Any Day Now

Since my last post, roughly 20 days ago, there's been constant activity on and around the new nest. Every day I receive nest-cam photos of one or two Osprey perched on the platform. There have even been numerous sightings of 4 and even 5 birds circling the skies around the new platform. I even witnessed what looked like an attempt by another pair of Osprey to muscle out the resident pair. It's been terribly exciting for everyone - including the Osprey!

It's clear our relocation effort has been a success, even with all the industrial commotion occurring directly across the river - because the River Trail construction is in full effect. In fact, the staging ground for practically the entire operation is located right at the foot of the former nesting pole, just inside the gate. We suspect it took a little extra time for the birds to test out the security of the new nest and perhaps that's why they settled in at least a week later than the other Osprey in the Kalamazoo area. Keep in mind, that's all on top of some record setting returns for Osprey in SW Michigan given our crazy-warm weather. 


John Brenneman thought we'd give the birds till around April 7th before we would write them off this year, but low and behold they arrived right around April 5th. Good timing.


The main reason I haven't posted sooner was because I've been working the situation more play-by-play on our Facebook page for the Osprey. To check it out click HERE - and please post any sightings or comments. It's a community hub for and about the birds.


Further confirming the success of our relocation effort are numerous sightings, eyewitness and photographic, of the birds mating. Literally a minute before I received the first nest-cam confirmation of a pair of Osprey (at first there was only one bird), John Brenneman called to tell me he witnessed two Osprey mating. Seems like everything is well in order.

The photo below was taken by Ky Gilbert. You can see more on our Facebook page.

With all the multiple attempts to breed, one would think eggs will follow. The absolute disrepair of the nest led me to think otherwise, but I suspect the birds have their priorities. As of yesterday, April 24th, the nest has suddenly and beautifully taken shape, as if the Osprey know something's coming. That little open spot in the middle, with some softer bedding, looks like it's ready to receive an egg or two. We should know any day now.

The dramatic glitch in this scenario is that my nest-camera is starting to malfunction. I only receive a couple photos per day now, compared to the programmed photo every half hour. I need to make a quick inspection of the platform this week to diagnose--and hopefully fix--the problem. Drama.


It's these kinds of technological  problems that make me wish I was simply building a nest with nothing but sticks. How can that go wrong?

THE OSPREY HAVE LANDED!!!

Sent to my iPhone April 5th at 1:44pm.

This photo was the first visual confirmation of an Osprey on the new platform. It even brought along a fish!


Considering all the other known Osprey nests in the Kalamazoo area already had birds settling in, we weren't entirely sure our birds were returning this year. The Osprey in the old Eaton lot and the birds nesting in the old paper mill in Parchment returned as early as the second to last week of March. It very well could be our birds just needed some time to get comfortable with all the change going on around their traditional nest site.


Two days after the above male arrived and began hanging around the site, I received the photo below. Literally one minute after the photo came in on my iPhone, I received a phone call from John Brenneman of the Nature Center who witnessed the two birds mating on the platform!

Everyone involved with the relocation effort was absolutely thrilled by the news. We're all feeling like expecting parents. With eggs and a successful hatching we'll be even more thrilled. At that point we'll be passing out cigars.

A Bird's Eye View...of the Birds

If you've been keeping an eye on the new nest-platform, you may have noticed it just got a little bigger. The perch-arm that was attached to the platform has grown about five feet.

Just last week, Brent Spink (Brent built the platform with John Brenneman of the Kalamazoo Nature Center) and I attached a new perch to accommodate a cellular nest-cam so we can monitor the nest. The previous perch just wasn't high enough to give us the right perspective on the nest box. 

We had to build a little roof for the camera so the birds won't try and perch on it. My conversations with others who've installed nest-cams say the biggest problem is keeping the lens clear of white-wash. I think our camera is high enough up and out of the way of an arching blast of the stuff. We can only hope.

The camera is a cellular trail camera (mainly for hunters) that uses a phone account to send pics via text message to my iPhone and my email account. I turned off the motion detector and set the camera to take a picture every half hour during daylight. That was to conserve on battery usage since we won't be able to access the camera or system at all once the birds take to the platform. The entire system needs to be self contained for potentially five months.

