" Outdoor Scene ": The Great Osprey's are Returning 2014

" Outdoor Scene ": The Great Osprey's are Returning 2014: Thank You e-mailers photo by Bob Weaver Yellow Perch Herring Taxi Drying Wings Majestic !

                                                       The Great Osprey
 In the 1940's the country starting using a chemical called DDT which we all found out later was almost the end of the Majestic Osprey.
 In the 1970's we reversed our need for the chemical and banned it. It is still used today in Central America and South America where our international travelers, the Birds, migrate to every fall. They also use the fear of Malaria to keep using it in some countries.
  Osprey volunteers through the Audubon Society keep an eye on the estimated 200 nests in our region of New England and of those they estimate 100 were used to raise the hatchlings this past season.
  The Osprey hunt and eat fish and they assemble their nests high off the ground for protection and many communities help the effort by building platforms for them along the coastline.
  If you ever witness a courtship aerial dance in the air, you will not forget the ballet. They then bond and mate. In the past the eggs would be layed and when the heavy birds would incubate the eggs would then crack and shatter because the effect of the chemical made the shells too thin.
  The bird was declared a endangered species in 1976.  Then the Rhode Island Dept. of Enviroment
 Management did it's part by implanting the Osprey Monitoring Program in 1977.
  The first year the count in the entire State was 12 active nests in 1978.
  Thirty years later in 2012 Osprey monitors tracked the breading activity of 108 active nests and also counted 159 fledging chicks. In 2010 the State turned over the program to the volunteer Audubon Society and under their tutelage the great birds now have a big brother to watch out for them.
  Just another example of our society making a big mistake that no one thought about at the time and only wanted to grow faster crops or insecticides, but with some intelligence a species was saved for the whole world to enjoy. Do 'You' have a great experience to share about the great bird of prey ?
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