWSEM volunteers. The Glenn Werth and Sam Mourad from ClearLink Wireless handled the climbing and on tower "chick wrangling" tasks. We're most appreciative of their help. That nest contained two chicks, about 3 weeks old. They were at the limit in size (small) to allow banding, but everything went very well. We'll put together a photo page of that activity ASAP.

Wednesday, July 8th was also a major banding day with four nests were done. The banding was again done by DNR and Detroit Zoo staff with assistance from OWSEM volunteers. Handling the climbling duties were Steve Cirelli and Steve Pickerd from Skyline Services. This is the 5th year that Steve Cirelli has done the climbing and "tower chick wrangling" of us. He is an "expert" now! Banding began at the C22 nest, which had 3 very large (6-week old) chicks, then to the US23-Hilton nest, with another 3 chicks of slightly smaller size (5-week old). We then moved on to the Milford "PT" nest with a surprising and very rare 4 chicks. Three of these were about the same size (5-weeks old) and one much smaller (3+ week old) size chick. Finally, the crew traveled up to the Lake Nepessing nest to band another 3 large (5+ weeks old) chicks. All was done safely and without incident to the tower climbers, the chicks, or the banding crew. Another photo page of this day's activities will be added to the Photo Album as time permits and we receive the photos from the many, wonderful photographers who captured the day's activity for us.

We did not band the chicks in the C42 nest at Highland because they are too old and active to do that without risk to the chicks and the climbers. There are 3 chicks in that nest and they are about ready to fledge. On Monday July 6th, all three chicks were observed testing their wings in the wind, flapping vigorously, and awarkedly flying across the nest, from rim to rim. They will probably fledge sometime next week!

That's the latest update! Thanks to everyone for your new and continuing reports and overall help in keeping track of our Southeast Michigan ospreys. Their numbers continue to grow, so having an active group watching them is very much appreciated. We could not do the job without your help!

July 2nd
Starting off, we have good news and bad news to report. The good news is that another active osprey nest has been discovered and reported by Barb Jensen today while driving up to the the Houghton Lake area. This new nest is located Northwest of the intersection of US-127 and West Mead Road, in a cell tower. As Barb was watching the nest, the male osprey landed with a fish and left it for the female and chick(s). Barb reports that the Gratiot Rd. and Ranger Rd. nests, North of this most recent discovery, still appear to be active.

The bad news is that it appears the Inwood Road cell tower nest has failed. Recent observations by our Macomb team, Hal Norris, Martha Wolfe, and Chris Rising all indicate that the adults at this nest are no longer brooding nor feeding. Several adult ospreys are frequently seen at this nest, with up to 4 adults at a time present. If you recall, last year this nest was lost when the thunderstorm of June 8th blew the nest completely out of the tower. Our Macomb team will continue to monitor that happenings at this location, but is doesn't look very promising for chicks this year.

With the addition of a new nest and the loss of an old nest, we still have 17 active nest in Southeast Michigan. Quite remarkable anyway you look at it!

On Wednesday, July 1st, the DNR and Detroit Zoo banding team successfully banded a total of 5 chicks from the two nests at Kensington Metropark. The Wildwing Lake nest held two chicks, as previously reported and the Dawson2 nest held 3 chicks, also previously reported. All of the chicks were about 4 week of age, with the smallest being the newly discovered chick in the Dawson2 nest. That chick is several days younger than the others, hence smaller. All of the chicks are healthy and now banded with a US Fish & Wildlife band on their right leg and a red plastic 2009 year band on the other leg. Banding of the many cell tower chicks is currently being finalized.

A revised Sighting Map showing the location of the newest nest is available. Also, the map has been updated to show the number of chicks in the two Kensington nests. We will follow this protocol as the number of chicks in the remaining nests are banded and/or counted. Some chicks will probably not be banded as the nest locations they are in are too difficult or dangerous to access.

