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Many open their hearts to plight of osprey pair

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published April 12, 2007

It is heartening to hear about the level of caring demonstrated for an osprey pair that has built a nest atop an office center sign alongside East Lake Road. The nest partially obscures the portion of the sign that points passers-by to the Tarpon Woods Country Club.

But no one at the country club suggests the sign should be torn down. In fact, the country club bought a telescoping pole so the sign lettering could be changed with less risk of frightening the birds. "We don't want to disturb those babies," one of the owners told the Times.

While protecting their nest, the birds dive at cars in the vicinity. But the owner of the Tarpon Woods Professional Building hasn't suggested the birds should be scared away so they don't bother people. Instead, the owner has offered to provide a safer nesting site on the same property. Progress Energy has offered a pole and nesting platform for the new location.

The male osprey flies low over cars on East Lake Road, perhaps in a futile effort to scare them away from his family atop the sign. To prepare motorists for the unsettling sight of a bird with a 5-foot wingspan diving toward their cars, Clearwater Audubon Society member Barb Walker has distributed fliers in surrounding neighborhoods.

Walker, who lives nearby, keeps a close eye on the nest. She is worried about its viability because the nest teeters on top of the narrow sign and could be blown down in a storm. That's what happened to the nest the osprey pair built in a pine tree near the intersection of East Lake Road and Tarpon Woods Boulevard last year.

Like much of the wildlife that populates North Pinellas County, the osprey are trying to adapt to life in an urban environment. It is tough, and the odds are not nearly as good as they would be in an isolated area.

However, all the people playing a role in protecting the East Lake osprey pair are improving their chances of making it. Federal law protects ospreys, their eggs, their nests and their babies, but the traditional habitat for ospreys is disappearing and some individuals have harassed or even killed these spectacular birds.

Congratulations to those in East Lake who are doing everything they can to ensure that these ospreys and their young can thrive and return again.

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 00:07:45]