April 19, 2007 - Part Two Osprey DiariesThe Suffolk Times • April 19, 2007
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Part Two
Diaries
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Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Before the use of DDT to control mosquitoes in our wetlands, the typical osprey nest contained an average of two
healthy young. Here, a proud mother on a ground nest on Gardiners Island, where there are no predators, has just
finished feeding her young.
March 18,1982:
"Years ago when I was teaching at
Greenport I kept a record of when
the ospreys returned each year on the
door frame of my office. Then when I
returned to school one fall the office
was painted and
my records were
Focus lost. What I can
O N remember from
that list is that
NATURE March 21 was the
average day for
by Paul their return to
Stoutenburgh our island. Like
the record on
the door, the one
nest I used for my observations year
after year finally disappeared along
with the bird.
"It was a typical osprey nest, high
in an old dead oak on the edge of
Moores Woods just off the Main Road.
When I saw that bird in the spring sit-
ting by its nest, a special feeling flowed
through me. Like the first May pinks,
the first catch of flounder or the taste
of wild asparagus, it meant my world
was turning the way it should be. An-
other year had worked itself out.
"The year my osprey didn't return
was during those dark years when
the osprey was losing its battle for
survival. It was those years when we
were learning about insecticides. It
was the time of awakening, of how
tremendously complicated our simple
world was becoming. Pesticides, air
pollution, fragile groundwater, loss of
wetlands and a thousand other envi-
roninental concerns were surnacmg.
"Old- timers can vouch for the
abundance of our once - healthy osprey
population before DDT. It seemed
everywhere there were osprey nests.
Along the great Sound banks north
of Roanoke in Riverhead; all along
the Peconic Bays on both the north
and south shore, they built their bulky
nests, with the greatest concentration
on the East End.
"On Gardiners Island alone, Roy
Wilcox reported 306 nests in 1940.
During the '50s, and '60s most of us
thought the osprey was on the way to
extinction because of the tremendous
drop in population, below 30 nests on
Gardiners Island alone."
April 19, 2007 — According to an
article by David Gessner, author of
"Return of the Osprey," "In 1948 Den-
nis Puleston began carefully observing
and sketching the resident ospreys on
Gardiners Island. When he first ob-
served the osprey, there were hundreds
of active nests but over the years he
noticed great changes. `I began keep-
ing records of each nest and its repro-
ductive history. In 1948, an average
of more than two chicks fledged from
each nest. By 1966 active nests on
Gardiners Island had dwindled from
over 300 in 1948 to under 50, and in
these we could find only four chicks.
Ornithologists predicted the end of the
osprey in the Northeast. " —PS
March 18,1982, continued: "Yet, last
year according to the official records of
Mike Schiebel, head of endangered spe-
cies here on Long Island, the osprey are
making a steady comeback — thanks
to new rules about pesticides and a new
awakening by the public in general.
"Ospreys returning often find their
nesting sites invaded by man. The
remaining old trees that held nests
eventually decay and fall, leaving few
trees for the birds to build in. All these
contribute to the problem of nesting
sites for the osprey. These and many
other reasons make it necessary for
man to improvise by building nesting
platforms. These are put up in suitable
locations away from man's activities
and built stable enough to withstand
the pressure of time."
March 31,1983:
"On the opposite side of our coun-
try in California, an important date is
when the swallows come back to Cap-
istrano. Here on the East End of Long
Island, our important date is when the
ospreys come back from their southern
wintering grounds. Some, we know,
stay in the southern United States, as
reported by our returning. winter vaca-
tioners; yet others are more adventure-
some, going far into South America.
There along the many rivers and
streams they feed on the fish of the
area until that inner urge sends them
northward once again to .nest.
"It was shortly after World War II
that these great masses of fish started to
decline. Also at that time the world had
thought it had found a miracle pesticide
called DDT. It was used liberally almost
everywhere, particularly in our marshes
to kill mosquitoes. But like so many
things that have not been thoroughly
esearched and had the test of time, it
treated a nightmare of problems. The
DDT was picked up by those very same
.my microorganisms in our creeks,
)assed on to the killies and then to the
Qounders and then to the ospreys, re-
;ulting in a marked decrease in eggshell
thickness to such an extent that when
the bird sat on her eggs to incubate, they
would crack and the embryo would
be lost. Other more subtle problems
arose, but this, along with the decrease
in the peregrine falcon because of DDT;
brought about nationwide changes and
eventually the banning of DDT. With
the result of that banning, today we fin
the ospreys slowly working out the ef-
fect of this silent destroyer.
"Slowly the ospreys are coming
back but I venture to say they will
never reach the numbers they were
years ago when the bunkers schooled
in our.bays and our area was less de-
veloped. In those days, eastern Long
Island and its offshore islands were
the largest stronghold for ospreys on
the eastern seaboard."
April 19, 2007 — Bunkers are fish
at travel in great schools and were
e principal food of the osprey. Over -
,hing by commercial boats reduced
eir numbers greatly. This loss of bun
.rs made it more difficult for ospreys
find a ready supply offish. —PS
March 31,1983, continued: "Besides
the lack of bunkers, the general area
on the mainland of Long Island has
changed vastly since the early days.
Most of our creeks and bayfront have
homes along them with man's many
activities. Even the big, old trees that
once were found housing the big nests
year after year seem to be missing.
That is why we are putting up osprey
platforms in areas where man's activi-
ties are minimal. — out on marshes,
sand spits and other unsettled spots.
All the work and material for these os-
prey platforms are donated. This year
we added a platform to Richmond's
(Creek and one in Corey Creek. Hope-
fully some day there will be at least
one osprey family in every creek.
"March 21 is the .target date I've al-
ways associated with the return of the
osprey. Give or take a couple of days.
Danny Latham and his daughter and
Jim McLaughlin from Orient spotted
the first one on the North Shore on,
March 20. Shortly after, Ralph Tltthill
reported the pair on Nature Conser-
vancy's Husing Pond in Mattituck.
"Let's hope our weather will hold
out so we get good production this
year. Last year was a disaster because
of the cold and rain. We lost almost all
the young. The problem was the adult
birds just could not keep the eggs or the
young warm through the wet cold spell.
"Perhaps some good has come from
the osprey's unfortunate brush with
DDT. Perhaps now we will look into
man's activities and ventures with an
eye not only on today but what is dowi
the road, whether it be a pesticide, a
new road or a new condominium. The
long view must be considered. Only
then will we be doing justice to the
present generation and generations to
come."
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