As said before, thanks to everyone for your new and continuing reports and overall help in keeping track of our Southeast Michigan ospreys. Their numbers are growing rapidly, so having an active group watching them is very much appreciated. We could not do the job without your help!

June 18th
We have received several reports from OWSEM member Susan Kuroda, who has been keenly watching the two nests at Kensington Metropark. She reports that both nests are doing well with chicks being present in both. A second female osprey seems to have "taken up residence" at the Wildwing Lake nest. The "extra" female was observed on the nest with C09's mate on June 14th. Susan sent along a photo of the "two ladies' side-by-side on the nest. Thanks for your reports and photos Susan.

We observed two chicks in the Wildwing Lake nest on Friday, June 12th, and suspect there may be a third, smaller chick also based on feeding observations. A photo album from the day's visit and photo session will be forthcoming.

On that same day OWSEM members Barb Jensen and Karen Verhey hosted a group of school children from Brummer Elementary in South Lyon. This field trip was arranged to enhance the bio accumulation program that Barb and Karen presented to Mrs. Anderson's class in May. During their classroom presentation they utilized a fun but enlightening activity which explained the role that DDT played in the decline of Ospreys and other bird populations during the past century. While visiting Kensington the kids witnessed first hand the return of the Osprey to Southern MI. They also had a great time being entertained by the antics of C09 and mate as the birds displayed their air to air combat skills in an effort to drive away two interloper Ospreys from their nesting territory. Barb Jensen photo, used with permission

The 17th active nest of this season was reported by Kenneth Currie on Wednesday, June 10th, Here is the report as we received it from Ken: "I am not sure if you have this nest on your location map? I have been watching this nest for about 5 weeks and am about 99% sure it is an Osprey nest. It is at the Monroe ACH-LLC plant formally the old Ford plant at 3200 East Elm St. The nest is about 270 yards from our back parking lot on top of the Detroit Edison electrical pole that feeds our plant. This nest is located on the power lines running from East to West between the plant and I-75. I noticed today that the Osprey eggs have hatched and watched the birds feeding their young. My best guess is that there are (3) small Osprey young in the nest. I have seen up to (3) Ospreys flying around the nest at one time. I did not report it earlier, due to the distance with the naked eye, the birds looked like eagles. I have since then put a range finder on the nest and viewed it with a set of binoculars. We have many Eagles in this area with a nest that I have been watching for several years about 400 yards from the Osprey's nest." Thanks for your report Ken! We are delighted you took the time to pass on this very important finding.

OWSEM members, Jim and Kathy Kortge visited this nest on Monday, June 15th to observe and photograph. While we could not confirm that the nest holds 3 chicks, we could confirm that there is at least one very active chick, whose head we could very clearly see. A number of photos were taken and some of those along with others that Ken Currie sent to OWSEM will be in a photo album update. We did not see the male while we were observing.

While in the Monroe area, we also payed a visit to Sterling State Park and observed and photographed the osprey nest there (SSP1 on the sighting map). It appears the female is still incubating. We also did not see the male at this nest location.

An observation trip was make to the Highland, Commerce Twp, and Milford nests on June 5th. While no chicks could be seen in the Highland nest, moving shadows in the nest while the female was standing on the rim indicated chicks present. The female was still incubating at the Old Farm Rd. nest in Commerce Twp. This was a later nest, so probably right on schedule. At Milford, the head of a small chick was briefly seen.

On June 4th, the nest at Hilton-US23 was observed. The female there was not longer incubating, but had switched to brooding. She was much higher up in the nest than previously observed, indicating chicks in that nest too.

Finally, a few more ospreys sighting have been reported. Those and all of the active nests are plotted on the current version of the 2009 Sighting Map.

Thanks to everyone for your new and continuing reports and overall help in keeping track of our Southeast Michigan ospreys. Their numbers are growing rapidly, so having an active group watching them is very much appreciated. We could not do the job without your help!

