Nest Observations Take 2

Today was the second time I've been out to see the osprey nests. The first time I went out to the nests was over my spring break during spring semester at the end of February. There was actually still some snow on the ground and osprey had not yet arrived.  Monty Sullins, one of the key coordinators of this project, allowed me to ride along in his truck for the day. The first thing I noticed was how much more familiar he was with where all of the nests were and even where some used to be.

For instance, I was completely unaware of where this nest was. I found the diversion bars put up by the power companies my first time out so I knew I was in the area, but not until Monty showed me.

My first time out all I had was a Garmin Nuvi and a list of GPS points. It took me two days and 18-19 hours of driving to figure out where all of them were and document them.  It was tricky because it's actually pretty hard to stop on the highway and Montana is notorious for the length between exits so I had a few turnarounds.  Today was much smoother.  I was impressed that almost all of these nests were found with the naked eye. It showed me how birding is a fine-tuned skill and goes so far beyond simply being able to identify a bird. It's knowing where to look and what to expect. Finding an osprey nest in the state of Montana really can be like finding a needle in a haystack. But a very prized needle nonetheless. Today we even documented two new nests.

Overall this year looks to be a success.  Out of the 17 nests we looked at today, only three of them appeared to be abandoned.  The rest of them had an incubating female that was curious about our presence and a male either perched beside her or hunting nearby.

This is what I mean but curious females. They know right away someone is approaching and start scolding you from about 200 ft. away.

If all goes according to plan, I will check out more of the nests in the eastern half of the state tomorrow.