In the media
This is where you can find articles, stories, and other items of interest about Ospreys in Michigan and around the world. Want to suggest a link to a relevant story here? Let us know!
About Michigan Ospreys
Osprey Pair Builds Nest in Mid Michigan
A nice young couple has moved into Mid-Michigan. They’ll be eating lots of fish dinners together. A pair of ospreys is setting up housekeeping just south of Davison. They are courting now and there may be baby ospreys in their future.
‘Paparazzi’ gathers to celebrate return of Ospreys
The reintroduction program of Ospreys to Michigan’s southern Lower Peninsula has been very successful. Barb Jensen, the Michigan Osprey Program Coordinator, tells us their goal was to have 30 nesting pairs by 2020 — and they reached that goal in 2010.
You can see the birds at Kensington Metropark. You don’t need a thousand dollar camera lens to watch these birds, because the excited group known as The Osprey Paparazzi will be glad to let you use theirs.
FOX 2’s Derek Kevra takes us there to get up close and personal with the birds and their fan club.
DTE crews on Jones Ave. are in the process of sinking a utility pole that hopefully will become the new home for a pair of ospreys that built a nest on a light pole at Navarre Field.
Officials from several agencies are overseeing the project that is expected to take several hours to complete. In the end, it is hoped that the birds will accept their new home, which will be across Jones Ave. on a piece of property owned by the City of Monroe.
“There are simply no other options,” said Barb Jensen, director of Michigan Osprey. “We’re giving them the opportunity to raise their young.”
Live in the D – Ospreys make a comeback in Michigan
The Michigan Wildlife Council is here to talk about the ospreys’ return to Michigan.
Michigan Wildlife Council – Osprey Paparazzi
Birds attain celebrity status after resurgence in Southeast Michigan
MILFORD – It’s a fascination.
Every day, March through October, photographers of all ages, races and skill levels haul their cameras, tripods and folding chairs down to the shores of Wildwing Lake in Kensington Metropark.
And they wait.
One Minute with Barb Jensen of the Michigan Osprey Program
Around southeast Michigan you may have seen an influx of Osprey.
The large majestic bird with a four to six foot wingspan may only stand about two feet and weigh just four pounds, but spans the eastern seaboard.
But while Osprey were close to being wiped out here and in other areas, in the 1990’s a group of animal lovers took it upon themselves to help repopulate the majestic creature.
Detroit Zoo – Bird Conservation
In the 1950s and 1960s, populations of osprey – fish-eating birds of prey – were decimated by the harmful effects of DDT pesticides on breeding success. The Detroit Zoological Society has worked with the volunteer organization Osprey Watch of Southeast Michigan, the MDNR and Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) to help re-establish osprey to southeast Michigan.
Huron River Watershed Council – Osprey Return to the Huron
The Green Room’ Return Of The Osprey: A Southern Michigan Success Story – (AUDIO / Text)
DDT wiped out Osprey from Southern Michigan, but a reintroduction program has resulted in over fifty breeding pairs in the region. It is reason to celebrate, but several challenges remain. Listen for more in the September edition of WEMU’s “The Green Room”. By David Fair & Barbara Lucas, WEMU 89.1, September 2014Osprey in Michigan: A Story of Recovery
The comeback of the Osprey in Southern Michigan is a great story! Nearly absent from much of the state due to the effects of DDT and other pesticide use, Southern Michigan’s Osprey population continues to rebound. Audubon Society of Kalamazoo, September 2014Michigan tracks ospreys with backpack devices
Like the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and California condor, the osprey was pushed to the brink of extinction in the mid-20th century due in part to the rising use of DDT as an insecticide. A ban on the toxic substance in the 1970s has resulted in the restoration of many bird of prey populations, giving scientists a second chance to study the creatures and learn how to best protect them. Alex Card, Environmental Monitor, August 2014Michigan DNR Gives Osprey Chicks GPS Backpacks
Ospreys making a comeback in southern Michigan
It’s no secret that chemicals like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other pesticides have done a number on Michigan wildlife. First used as an insecticide in 1939, it wasn’t until 1972 that the harmful effects of DDT was fully understand and the product was banned in the U.S. As a result of extensive DDT use, the osprey population in Southern Michigan was hammered. , Battle Creek Enquirer, August 2014Ottawa National ospreys have babies
They’re back, but now osprey nests are endangered
The osprey, a species of special concern that has rebounded in Michigan over the past half-century, now faces a new threat. Evan Kreager, Capital News Service, March 2014DTE Energy Aids Osprey Project
