Sunday, June 29, 2008

New Osprey Nesting Platform


Last year while visiting Mom and Dad I was thrilled to see an Osprey Eagles nest atop a telephone pole on the road to Fergus near the end of Lake Belwood.
This year thanks to the effort of the Friends of the Grand River the returning Osprey's have a new nesting platform to construct their nest on. As you can see the eagles have taken full advantage of the platform.
Many of us have been treated to the stirring sight of the Ospreys fishing on the Grand River. As part of FOGRs conservation efforts Terry Ryckman and crew were out in Belwood Conservation Area installing a nesting platform so that more breeding pairs of osprey will be attracted to the Grand River valley.
Our nesting platform is modeled after other successful nesting platforms installed in Florida. The structure consists of a telephone pole with a baffle near the mid point and a wooden pallet on the top to support the truly massive osprey nest. We hope to have a nesting pair of ospreys using the platform within two or three years so that more folks will be treated to the sight of the mighty fishing eagles.

No comments: