Susan - you and your birding friends sure had a wonderful morning!
I am especially glad to read in your post you saw Ospreys - that is such a wonderful sighting! For those of you who do not live or bird in Illinois, historically, Ospreys nested in this state. But when their population numbers plummeted to dangerously low levels because of DDT back in the 1970's, the nesting stopped. Today, they do migrate through, but to actually see one is somewhat rare. Right now, Ospreys are still 'Threatened' in Illinois which means while not on the 'Endangered' list, their population numbers are quite low and are being monitored.
There are people who are trying to change this and have erected nesting platforms for these birds. And there has been some success - a few pairs are, once again, nesting in Illinois. If you type 'nesting Ospreys in Illinois' into the search engine of your internet, there will be a list of good websites describing the efforts of groups to encourage these birds to nest. If any of you reading this live or bird in Florida, you probably have seen the huge nesting platforms for Ospreys on tall poles throughout all the wetlands. Encouraging Ospreys to nest is a costly and complicated endeavor.
We do see one Osprey every few years here at our small lake and it is such a wonderful sight! Ospreys are excellent fishermen. They are strong fliers, hover very well, and are expert divers to grab often fairly large fish - in our lake it is large-mouth bass.
Linda
Photos: Getty Images and Marc Serota on Unsplash.
Susan - you and your birding friends sure had a wonderful morning!
I am especially glad to read in your post you saw Ospreys - that is such a wonderful sighting! For those of you who do not live or bird in Illinois, historically, Ospreys nested in this state. But when their population numbers plummeted to dangerously low levels because of DDT back in the 1970's, the nesting stopped. Today, they do migrate through, but to actually see one is somewhat rare. Right now, Ospreys are still 'Threatened' in Illinois which means while not on the 'Endangered' list, their population numbers are quite low and are being monitored.
There are people who are trying to change this and have erected nesting platforms for these birds. And there has been some success - a few pairs are, once again, nesting in Illinois. If you type 'nesting Ospreys in Illinois' into the search engine of your internet, there will be a list of good websites describing the efforts of groups to encourage these birds to nest. If any of you reading this live or bird in Florida, you probably have seen the huge nesting platforms for Ospreys on tall poles throughout all the wetlands. Encouraging Ospreys to nest is a costly and complicated endeavor.
We do see one Osprey every few years here at our small lake and it is such a wonderful sight! Ospreys are excellent fishermen. They are strong fliers, hover very well, and are expert divers to grab often fairly large fish - in our lake it is large-mouth bass.
Linda
Photos: Getty Images and Marc Serota on Unsplash.
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