June 1st
The 16th active nest of this season was reported by Barb Jensen on Saturday, May 30th, It is located in Sterling State Park and is the same nest platform that was active a couple of years ago. The platform was damaged by ice and not repaired, but the ospreys decided to use it anyway, even though the platform surface is severely tilted. Barb could not see if the Elm Ave. nest platform was active or not. Too many obstructions to see through, she reports.

Our "2009 Sightings Map" has been update showing where all 16 active nests are located and all of the reports that have come to us so far this nesting season. Please continue to report new nests and any ospreys your have seen in the Southeast Michigan area.

Hal Norris from the North Macomb Sportsmen Club send the following email on May 23rd:

"Hey Jim,

Been awhile, but all is well.

We had dropped some dead ash trees out in front of the trap houses, over the winter. They really liked the small sticks nice and close.

Couple weeks ago a third bird showed up for a short time. Lots of calling, gnashing talons and upside down flying for a bit.

Last week one of them had a fish too big to make the climb up to the platform. Looked like a record book bass. It might still be laying out in front of the trap houses, unless the coons/skunks found it.

Thursday one of them was showing off his catch to all the shooters on the 5 stand building, I called a cease fire because I thought he was too close to us, with his 12 inch catfish.

She's sitting low in the nest, all you can see with a spotting scope is her head."

Thanks for the nice report Hal. Very much appreciated.

We are only days away from chicks being hatched, and in fact, some are probably hatching as this update is being prepared. There will be lots of "bobble heads" to view and photograph in the upcoming weeks, so take to the field and watch the baby ospreys grow!

And speaking of hatching chicks, check out the osprey web cam at Ferris State University, near Big Rapids, MI, at this URL: http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/colleges/artsands/biology/birdcam/index.html As best as we can determine, there is at least one chick hatched and hopefully, more to follow.

May 22nd
A number of exciting events have occurred in the past couple of weeks. We'll start with the most recent.

Wildlife biologist and osprey expert Sergej Postupalsky spent two days (May 22nd and 23rd) in this area. On his first day, he attempted to catch the female with C09 at Wildwing Lake, so that she could be banded. If you remember, C09's mate this year is new. His old mate from the previous 6 nesting seasons was caught and banded back in 2004. The current female avoided being trapped by refusing to return to the nest while the apparatus was in place. C09 made several passes over the nest to check on the three eggs that they have been incubating, but also avoided getting near the trapping apparatus. Score: Ospreys 1, Sergej 0

The following day, Sergej and OWSEM member Barb Jensen traveled down to Pte. Mouilee to trap the male and female nesting on the platform in the Lead Unit. On their way, they stopped in the Gibraltar area to check the cell tower nest near the intersection of Jefferson Ave. and Woodruff Rd. To their amazement and delight, they found an active nest. This osprey pair has tried several times in the past few years to nest in that area, only to be thwarted by natural causes. It looks like they may finally be successful this season. Barb reports that the pair are incubating!

Continuing down to Pte. Mouilee, Sergej was successful in catching the Lead Unit nest female, but the male eluded him. As it turns out, this female was banded by Sergej in 2002 as a chick from the Tomahawk Flooding near Atlanta, MI. He reports there are 4 eggs in the nest! Score: Ospreys 2, Sergej 1. All kidding aside, Sergej has successfully trapped and banded over 500 adult ospreys since the mid-1960's, when he trapped his first. Quite remarkable!

Upon leaving Pte. Mouilee, Sergej paid a visit to Sterling State Park (SSP), specifically to check on the Elm Ave. nest that was active last year. He could not see any activity at that nest due in part to the poor visibility. The other nest platform at SSP is also an unknown at this point in time.

A new nest in the Commerce Twp. area was reported to OWSEM by Janet Weisbrod on May 12th. Thanks Janet-you rock! In following up on her report, we can confirm that indeed it is a new, active nest, with the osprey pair there incubating. Both the male and female have US Fish and Wildlife bands on their right legs, so they both may well be chicks born in this area sometime in the past few years returning to nest. Photos of this new nest will appear in the next photo album, when time permits to create it.

The Highland, MI and Milford, MI nests were visited on May 18th. Both pairs of ospreys are well and incubating.

With the addition of the "Woodruff" nest and "OldFarm" nest in Commerce Twp. the active nest count in Southeast Michigan now stands at an amazing 15. These two new nests along with those previously reported are shown on the latest Sighting Map, along with the additional "sightings" we have received during the past few weeks. The most notable "hot spot" continues to be in the Ann Arbor area, where there is most probably an active nest whose location is unknown.

That's the latest.....stay tuned for more.

May 11th
We have received a comprehensive packet of information from Mr. Ray Herman from Roseville, MN. Ray is actively involved with monitoring ospreys in Minnesota and was one of the volunteers assisting when the "PT" chick (see April 16th information below) was banded. Among the many items sent along by Ray was a photo of the "PT" chick from 2003 when he (and his two nest mates) were banded. As time permits, much of this information will be scanned and added to the OWSEM web site so that visitors can learn more about the Minnesota hacking program and this chick in particular. It is a very interesting story. Thanks Ray for all of your efforts.....they are very much appreciated.

Two additional active nests have been confirmed, bringing the total up to 13 and counting. We have not had any reports yet from Sterling State Park, nor any of the areas from the St. Clair flats Northward. We are hoping that other nests have been established in this area and just have not been reported. The 2009 Sighting Map has been updated with these two newly confirmed nests and the most recent sightings from the Ann Arbor and Chelsea areas.

Our observers have sent reports and photos from Wildwing Lake and the Dawson 2 nests confirming that the females at these two nest locations are incubating. They are sitting down very low in the nest, the best evidence that incubating is taking place. We are hoping that visitors to Kensington Metropark will take the time to visit these nests and see for themselves the activities at these easy to view locations.

April 16th
The second report of an osprey in Ann Arbor was posted to the UMICH birders list today. This osprey was sighted flying West over the Matthai Botanical Gardens. Its location is almost due East of the previous sighting.

In response to the information in the April 14th photo album concerning the "PT" banded male osprey at the Milford cell tower nest, we received an email from:

Judy Voigt Englund
Naturalist and Project Coordinator
Twin Cities Osprey Project
Three Rivers Park District
Plymouth, MN

Judy writes: "We banded a bird with black PT on July 14, 2003 at Poplar Lake, Ramsey Co, MN. I hope this is the same bird you have reported!"

While there is no assurance that the Milford "PT" banded male is the osprey Judy banded, it is a good bet that it is. We will continue to watch this opsrey and report significant information back to Judy and her group. Judy found the OWSEM web site while searching for information on ospreys with Lavender colored bands on the internet.

Finally, Jerry Jourdan sent an email yesterday to let us know that a pair of ospreys is nesting again on the platform in the Lead Unit at Pte. Mouillee. That kicks the active nest count to 11.

The most recent Ann Arbor sighting and the nest at Pte. Mouillee have been added to the Sighting Map and will show up the next time the map is published to the web site.

April 14th
It seems impossible that 10 days has already gone by since the last report. Time really does fly when you're having fun! Here is what has happened since the last report.

The first report of an osprey in Ann Arbor was posted to the UMICH birders list on Monday, April 13th. This osprey was sighted near the South end of Barton Pond. Once again it appears there is an undiscovered nest somewhere in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area. We're hopeful someone will figure out where it is and report it. The best places to look are along the Huron River or any cell towers near the river or larger bodies of water.

On Saturday, April 11th, Jim Kortge and Barb Jensen traveled to Brooklyn, MI in search of reported osprey nests in that area. Several hours were spent looking in the area surrounding the GPS coordinate location where the two nests was reported to be. We found nothing! Very frustrating as this was our second trip to find this pair of nests. At this point in time, we are hoping someone who lives in that area will come forward with information where these nests are really located, so that their locations can be confirmed and the nests can be added to the Southeast Michigan nest count.

