Osprey Platform in Guilford Repaired

On October 13, Menunkatuck's Terry Shaw repaired this Osprey platform along the West River just south of the Jared Eliot Preserve in Guilford.

Although all four supports looked good from 100 yards, three of them weren't attached at ground level and two of them were separated.

From a distance the support looked OK. However, it was not attached to the support post.

Four new support posts were driven into he marsh 4' deep with our custom driver (two minutes each!). The posts are 5' long with one foot above ground.The braces were through bolted to the original supports with 1/2" galvanized bolts.

One of the side boards was removed and a new one installed. The sheet metal predator guard will be replaced later.

Because the original nest was so large that it made the platform too top heavy, about 70% of the nesting material was removed.

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Next up is a platform across the West River just south of the Guilford Yacht Club. This one is in such bad repair that it will be replaced. If you can volunteer to help, please let us know. Email terry@menunkatuck.org. And do not forget that we still need the locations of Osprey platforms in the area. Complete the survey at http://goo.gl/X1igQg

We also need financial support for these repairs. We have received a generous donation that will cover most of the replacement costs for what we call the GYC platform. There are many other platforms that will need fixing before the Ospreys return in March. Mail your check to Menunkatuck Audubon Society, PO Box 214, Guilford, CT 06437. You can also donate on line at JustGIve

Menunkatuck Facilitates Repair of Osprey Platform, Initiates Inspection Program

On Thursday, May 8, 2014, Menunkatuck learned that one of the osprey platforms in the East River salt marsh in Guilford collapsed after three days of high winds. Terry Shaw went to the Guilford boat launch to assess the situation and found the osprey pair standing on the fallen nest. Later reports were that the ospreys were mating.

After determining that the platform was on Guilford Land Conservation Trust property and getting the OK from them to repair it, Terry contacted Guilford dock master Rod McLennan and made plans to go out and attempt to make repairs.

Friday morning Terry, Rod, and Town marina employee Rick Anderson took the dock master boat to the site of the platform with all the materials needed to repair the platform. When they got to the platform and the damage was closely inspected, it was clear that although the hardware that had held one of the support braces to its ground post looked good at the ends, it had rusted through in the middle and broken. Without the support braces the platform leaned so far in the wind that the pole snapped at ground level. They also discovered that the ospreys’ three eggs had broken.

Using a new 12’ pole, four new brace posts in the ground, and all new bottom boards, everything was through bolted with 1/2” galvanized bolts. The new base was sistered to the original post with the nest still in good shape.

The 12-foot 4X4 post, eight 8-foot 2X4s, and rust-resistent ½-inch bolts, washers, and nuts to repair the platform cost $160. Your donations to Menunkatuck help us pay for unforeseen expenses like this.

During the weekend the ospreys were seen carrying sticks to remake the nest and later were observed mating.

This is the third platform that has collapsed in the last three years. In June, 2011, one along the Branford Trolley Trail fell when the hardware holding its supports rusted through. The nest was swept away in the tide and the two chicks were lost. In January, 2012, another platform in the Neck River marsh in Madison had so much nest material on its platform that it became top heavy and was close to falling. We were able to remove most of it and get the pole upright once again. Later in 2012 another platform fell because of rusted hardware. There are two platforms near the mouth of the West River in Guilford that from a distance appear to be fragile.

These osprey platforms were installed in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the osprey population started to recover from the devastation that DDT had caused. Now after 20 years or more, the hardware is rusting through and the platforms are no longer stable.

To be proactive rather than reacting to collapsed platforms, Menunkatuck is undertaking an inspection and repair program for the platforms in our Chapter area, the towns from West Haven to Madison. We know where many osprey platforms are located, but not all. So as to have as complete an inventory as possible we have prepared an online survey that you can use to tell us about platforms that you are aware of. 

We also need volunteers to work on the inspections and repairs. We will train you as to what to look for and how to retrofit the platforms with new braces and upgraded hardware.

Inspections and repairs will be done after the ospreys have left in August and September. Our goal is to have all of the then completed before the ospreys return from South America next March. 

The online survey can be found at http://goo.gl/rRFYGE.

The osprey chicks were doing well when the osprey platform along  the Trolley Trail in Branford collapsed and the nest was swept away.

This platform in Guilford’s Chittenden Park has only two braces; it should have four.

(From the July 2014 Newsletter.)

Menunkatuck’s Been Getting Ready for Spring with Cleanups and New Nest Boxes

Ospreys like to decorate their nests with colorful trash, including balloons, plastic bags, rope, fishing line, and the like. To lessen the possibility or them getting entangled, the nests at Hammonasset Beach State Park were cleaned out while the birds were wintering in South America.

