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March 14, 1985 - Osprey: The Noble SurvivorMarch 14, 1985 The - Suffolk Times Osprey: The Noble Survivor By PAUL STOUTENBURGH Hopefully, one week from the time you read this article the ospreys will have returned from their winter vaca- tions south. They will give the marsh new life with their high - pitched call as they circle above announcing their re- turn. I know they're due because I saw a kingfisher just this week plunge into the water at the head of Deep Hole Creek and emerge with a baby flounder about 21/2 inches long in its mouth. If the flounders are out, the ospreys can't be far behind. In anticipation of their arrival, a group of us has been busy repairing and putting up new osprey platforms in hopes they will use them to nest on. By next weekend we will have repaired two old nests and put up four new ones. Our hopes are to have a new one in Mat - tituck Inlet, on the beach of Little Creek, along the Sound in Southold, and if all goes well, one at the entrance of Town Creek, Southold. Years ago when there were a lot fewer people around and more big old trees, the ospreys built in the oaks. But things have changed, and almost everywhere there once was an osprey nest people now have taken over. With that in mind, we improvise by building man- made structures and placing them in spots inaccessible to people. We also are working with the Department of En- vironmental Conservation which, under an agreement with a landowner, Focus on Nature will post and keep an eye out for these nesting platforms. This cooperation is now catching on with other law enforce- ment agencies, including our own bay constable. It is good to see most everyone is interested in the survival of our osprey. Ospreys As Indicators Yet I've actually heard some people say, "So what if the osprey becomes ex- tinct? No big deal." And in some re- spects, they are right. Other plants and animals have become extinct and the world has gone along just the same. What we try to get across to such a per- son is that all things in nature are "in- dicators." The osprey's decline showed us that the pesticide DDT was getting into the bird's food chain. And if it got into the bird's food chain, and the osprey lived on fish that you and I ate -- well, we decided we'd better look into it and we did. We found DDT did not disappear and often lingered for 10 or 20 years or more. It also had very bad effects on the reproduction cycle of the osprey. If it could do it to the ospreys, it could do it to us, and DDT was finally banned. An interesting note: DDT still is being pro- Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh - ATFORM RAISING - -Each year, just before the return of a group of enthusiastic people build and put up these ) latforms for the ospreys to build on. Slowly the osprey growing as the residue from the now - banned pesticide s effectiveness in the bird's food chain. duced and shipped overseas where there are no restrictions. One can only won- der what havoc it's playing in their food chains. The reduction in the osprey popula- tion was dramatic all along the Long Island Sound and neighboring bay areas of Long Island. From over 1,000 pairs, the figures declined to fewer than 100 pairs in the 50s and 60s. Gardiner's Island boasted over 300 nesting pairs of ospreys in the early 30s. Our own Roy Latham of Orient once told me he used to be able to see 19 nests from his backyard. We'll probably never see that kind of population again, for the limiting factor now -- and to some extent then -- was the loss of our wetlands. Over 40 per- cent of these valuable nutrient areas have been destroyed. This means that 40 percent of the grasses that make up the marsh are not available for nature's nutrient factory. This factory feeds the zooplankton, crabs, mollusks, insects, small fish etc., which in turn are con- sumed by the larger fish, which are eaten by man and bird alike. Great Film on Osprey I hope some of you had the pleasure of viewing Channel 13's film on osprey taken in Scotland. It had some of the most spectacular footage I've ever seen. Many's the time I've marveled at the osprey fishing -- hanging in mid -air and looking below. Then, at the right mo- 81 sgbY Page 17 it flies a short distance and then gives a bodily shake to rid itself of the water. This all happens so quickly it is hard to see exactly what is going on. But through the magic of slow- motion videotape, we see all this in what seems to be a rhythmic fantasy. If ever there were a noble bird, it is the osprey. Its successful reproduction these last few years gives us hope that our creeks and bays are again ridding themselves of DDT and its lethargy. In the early part of spring the male osprey will be showing off in great dives and swoops to prove himself to his mate. If all goes well, tiny heads will later appear over the edge of the nest, and the young will be daintily fed by the female, a very caring mother. This will be a busy time for the male; back and forth with his catches he will fly to feed his always - hungry young. Later, as they grow, they'll earn their wings by flapping and trying to take off. This is their pre -flight training and it's done endlessly before takeoff. Then one day they'll be off and another osprey will be added to the circuit. They, too, will go south in the winter, perhaps exploring the far reaches of the Ama- zon. They'll stay there for one or two years learning the skills of survival until one day that inner urge will take over and they'll head north once again to become part of the migration that we look for- ward to each year. It is these new arri- vals that we build our platforms for each year. And, like the young people of our race, it is they who we pin our hopes on for the future. a diwrr • °y: Al tG F \, A ` v: g� w i 1 Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh - ATFORM RAISING - -Each year, just before the return of a group of enthusiastic people build and put up these ) latforms for the ospreys to build on. Slowly the osprey growing as the residue from the now - banned pesticide s effectiveness in the bird's food chain. duced and shipped overseas where there are no restrictions. One can only won- der what havoc it's playing in their food chains. The reduction in the osprey popula- tion was dramatic all along the Long Island Sound and neighboring bay areas of Long Island. From over 1,000 pairs, the figures declined to fewer than 100 pairs in the 50s and 60s. Gardiner's Island boasted over 300 nesting pairs of ospreys in the early 30s. Our own Roy Latham of Orient once told me he used to be able to see 19 nests from his backyard. We'll probably never see that kind of population again, for the limiting factor now -- and to some extent then -- was the loss of our wetlands. Over 40 per- cent of these valuable nutrient areas have been destroyed. This means that 40 percent of the grasses that make up the marsh are not available for nature's nutrient factory. This factory feeds the zooplankton, crabs, mollusks, insects, small fish etc., which in turn are con- sumed by the larger fish, which are eaten by man and bird alike. Great Film on Osprey I hope some of you had the pleasure of viewing Channel 13's film on osprey taken in Scotland. It had some of the most spectacular footage I've ever seen. Many's the time I've marveled at the osprey fishing -- hanging in mid -air and looking below. Then, at the right mo- 81 sgbY Page 17 it flies a short distance and then gives a bodily shake to rid itself of the water. This all happens so quickly it is hard to see exactly what is going on. But through the magic of slow- motion videotape, we see all this in what seems to be a rhythmic fantasy. If ever there were a noble bird, it is the osprey. Its successful reproduction these last few years gives us hope that our creeks and bays are again ridding themselves of DDT and its lethargy. In the early part of spring the male osprey will be showing off in great dives and swoops to prove himself to his mate. If all goes well, tiny heads will later appear over the edge of the nest, and the young will be daintily fed by the female, a very caring mother. This will be a busy time for the male; back and forth with his catches he will fly to feed his always - hungry young. Later, as they grow, they'll earn their wings by flapping and trying to take off. This is their pre -flight training and it's done endlessly before takeoff. Then one day they'll be off and another osprey will be added to the circuit. They, too, will go south in the winter, perhaps exploring the far reaches of the Ama- zon. They'll stay there for one or two years learning the skills of survival until one day that inner urge will take over and they'll head north once again to become part of the migration that we look for- ward to each year. It is these new arri- vals that we build our platforms for each year. And, like the young people of our race, it is they who we pin our hopes on for the future.