Interested happenings at Kensington Metropark. C09 is back for his 8th nesting season, but with a new female. If you remember, his old mate had been caught and banded several years back by wildlife biologist Sergej Postupalsky, for the express purpose of knowing if the same female was returning each year. That paid off, as C09's new mate has no bands, so we know he is with a different female. The fate of his old mate is unknown. Photographer Jim Ridley has provided photos showing this new female. Some of Jim's photos will be in the next photo album.

Barb Jensen confirmed that the Windfall Hill female has moved her nest to Dawson road and is nesting on the skid platform there. Jim Kortge was able to verify that the male with her is not her old mate from previous years. Her old mate was not banded, but she had been by Sergej Postupalsky. The male with her appears to have two bands on his right leg and a strange, cloth-like band on his left leg, with quite a bit of writing on it. It also may be that his left leg has been tattooed with those numbers and letters. We have not been able to figure it out yet.

The male at the Milford nest has finally cooperated by showing off the lettering on the black band on his right leg. That band shows the letters "PT". Who banded this male and where remains a mystery. While observing and photographing this pair, two other male ospreys were photographed. One of them had a green hacking band on the left leg and a US Fish and Wildlife band on the right leg. The lettering on the hack band is very difficult to read, but appears to be "34", so possibly C34 from the Kensington Hacking program, released in 2001. Of course, the obvious question is "Where has he been all of these years?" If it is C34, his hack mates are C37 at the Lake Nepessing Rd. nest and C35 at the Skuse Rd. nest.

Speaking of Skuse Rd. the pair nesting there have been confirmed as have the pair at Inwood Rd. This brings the total number of known active nests to 10, quite remarkable this early in the season. We expect more of the established nests to become active and confirmed in the nest few weeks as well as more new nests to be built over the course of this season.

As always, we need your help finding these nests and documenting their locations and inhabitants. If you find an osprey nest, please report it to OWSEM or the DNR.

April 4th
The 2009 osprey season is off to a wonderful start. As of today, we have had reports of osprey pairs at Kensington's WWL nest and confirmation that the pair there is C09 and a female. She has not been confirmed via leg bands as yet. A pair of ospreys has been observed in Brighton on the cell tower behind Acme Building Materials company. This is most likely C22 and mate, but not confirmed. The new ospreys reported to be building a nest near Hilton Road and old US23 last year are also reported to be back. We also have a report that the Milford cell tower pair is back and the cell tower pair at Highland. This should be C42 and his mate, but again, not confirmed. A report came in last week of an osprey on the cell tower nest at Lake Nepessing Road, so probably C37 is back. An osprey was also reported on the cell tower nest at Ranger Road, North of St. Johns. We've heard nothing regarding the ospreys down near Hillsdale, nor those along Lake Erie at Sterling State Park or Pte. Mouilee, nor anything from the Macomb county area.

That's the latest...stay tuned for more updates!

Please help us keep tabs on Southeast Michigan's ospreys. If you see an osprey, we encourage you to report the sighting to OWSEM by email at osprey"at"owsem.org or by phone to 810-629-0378.

Please note the date, time and location of the sighting and any identifying features, for example leg bands or missing flight feathers. Ospreys may be wearing one or several bands on their legs. The US Fish & Wildlife band is silver metal and could be on either leg, depending on when it was banded and by whom. The numbers on these bands are very small and will probably be difficult, if not impossible, to read even with a good spotting scope. Colored plastic bands may also be present, in addition to the USF&W band, on one or both legs. There may be one, two or even three of these colored bands. Note the color and location of the bands, for example "right leg USF&W band with green band above, and left leg with blue band on bottom and red band on top".

Birds that were released as part of the Osprey Reintroduction Program of Southern Michigan will have the USF&W band on the right leg and a bright green metal band on the left. This green band will have very large white text and should be easy to read (for example "C22"). We are particularly interested in sightings of the hacked birds as it helps to determine the success of the reintroduction project.

Thank you for your cooperation!