posted Feb 27, 2012, 11:01 AM by Thomas Eddy
[
updated Mar 19, 2012, 8:58 AM
]
Ospreys given new homes in
Green Lake
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Osprey flying over Green
Lake
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by Tom
Schultz
The Green Team
raised two new nesting poles and platforms in the Green Lake area this month as
potential nesting sites for ospreys.
Also known also as
“fish hawks,” ospreys have 5 to 6-foot wingspans, and are related to hawks and
eagles.
They feed by
plunging-diving into lakes to take small to medium-sized fish with their strong
talons. Ospreys are migratory birds that spend the winter along the Gulf of
Mexico and in Central America.
The birds typically
return to Wisconsin by late April or during the month of May, and soon begin
their search for suitable nesting sites.
Nesting usually
takes place from May into July.
The nesting
platforms were built by volunteers with many of the materials provided by
Caldwell Lumber of Columbus.
Alliant Energy
provided the equipment, manpower and poles to attach the platforms to, and
raised the poles into place.
Both of the
nest-platform sites on this occasion were located in marshes, so Alliant placed
the poles in steel culverts that were filled with gravel for added stability.
One site was in the cattail marsh on the east side of County Road A and adjacent
to the Silver Creek Inlet — across from the Green Lake Sailing School. This
location can easily be observed from Sunset Park.
The other site is
the Norwegian Bay Wetlands Conservancy, inland about 25 feet from the shoreline
of Norwegian Bay.
This platform can be
observed from the conservancy boardwalk or from along Bay Road. Two other local
sites had osprey poles raised last year, including one at the back of the Green
Lake ballpark, and the other along the marsh off County Road K, to the southwest
of the bridge near the county park.
It is hoped that a
webcam might be installed on one or more of these sites at some point in the
future, so viewers can get a close-up look at the nesting activities of the
ospreys.
For more
information, contact the Green Lake Conservancy (www.greenlakeconservancy.org),
the Green Lake Association (www.greenlakeassociation.com), or the Green Lake
Sanitary District (glakesd.com).
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