Summer 2017 Peninsula Osprey Survey

After being gone for most of the early summer, I returned in late July to find fledging happening among local Osprey. The big disappointment still is the loss the Osprey nest at Purdy (2nd year without a nest) and seeing bird deterrents being attached to Tacoma Power’s towers in and around Henderson Bay, although they seem to be doing this to the towers that the Eagles favor. They’re supposedly going to put up a platform to mitigate removing these towers within the next year. The date is constantly changing, but you can read their current predictions here: https://www.mytpu.org/tacomapower/fish-wildlife-environment/cushman-hydro-project/henderson-bay-project.htm

The Osprey tower at Victor, 7-27-17

Speaking of mitigation platforms, they previously did this at Victor, and that nest is a success. However, they put up one platform, but removed two nests as well as the small interesting Heronry on the power towers in North Bay.

Osprey on tower at Victor, 7-27-17

The pitiful nest observed last year on the Key Peninsula cell tower near the stoplight for W302 has been improved greatly this year, and three birds were observed on it on July 27th.

7-27-17 – Key Center Osprey

7-27-27 – 3 Osprey at nest on Key Peninsula tower

John Riegsecker tells me that probably two Osprey chicks fledged from the power tower on north Peacock Hill Road in Gig Harbor this season, but I was too late to see them.

7-30-17 – The Inn at Gig Harbor. Nest on left, adult on right.

The cell tower complex at the Inn at Gig Harbor was another great success this season. When Adam and I went there and had lunch at the Tanglewood Grill on July 30th, there were two young in the nest on the western cell tower and one adult watching over them from the eastern tower. Again, I am so surprised how successful this nest is, since it is so far from water.

7-30-17 – Adult Osprey on adjacent tower to nest at the Inn at Gig Harbor

7-30-17 – Two young flap in nest at the Inn at Gig Harbor

A look at the Wollochet Bay nest on August 3rd showed probable success with one bird in the nest, although the WDFW camera on this nest was reported to be out of order, and I wonder if anything has been done about that since it recorded a dead young Osprey in the otherwise deserted nest last year.

Wollochet Bay platform 8-3-17

A high spot this year was seeing a new nest (new to me) reported by Carol Smith at the tennis courts at Gig Harbor High School. Although I have some anxiety about this nest since it’s on a light standard (after what happened to the nest that burned up on a light standard at the Little League park in Gig Harbor), it’s a different style of light standard. The Osprey were using it as a multi-room house, having put nesting material in at least two of the “rooms” and maybe three. Two young were observed in the nest complex while an adult was dissecting a fish on a different light pole across the upper field. She eventually came in and gave them some morsels.