If Ospreys are adapting to sturdy man-made structures and they're successful   - that's great.   Thinking about all the human effort involved in Blue Bird Trails, (because of House Sparrow-Starling introduction that "muscled" them out of natural cavities)    and the subsequent increase in Blue Birds -   that's also great.  For the past 3 years I've observed Blue Birds successfully nesting in "natural cavities" along the Mosquito Creek in Niles Ohio  and 2 years ago I had BlueBirds nest in my giant sycamore tree - up high (I guess away from House Sparrows)    Even tho I have Blue Bird boxes in the yard------House Wrens have evicted all the House Sparrows in the boxes before I could intervene.!        Help them all we can.

Incidentially there is a successful Osprey nest -east side of Rt 11 in Trumbull Co - mp 59 -(cell tower) -has been there several years    and yesterday I found another Osprey nest about mp 65 on the west side of Rt 11  -   at night this tower has a bright red light.      Strong structures and yes away from Predators, (my thot is that Raccoons would try climbing something easier!)        So we are observing very intelligent birds!

And  about old 1800's thoughts on birds -  remember they all ate those birds,     Great Horned Owl was on the menu of "fancy" restaurants.
 I have an ancestors memoirs from Tennessee and he laments that Juncos are not wintering in Tennessee like they did earlier (writing about 1910) because everyone waited for their return so they could be baked!   Eating them had an impact on their population!?!           And
  Roger Tory tasted Sharp-shinned Hawk at Cape May!

During the Civil War in North Carolina rice planters would shoot Bobolinks and sell them to the Navy as a suplement to all the fresh fish etc they could get in the Atlantic and Cape Fear River. (also from ancestor memoirs)                Ah   the good "old" days!

Carole Babyak

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