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July 2015

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From:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:03:04 -0400
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Yesterday my wife and I ate lunch along the Scioto not far from the
now-regular nest site of a pair of ospreys.  That site was successful in
producing two young this year, and is now abandoned. We were intrigued
to see two young ospreys (separable because of the bright white
highlights on the upperparts) flying separately and together over the
big widening of the river just above the dam. What was intriguing was
that one of the birds was carrying a stick, which it deposited atop a
cell-phone tower behind the new fire station, just like an osprey
starting a nest. This tower is about 2-3 hundred yards away from the
established nest, which is on a light tower on the Scioto-Audubon park site.
        This suggested some questions I can't answer. Do young ospreys
regularly do a little practice nest-building in their first fall? Do
only the males do this? Is anyone seeing this now? I am also intrigued
by the date: is it the case that this practice takes place on a day when
the duration of daylight is close to the same as the real nest-building
by the parents? This reminds me that this raptor shares with the
broad-winged hawk a very long migration back and forth from South
America, and a pretty tight schedule that the birds probably recognize
by the length of daylight; I haven't figured this out yet, but it could
be that the same length of day governs their arrivals and departures. If
anyone knows more, please let me know. As recently as 2001, Peterjohn in
his "The Birds of Ohio" could be rather guarded about the nesting of
ospreys anywhere in Ohio. But we have nests these days all over the
state, most of which scorn nest sites put up by the ODOW---see Bob
Lane's report of twenty nests found near lakes within ten or so miles of
Alliance--and some of these observations could be studied.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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