Photo by BarrytheBirder
Actually it's not that the Ospreys have disappeared. They never showed up at all this year. The same pair had arrived to nest high atop the same light standard, in the main parking lot, for a couple of decades it seemed. This year they are no-shows. The photograph above is one that I took last year. I've had to look elsewhere in King Township for Ospreys this year. I found a pair today in a nest on a large private pond, north of Kettleby. The gentleman managing the property said the large nest has been occupied for years and that he has seen as many as nine fully-grown Ospreys trying to take over the nest at the same time. The original couple of birds always seem to win the territorial fight with their own offspring and other interlopers. I was asked not to reveal the location of the pond and the nest, for fear of harassment of the birds. Illegal duck hunters on ATVs are an ongoing trespassing problem on this property. After getting a good look at these birds today, I drove off thinking that maybe some of the offspring of these Ospreys will spot the empty nest at Seneca College's Eaton Hall campus, on their way south, and make mental notes to visit there, next spring.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB
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