Osprey back in town
In the mid-1990s, the Moraine Preservation Fund took part in an osprey reintroduction program and released 99 chicks into the wild to help the species, which was considered threatened in Pennsylvania at the time, to repopulate.
Michelle Huff, a board member of the Moraine Preservation Fund, said she likes to think the two osprey who have nested at Moraine State Park for the past several summers are related to the ones released at the park more than 20 years ago.
“They do go back to their same nest every single season,” Huff said. “I believe it has been the same pair since 2018 ... I have spent so much time with them.”
The unnamed male osprey returned to the nesting tower near McDanels Boat Launch around March 19, according to Moraine Preservation Fund vice president Cassandra Dixon, at which point the nonprofit resumed its live video feed of the site.
At first, members of the nonprofit and viewers of its osprey cam were worried that the female wasn’t going to make it back from the southern migration spot because she didn’t arrive within two days of her mate. However, she finally appeared six days after his arrival.
“They made their return right on time ... You can almost set a calendar on them,” Dixon said. “It's super exciting that they're back and building. It's fun to watch them; it just reminds you their instinct is phenomenal.”
Dixon said viewers of the osprey cam, which provides a live feed of the nesting tower at McDanels, should notice an improvement in video quality, because the preservation fund got a new and improved system this year. She said the new camera also will allow for 24/7 viewing.
“The equipment now allows us to have a better view, a more clear view, and 24-hour coverage,” Dixon said, “which will be interesting as a learning opportunity for nighttime.”
The Moraine Preservation Fund rebuilt the nesting tower in 2021, after the old one was damaged in 2019. Dixon explained that the species migrates to South America in winter months, and chicks will stay there for a few years. Mated ospreys will return to the home of the male in the spring, and their children typically eventually will do the same, Dixon said.
Although birds of the same species are difficult to tell apart, Huff said the resident male at Moraine can be identified by his somewhat hooked beak, and the female by a brown “feather necklace” on her torso. Huff said these identifiers and osprey migratory habits are signs that the ospreys in the Moraine nesting tower have always been the same ones.
“We don't know how old they are, but they have successfully bred every season,” Huff said.
Huff said that osprey tend to lay eggs in the middle of April, and it takes about 35 days for them to hatch. Dixon added that the live video feed typically sees a spike in viewership once the eggs come close to hatching.
“Normally we will see the hatchlings toward the end of May,” Huff said.
For now, the osprey can be seen assembling a nest on the tower. Dixon said that last week she saw a few people at McDanels Boat Launch with long-lens cameras trying to get a real-life glimpse of the bird couple.
Like the birdwatchers at the park, Dixon, too, is excited to continue watching the ospreys from a safe distance.
“(For) the best viewing just like eagles, you don't want to get too close,” Dixon said. “It's like watching a married couple. (The male) started with piece of corn stock yesterday and started bringing on sizable sticks, but then dropped it off the nest. She looked at him like, ‘Really?’ Then she went out and started collecting sticks.”
To watch the osprey cam, visit morainepreservationfund.org.
