Cell towers in Atlas, Brandon and Groveland townships provide communications and are now making an excellent home to osprey.
Julie Oakes, DNR wildlife biologist, along with other conservationists are encouraged as the southeastern Michigan osprey population continues to rebound.
‘I guess the osprey just figure the cell towers are just for them,? said Oakes, who was monitoring a Brandon Township cell tower near M-15 last week. ‘This is a true wildlife success story. Each year we have new nests. We have already exceeded our original goal of 30 active nests by 2020. We have been able to remove ospreys from the threatened species list and restore their numbers in Michigan.?
From about 300 feet on top of a tower, the world is looking pretty decent these days for the ospreys, said Oakes.
‘Since fish are the ospreys? dinner of choice, they need to be near water,? she said. ‘So on top of a cell tower there’s a good chance the birds can see a lake or some body of water. There are a lot of lakes around just perfect for the birds.?
Oakes said from a single active nest reported in 2002 to at least 56 active nests in southern Michigan in 2013, the osprey relocation efforts that spanned more than 10 years have really taken off.
‘Those are just the nests we know about,? she said. ‘Our water is healthy here and the cell towers have replaced trees partially submerged in lakes for nests.?
This year, four osprey chicks from area nests were outfitted with ‘backpack? GPS/GSM telemetry units. Funded by donations from DTE Energy, Huron Valley Audubon and Michigan Osprey volunteers Martha Wolf and Barb Jensen, these units will help scientists track the young birds? daily movements and seasonal migration patterns.
Anyone can follow the movement of the birds by visiting the Michigan osprey website at
www.michiganosprey.org. Move the cursor along the route to see GPS coordinates and time and date information for each leg of an osprey’s journey. The youngsters will begin their migration in early to mid-September. It likely will be a couple of years before they return, since ospreys generally spend their first two years or so in Central America and South America before returning northward to nest, said Oakes.
Jonathan Schechter is a Brandon Township resident and nature education writer for Oakland County Parks.
‘Osprey know no borders,? said Schechter. ‘In a few weeks the osprey of Oakland County will be winging south. Some will loiter for awhile in the Florida Keys or Cuba, and others continue their migration south well into South America. And as some of my bird-savvy neighbors and friends know, at least one osprey has made itself very much at home in Brandon and Groveland townships this summer and has been seen soaring over M-15 near the A&W Drive-in Restaurant on several occasions. The osprey has no interest in their meaty menu, but the nearby shallow lakes provide a smorgasbord of fish for this amazing raptor, known to some as the fish-hawk. Osprey have excellent eyesight and will hover briefly before diving into the water feet first and catching the fish with its sharp-curved talons. And then it’s time to fly back to a perching site in a tree, or often on a cell tower for that fresh fish meal.?
Schechter added that he has noted an osprey, perhaps the same one, fishing at a small motor-free lake not far from Sashabaw and Hummer Lake Road and at Independence Oaks County Park ? North, just a few hundred feet south of the Brandon Township line.
‘It’s all about habitat. The protected parklands and lake-rich wildland of our county offer excellent habitat for this beautiful raptor, a species that has recovered greatly since the banning of DDT decades ago and the state sponsored reintroduction program that started at Kensington Metropark in the late 90s.?
Anyone who observes a nesting pair of ospreys in southeast Michigan is asked to report the sighting via the Michigan Osprey website at
www.michiganosprey.org.