by Jeanne Wiebenga
It’s been a long time coming, but the wait is finally over and we have our own Chautauqua Osprey platforms!
On Friday, April 26, 2024, everything fell into place: the only sunny day in several weeks and the soil had finally dried out enough to use the heavy equipment needed to put the poles into the ground.
The platform at University Beach was the last of three that were placed that day: the first two were at Camp Onyahsa, across the lake, and the Chautauqua Golf Course, about 20 yards from the road between the 15th and 16th hole on the Lake Course. The platform at University Beach is away from trees but very close to the lake: a truly ideal location!
Our crew, Brian and Eric, owners of Gunn ’n Early Tree Service, and Mike, arborist and owner of ArborWild Environmental and his assistant Brian, were all hired by Twan Leenders, and often contracted by him for CWC projects. They worked very efficiently in getting the projects done.
They first transported the 30-45 foot poles, donated by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU), to the sites, then maneuvered them into place. After attaching the nesting platforms (built by Mike), they raised the poles into the holes drilled by an amazingly strong and versatile CAT, up to 6 ft. deep into the ground. Since the drilled hole at University Beach immediately filled up with water, that pole will need some stabilization until it has settled.
Twan calls these new platforms the "Cadillac of all Man-made Osprey Nests," with tall perches for the birds to scan their surroundings! Since we placed branches and twigs on the platforms, they should be quite effective in attracting Osprey pairs soon, although no promises for this spring.
Twan Leenders and Bethany O'Hagan at the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy (CWC) coordinated the effort to get the platforms installed. The new platforms represent a wonderful collaboration among the BTG, the CWC, Chautauqua Institution, the Chautauqua Golf Club, and Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU), who sourced and donated the poles.
The projects were funded by the BTG and the Chautauqua Golf Club, most notably from generous donations from BTG Life Members Jane Stirniman and Melinda Wolcott, and Chautauqua Golf Club President Dan McEvoy.
The timing could not have been better, since we are experiencing an influx of young Ospreys, returning to their place of birth, and all looking for a home to start there own families! This is the 5th year since our first pair arrived at Loomis Goose Creek. They produced six offspring so far, and more on the way, as we can deduce from the three eggs already produced this spring (see photo below from the Nest Cam).
Once we have osprey living in Chautauqua, we will take on the project of installing cameras on our platforms so that we can monitor (and enjoy watching!) the birds.
If you would like to donate to the camera fund, or perhaps even more importantly, if you are technologically savvy and can help us research, purchase, install and maintain the cameras, please email the BTG!
Back in October 2022, we selected the sites for the new platforms. In the photo above, Twan Leenders is standing on University Beach pretending to be an Osprey Platform so that we could note the location and obtain permission from the Institution.
The 35-40 foot poles require flat bed transport to the sites.
The Cat Auger made quick work of the hole digging job!
After months of planning, Twan smiles as the platform is attached to the pole. We are so close!
The platform about to go up at University Beach. In the photo, you can see that the nest is "pre-loaded" with some sticks to make it even more attractive to the house-hunting osprey pair. Like a model home in a new subdivision—Picture Your Eggs Here!
Raising the platform on the Chautauqua Golf Course
Not a job for short people! Twan attaches the buttresses which will stabilize the platform at University Beach until the ground settles and dries beneath the central pole.
The crew: Brian, Eric, Mike & Brian with Jeanne in the middle
The view from the ground. Hopefully we will be watching osprey come in carrying fish to their young within a year or two!
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