Keep an eye to the sky and our school's osprey pole.  You may be rewarded with a miraculous sight, a family of osprey!  

With the help of Xcel Energy and the Raptor Resource Project, Rice Lake erected a pole with a nest platform in 1999.  The pole with perching limbs simulates an osprey's choice of a tall, dead tree.   Water with plenty of fish, provides other components of a good habitat.  Then students and community members waited for an osprey to choose our site. 

The first year the nest was unoccupied.  The following year a pair of birds nested, but no evidence of young birds was seen.  Our third year, 2002, was successful!  A male bird tagged as K-2, moved from his former nest in the Ramsey Co. Open Space to roost on our nest pole.  He attracted an unbanded female, and they hatched 4 young.   In early July, the 4-week-old young were each lowered to the ground and banded.  These bands allow records of the bird's habits to be collected and studied.

The bird's right leg holds a band readable with a telescope.   The left leg holds a very small Federal Fish and Wildlife band.  Being able to read these bands has allowed us to track the history of the father to our new young birds.  

K-2 was part of the Osprey Reintroduction Program in Hennepin Parks in 1995.  As a young fledgling in Cass Co., he was released into a hack box at French Regional Park in Plymouth, MN.   A hack box is a place where young birds raised in captivity, adjust to catching their own food, learn to fly and eventually, leave.  

No data is available about K-2 from 1995-1998.  It is believed that juvenile ospreys  fly to Latin Americafor 1 ½ years until they are mature enough to nest and raise their own young.  The first year, the yearling may stay in Latin America.  The 2nd year, the young ospreys migrate back to their general nest area.  A two-year-old does not nest or at most, practices false nest building.  It is expected that no offspring would be born.  By the 3rd year, the ospreys are mature enough to mate and build nests.  Typically, then the mature ospreys return to the general area in which they fledged. 

In 1998, K-2 reappeared in our area at Poplar Lake.  Our records show that K-2 nested with an unbanded female.  There were no eggs laid.  In 1999, K-2 nested with an unbanded female, this time producing 1 young.  The next year his nest had 2 young.   We do know that osprey pairs tend to return to the same nest. Without bands on the female, it is not known if the osprey chose the same mate but it is likely.

In 2001, K-2 raised a family who were banded with a team led by Mark Martell from the Raptor Center of the University of Minnesota.  In 2002, K-2 left his nest area at Poplar Lake and came to our nest pole at Rice Lake Elementary.  The usual number of young is ordinarily 2-3.  This nest produced 4 young!  In early July, a team returned with Mark to band the young on this nest.  Watch for young osprey with leg bands labeled PE, PF, PG, and PH.  

They have already practiced wing flapping, then short flights, leading to full flight.  As of late August 2002, all the birds have fledged the nest.  They return to eat fish.  Watch to see if you can see all of the 4.  By the first week of September, we expect the young to all fly to Latin America.   Train your telescope on the nest pole and neighboring trees to see if our hypothesis proves true.

Follow Minnesota's ospreys with the University of Minnesota through the Highway to the Tropics Website:  U of M Raptor Center: http://www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu

Chesapeake Bay claims host to the largest Osprey population in the world!   See what is happening with their Reintroduction Program; look at the "Bird Diversity" link under current projects at http://fsweb.wm.edu/ccb/index.html.  Also learn about their success tracking Peregrine Falcons with the FalconTrak: http://www.ccb-wm.org.

Also see Bethel College Osprey Project at http://www.bethel.edu/Majors/Biology/Osprey/, Raptor Resource Project's Osprey site at http://www.raptorresource.org/ospreys.htm and their homepage at http://www.raptorresource.org/.  Don't miss seeing the live birds nest and fledge through cameras at Xcel Energy at http://www.xcelenergy.com/community/birdPlantNest.asp.

2005 Observations on Nesting Osprey

Osprey Nest History at Rice Lake 2002-2011