The city tore down their nest. The ospreys came back anyway

Watching a pair of Ospreys trying to construct a new nest this last week was quite humorous from time to time. Their old nest was not destroyed by a strong wind or a hurricane or a blizzard but by Rexburg workers responding to a complaint. You see, their old nest was at the Rexburg-Madison County Airport, between two hangars, and someone was worried about “bird strikes.”

“They have been nesting there for quite a few years, and most of us really enjoy the birds,” said a plane owner that wanted the nest back. “The city took down the nest and the birds started building a new nest on the next power pole with a transformer on it. The power company came and removed that nest because it would be dangerous there. The birds and some of us were not happy, so we complained.”

This week, a new platform magically appeared on the pole where the osprey’s old nest was a couple of weeks ago. It was a busy day for the two birds as they started bringing in dead limbs from the surrounding grove of trees. One of the birds would arrange the larger limbs on the outside while the other one would strip the old rotten bark from the limbs and place it in the center. They seemed to be in a hurry because it is time to get their family started.

One of them brought in a forked branch and the birds took turns trying to get the branch that was sticking up to lay down, but to no avail. Both birds grabbed the branch, but could not break it off, then one tried to grab the branch and fly away with it, but that also failed. Finally, one flew away, brought back a larger branch and wove it around the limb sticking up.

For three hours, I watched the two birds working hard on their nursery, occasionally they would stop working and I could hear them talking together. I can only imagine what they were saying about the smart humans, but one was always on the nest – they were not going to leave the nest without one guarding it.

The trips to gather new material only took a few minutes before they came back. Finally, one was gone for almost a half an hour, it was probably the male because when it returned, it brought back a headless fish.

Over many years of watching ospreys, I have seen males capture fish, eat the head and then deliver the rest to the sitting female and/or the young chicks. This one did the same thing, then the female grabbed the headless fish, flew to another pole and ate the fish. Meanwhile, the male remained at the nest, rearranging some of the sticks on the edge and even stripped some of the old bark off and placed it in the center of the nest. Once she finished her meal, she went back to the nest, and the male began gathering more material for the nest. I just wish I could have understood some of the gossip they had together as they visited with each other.

I hope that they are successful in their nesting behavior and end up with two or three chicks. I will stop by from time to time so I can see how they are doing. I saw several airplanes take off and land, but they paid no attention to them. I hope that both them and the pilots enjoy their summer and they stay out of each other’s paths. Maybe Rexburg needs a bird in its City Council.

By the way, I have located 17 osprey nests in the Greater Rexburg area. Have a great week!

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