We also added more sticks to the nest to make it look more like....a nest!

A bird's eye view.

The nest platform is incredibly visible for anyone stopped at the light at the intersection of Kings Highway and I94 Business Loop.

Me installing the solar panel to keep the 6V battery fully charged.

The final work of art with new cairn-like feet to add extra stability and aesthetically mask the original, blocky anchors.

Voila!

This is one of the pictures the camera sent to my iPhone!

Since we installed the camera, I've received 150 pictures, each one virtually identical, except for variations on the light. 

Hopefully, I'll soon receive a picture where the sticks suddenly look a little different, as though they've been rearranged or more have been added to the mix. Better yet, I may even receive a picture of an Osprey cleaning house.

A Better Home All Around

If I were an Osprey, I'd be a little uncomfortable with a construction crew moving into my neighborhood and paving a new river trail right next to my nesting pole. In fact, I'd probably be so rattled I'd move away, possibly even abandoning my clutch. Doesn't take a whole lot of empathic imagination to see it from our Osprey's point of view. 

This Spring, the newest segment of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is scheduled to begin construction, shortly after the expected return of our Osprey from their winter migration in South America. In order to avoid the likely conflicts, Georgia Pacific and Terra Contracting, working with the Kalamazoo Nature Center, proactively cut down the Osprey's nesting pole and erected a new nesting platform on the opposite side of the river, right on top of the land-fill. It's basically a mirror image of their former nesting spot. The new site is safe from any future disturbances from construction, as well as the eventual flow of pedestrian traffic on the new trail. 

I'm sure the Osprey will be a little confused by the glaring absence of their former nesting pole and their convenient perch on the back pole, but when they scope out the new platform, I think they'll be quite pleased. If I were an Osprey, I'd move in. But then again, I'm not an Osprey, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The new platform was designed and constructed by local artist and naturalist, Brent Spink, and John Brenneman, Research Project Coordinator for the Kalamazoo Nature Center. John was approached by Garry Griffith, Director Environmental Field Services for Georgia Pacific, to orchestrate the nest relocation. Terra Contracting (contracted by Georgia Pacific) brought in it's fine crew to tear down the old nesting pole and help raise the new platform.

In the meantime, I'm busy rounding up all the necessary components for a nest-cam that we hope to install the week of March 19th. We've gotta hustle since Karen Chadwick spotted an Osprey March 15th, perched on one of the utility poles on the eastern side of the GP lot. It may or may not be one of our birds. According to Brenneman, that's also the earliest sighting of an Osprey returning to our area. Previously, the earliest recorded sighting for Kalamazoo County was March 27th. With these record setting temperatures for March, it's no surprise. Times are a changin'.

TAKE TWO!

In a roundabout way, Kickstarter really got the funding rolling for HOPE HATCHES. We didn't reach or goal but we reached nearly $10,000 in pledges and we've decided that would be enough to proceed with the project. To compensate for the funding gap, we'll be conducting a local fundraising event sometime in the future and we'll have to extend the completion date for the doc further into 2013. 


The main thing is we can continue with the project!


In order to proceed though, we're counting on every one of the Kickstarter backers to re-contribute* to the project by either writing a check or donating to HorsePower Pictures through PayPal. That way we can tap the tremendous amount of support that came out of our Kickstarter campaign.

If you want to write a check, make it out and send to:

HorsePower Pictures

579 Nazareth Rd.

Kalamazoo, MI  49048

If you want to contribute online, click on the DONATE button in the upper right hand corner and it will take you to my PayPal account where you can make a secure contribution.

Which ever way you choose to donate, please include your full address and e-mail address. We need to have both so we can thank you accordingly and stay in touch using either means of communication. 


As they say in the film business: "Take two". Now let's rebuild the nearly $10,000 we raised the first time around.


Thank you to everyone for your patience and support.




* By donating to HorsePower pictures, you are not contributing twice. Your Kickstarter donation was never withdrawn from your account since we didn't reach our funding goal. 


If you'd like to learn more about WHEN HOPE HATCHES, click HERE.