Trundling home from Sauvie Island Farms last Saturday morning with a trunk full of marionberries and blueberries we spot it …
Look! The top of that pole!
Wow! It's huge!
We scan for a place to pull over for a closer look. Can't find a spot. Linda checks the rearview mirror. Empty! We stop the car on the narrow 2-lane NW Sauvie Island Road on top of the dike separating the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River and Sauvie Island.
We commence gawking at the sight before us: a huge osprey nest with a mama bird tending her chicks. She's chirping and dancing around feeding the babies! Amazing!
The nesting structure is purpose-built by local officials and conservation groups. Fifty-foot poles have large crossbar platforms with guywire cables strung in concentric circles. The cables and crossbars support branches, twigs, leaves and other sundry nesting materials. The framework enables the majestic birds space to safely build 15-foot wide homes in the sky.
Trying to take photos by the easterly morning light fails, as it casts the nest and birds into a dark silhouette. Sigh. We decide to return later in the week during the late afternoon where the sun is on west side to illuminate the nest and family. Back into the car and off for home with our bounty of berries. Canning, and many jars of jam are in our future.
In 2017, the Oregon Legislature declared the Osprey as Oregon's State Raptor.
Osprey, first documented in Oregon in 1855, thrive in many coastal areas, estuaries, rivers, reservoirs and lakes. The number of pairs nesting along the Willamette River between Eugene and Portland increased from 13 pairs in 1976 to 78 pairs in 1993, and increased again to 234 pairs in 2001. Here's one of the best overall snapshots of these magnificent birds you'll find. A national map of thriving osprey habitats strengthens the resilience of the species. Osprey are not endangered or threatened on the U.S. Endangered Species List.
We return Friday afternoon when all our work is done and the westerly light is perfect. Paul brought his SLR camera and 300mm zoom lens this time. Sometimes a pocket phone camera is just insufficient for the task!
Back on the dike road and we see the first nest. The light is perfect! We park at Topaz Farm. The light from the parking lot angle is on the wrong side of the nest for a good shot. To get the light behind him, Paul hikes back up the driveway to the roadway. It’s a bit risky due to end-of-day traffic and prickly blackberry bushes on both sides up to the edge of the blacktop.
Click; click; click; HOOONK!! Oh, shit! Paul's really too close to the road! He's about to become a hood ornament. Click; click; click. Paul jogs back to the car smiling. He got some good pix!
Linda fires up the car and we go off in search of another nest. We found two more nests, one with another mama bird and babies and one that was too high to tell if it had little ones. This second nest had a tall pole above where one of the parents was perched on high surveying its domain and watching Paul take photos. Click; click; click.
We leave Sauvie Island with smiles on our faces and a few pix of ospreys to enjoy and share with you, our dear readers.
There's a remarkable, parallel to our own story of these magnificent avians. Since 2017, we've been following the impressive annual migration of Louis and his partner, Dorcha (previously, partner Aila), to the ancient Caledonian forests of the Scottish Highlands. Each year, they return to the Woodland Trust's Loch Arkaig Pine Forest from West African countries such as Sengal and The Gambia.
This season, Louis and Dorcha birthed and fledged two chicks, the extraordinary process of which has been documented in live video and commentary. Well into the chicks' fledging, however, Louis's ability to fish for the family was compromised. While the Woodland Trust's policy is not to intervene in the ospreys' lives, a fish shortage would most certainly mean unnecessary starvation for the chicks. A press release detailing their decision to partner with a translocation program allowing the chicks to resume their development in the Valencia region of Spain was a wonderful option. The chicks are thriving, thanks to the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation who are leading experts in raptor translocations.
Observing and researching Oregon osprey is rewarding for residents and visitors. Their complex lives, migrations and partnering habits are extraordinary. They are the kings of their environment, challenged for their catches only by eagles who seek to take advantage but can never dominate!
Up next, Oregon Marionberry tart with those glorious Sauvie Island berries…
Great photos of the ospreys, such magnificent birds
That nest is massive! I’ve not seen one (noticed one) in person, but I did witness four bald eagles swooping along the Willamette north of Salem about ten days ago. So amazing!