Hooded “Edwin” Fitted with Transmitter. 5/11/13. Photo by John Ski.
Osprey “Edwin” is “Tagged”
by Pierce Rafferty
Rob Bierregaard, a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, came to Fishers Island on May 11, 2013 at the invitation of the HLFM to “tag” an osprey with a satellite transmitter. Rob was specifically interested in tagging a male osprey to determine over time the routes taken and sites visited by the bird while it foraged for fish. We chose the occupied osprey nest adjacent to Beach Pond—located at the southern end of Middle Farms Flats—because that platform was low enough to be accessible by ladder.
Rob and a small group of volunteer helpers arrived at the nest shortly after 11 AM and verified that the female was on the nest, incubating her three eggs. We waited at a distance until we saw the male osprey—named “Edwin” in honor of the late Museum Curator and FI School teacher Ed Horning— deliver a fish to his mate. She took the fish off to eat, and Edwin settled down in the intermittent rain to take a turn at keeping the eggs warm. After about 20 minutes, the female had finished her lunch and was back on the eggs.
We then decided it was time to set the trap. As we approached the nest the female flushed and vigorously and vociferously let us know what she thought about our proximity to her clutch of eggs. The male, who had just left the nest, was conspicuous in his absence. The slightly camouflaged trap, which resembled the sort of hand-made wire hat one would wear to a H.O.G. tournament or a costume party, had flat rims with a protruding rectangular mid-section that “sat” over the eggs so they wouldn’t get damaged during the trapping. Rob placed the eggs found in the nest within a plastic baggy to
further protect them from exposure during the trapping. The female soon came back to the nest, landed on the platform edge, and tried to sit on her eggs. (The eggs are the “lures” in this process.) Her toes quickly got caught up in the fish-line “nooses” that cover the top of the wire trap. She was subsequently retrieved by Rob, hooded, bagged, measured, weighed and banded. During this period the female was kept quietly and safely by the car some distance away from the nest, while the waiting game began.
After about a half an hour, Edwin decided to return. (He was not the most attentive or protective male osprey that Rob has tagged.) The process then repeated itself after he landed on the nest and got his toes tangled in the trap’s nooses. The female was released soon after Edwin was captured, but only after the baggy had been removed from the eggs and the trap had been removed from the platform. In Edwin’s case, in addition to banding, a one-ounce, solar-powered transmitter was strapped to his back during a 30 minute “operation” that was quite elaborate and involved a good deal of precise stitching to attach the cross-banded straps to each other. We were all quite impressed with Rob Bierregaard’s ingenious trapping method and his bird-handling skills. He is a consummate professional, and it was an honor to watch him in action.
At time of publication, the Museum has already received more than two weeks of data from Edwin’s transmitter. We were very surprised to discover that from the outset he has been making repeated flights to Connecticut to hunt for fish, reaching points as far west as East Lyme. Please visit the Museum’s
website www.fergusonmuseum.org to discover the latest on Edwin and his travels. If all goes well, we should be able to track Edwin in the late fall and discover where he winters.
The Museum appreciates the volunteer help we received in the field from JR Edwards, Jeff, Catherine and Benjamin Edwards,
John Ski, Hank Golet, Ken Edwards, and Nick Spofford. Special thanks to the Utility Co. for their ongoing support of “Team Osprey” and to the Spofford Foundation for enabling this fantastic project. We are also most appreciative of the ongoing research that Richard O. “Rob” Bierregaard, Jr. conducts involving ospreys and other raptors and hope that Edwin contributes useful data to his efforts. Many thanks to all involved!