A new purple martin house was installed at Hammonasset to accommodate the increasing numbers of matins in the colonies. The houses at the Nature Center were moved closer to the marsh in preparation for the new Nature Center building.

With all 31 tree swallow nest boxes at Hammonasset used last year and tree swallows trying to nest in the purple martin house at the Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary, we installed 14 new boxes at Hammonasset and nine at the Sanctuary. The boxes use John Picard’s starling-proof design with a top slit instead of a traditional hole.

(From the May, 2014 newsletter.)

DEEP Uses Menunkatuck’s Osprey Platform Design

Two osprey platforms at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, CT had significant damage in Super Storm Sandy and needed to be replaced. Park management contacted Menunkatuck for the plans for the platform that John Picard designed and that we have been using for the last six years. 

Volunteers from Dominion Energy built two platforms following the Menunkatuck plans. On October 10, 2013, Dennis Riordan and Terry Shaw joined the Dominion volunteers and Patrick Comins of Audubon Connecticut to install the new platforms. The Harkness staff was very happy with the result and cannot wait until the ospreys return next spring.

(From the January, 2014 newsletter.)

Osprey with Hook and Monofilament Line

Barb Walker of Clearwater (FL) Audubon Society posted this on the Osprey Migration Group page.

Rescuers were called to St. Petersburg Beach regarding this osprey with a hook and monofilament line entanglement. He is able to fish and eat but if he weakens and comes down to the ground we will know it and will grab him. He is being monitored by area residents, nearby workers and volunteers.

The photos were taken by volunteer Wendy Meehan (used with permission).

Fishing line and birds do not mix.

Osprey Chicks Banded at Hammonasset

John Picard describes banding six osprey chicks at Hammonasset:

When Julie Victoria, Wildlife Biologist, CT DEP Wildlife Division, asked who would like to hold the first osprey chick for banding, Ed Localio didn’t hesitate even for a moment. He took two steps forward and held out his hands. And why wouldn’t he. Ed had been looking forward to this moment for months. Nearly every day since March 7, he had been monitoring the four new osprey platforms at Hammonasset Beach State Park and reporting his findings back to the Meigs Point Nature Center. 

9am: 2 osprey sitting on platform #1, one is eating a fish, looks like a flounder

10:15am: 3 osprey are flying around platform #2, not sure what is happening here, maybe a love triangle...?

Despite the ability to easily see adult osprey when they are on the platforms, it is difficult to assess from a distance how many chicks there are until they are old enough to stand up and make their presence known. Most often they stay hunkered down and try to blend in with the nest material to avoid calling attention to themselves.

So, on the morning of July 10 when Julie and Ed, accompanied by Menunkatuck Board member Shannon Scheisser, Menunkatuck Friend and volunteer Cate Nyary and I struck out into the salt marsh with a pocket full of aluminum bands and a ladder we were in eager anticipation of what we would find. The goal was to return with an empty pocket a muddy ladder and memories to last a lifetime.

Platform #1, located on Meigs Point, contained one chick which was nearly large enough to fly. Julie stated that this one could probably fly if it tried to but she wasn’t going to offer this information to the chick. Ed had his hands full with this bird. 

Platform #2, located to the east of the entrance road, midway between the entrance gate and the rotary, held three osprey chicks. All three were much smaller than the chick on Platform #1. However, they all appeared to be in good health and were just as surprised to see us as we were of them. Providing food for three chicks is a demanding task which would explain why there was a freshly caught flounder tucked in the corner of the nest, possibly set aside for a late lunch. There was also an added bonus of a barn swallow nest with four young birds in it, neatly tucked into the supporting members immediately below the platform and just above the predator baffle. The clever swallows had found a place to build a nest that would not only stay dry but is raccoon proof!

Platform #3, located behind the Camp Store, had two more osprey chicks. These two birds were sharing their nest not with a flounder, but with a assortment of braided rope, ribbons, fishing line and deflated balloons. Osprey have a habit of picking up trash to place in their nest and the results can be disastrous as the birds can sometimes become hopelessly entangled. This is yet another reason to remember to dispose of fishing line, kite string, balloons…responsibly. (In the Fall, after the osprey have fledged, we will once again visit the platforms to remove any and all trash that remains in the nest.) 

Platform #4, located near the Meigs Point Nature Center, was installed on June 13, too late for osprey nesting activity for this year. The osprey have been using this platform to perch, preen and eat their fish along with the willets that seem to like taking advantage of the platform as well. We are confident that this platform will be used by the osprey next year. Ed will be sure to keep us updated.