Sunday's Trampings

With a few hours to spare before the anticipated thunder storms we stopped in Canastota at the Great Swamp Conservancy to find a box and while there to take a look at the new osprey nest platform.  Pretty awesome - right out in the open. I wasn't able to get a photo of this new nest.

In 2000, the Great Swamp Conservancy built an platform to encourage Osprey to nest on their property. The following Spring a pair of Osprey did indeed take a liking to the platform and built a nest and raised their young. Every Spring since 2000, a pair of Osprey have come to the platform and built a nest. That is until 2010. That year there was strange goings on. The pair of Osprey began to build a nest and stopped. They then began building their nest on an electrical transformer on Pine Ridge Road, the road the nature center is on. 

The power company did not like this one bit and were considering taking the nest down. The people at the nature center called the DEC to help in protecting the Osprey's nest. The power company allowed the Osprey to keep the nest and raise their young. But once the young had fledged, they destroyed the nest. They did though build a platform for the Osprey. It was then discovered there was a young sapling growning through the bottom of the original Osprey nest and that is why the pair abandoned their original platform nest. 
In the Spring of 2011, the pair of Osprey returned and must have liked the new platform because they built "a new nest" on it and today when I planted the letterbox, they were there feeding their young. (copied from atlasquest entry by Nurse Ann)

Since I didn't have my camera today,

 I will give credit to Dina for posting these on the Conservancy webisite.