In July, volunteers and wildlife officials removed one of three osprey chicks from its nest near DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 Power Plant, a Wildlife at Work certified site, and fitted it with a GPS tracking device. DTE employees Jason Cousino, field safety specialist and wildlife habitat coordinator at River Rouge Power Plant, and Roberta Urbani, environmental planner, were among the volunteers. The Monroe Power Plant, a Wildlife at Work certified site, has pledged to help cover the costs of the transmitter and the data collection. By Martha Gruelle, Huron to Erie Program Manager, Wildlife Habitat Council, 2013Osprey from Michigan refuge arrives in Cuba
There are 50 breeding osprey pairs in southern Michigan, up from a single nest some two decades ago. That’s seven years ahead of a goal to have 30 pairs in the area. And the birds are on the move. One of the Michigan birds, named Monroe Spark, recently reached Cuba.For the first time in Michigan, ospreys were fitted this past summer with transmitters to research where they migrate. “The word is out for the birders down there to watch for him,” said Barb Jensen, a founding member of the Osprey Watch of Southeast Michigan. The group is a volunteer organization whose goals are to help restore osprey to southeast Michigan and to educate the public about the bird. EVAN KREAGER, Great Lakes Echo, October 2013
Tracking Metro Detroit’s Ospreys As They Head South For The Winter
Roger Webber brings WDIV-TV viewers up to date on southeast Michigan’s growing flock of ospreys, which migrate from the wetlands of Kensington Metropark and the Detroit River Wildlife Refuge to as far south as Cuba and Venezuela. The ospreys have left for their annual migration south, but Osprey Watch of Southeast Michigan is still able to keep a close eye on the birds. Three of the raptors are wearing solar powered, one-ounce transmitters.“One is in Cuba, one is in Venezuela, and another is in Southern Florida near Miami,” Barb Jensen, coordinator for Osprey Watch, tells Webber. Colored lines on her computer show the precise route of each osprey, plus their daily wanderings in warmer climates. Roger Webber, WDIV, Deadline Detroit, October 2013
Marion Students Build Osprey Nesting Platform
A local high school had a problem with osprey nesting in the lights on the football field. Instead of shooing the birds away and destroying the nest, they decided to create an alternative home. Marion schools had to clear the football lights of the nest, it could cause a fire. Eric Lloyd, Reporter, 9 and 10 News, October 2013Osprey attacks great blue heron: GET OFF MY NEST!
On August lst a great blue heron at Kensington Metropark made a near fatal mistake and landed on the osprey nesting platform on Kent Lake. Mistaking the hapless heron for a threatening predator, the resident ospreys mounted a fierce defense of their nest and attacked without hesitation toppling the heron in the water. What is so amazing is this incident was witnessed by birders armed with cameras. Birders often gather on shore with telephoto lens to watch the osprey raise their young and witnessed and recorded this dramatic encounter between two native and protected predatory bird species. The heron was quickly out of the contest. A call for help went out to nearby Heavner Canoe rental to attempt to rescue the great blue heron floundering in the water. I am grateful Huron-Clinton Metroparks shared Jane Purslow’s amazing photos with me. Thank you! Earth’s Almanac, Jonathan Schechter, Oakland Press Blogs, August 2013GPS-equipped ospreys released in southeast Michigan
SOUTHFIELD, MI – Three young, southeast Michigan ospreys were fitted with GPS transmitters in July so state wildlife researchers can learn more about their travel routes including where they winter in Central and South America. It is the first time that has been done in Michigan, according to state officials. “This is going to tell us where the birds go,” said Julie Oakes, a wildlife biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “It’s going to give us some idea about their survival and whether their route south is through Florida or Mexico. Howard Meyerson, August 2013Monitoring Efforts To Keep Eye On Michigan Osprey
MILFORD (WWJ/AP) – New monitoring efforts are taking place this year track the resurgence of osprey in Michigan. The state Department of Natural Resources says GPS tracking units are being placed on several of the birds in southern Michigan. Information collected will help wildlife officials understand migration that routes the birds take and what perils they might encounter. Osprey Watch of Southeast Michigan says three units were deployed this month. CBS Detroit, July 2013Osprey chick rescued in May banded by wildlife officers
BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) – Back in May we showed you how D-T-E crews rescued an osprey nest from a power pole in Berlin Township. Now, several months later those crews were back in Monroe County where they banded a recently hatched osprey chick that was still in its egg when the nest was first moved. By Amy Andrews, myFOXDetroit.com, July 2013DTE Energy moves osprey from perch on power pole
BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) – A pair of osprey that made a nest on a power pole in Berlin Township, near the Rockwood Landfill will be getting a new home thanks to crews from DTE Energy. On Wednesday workers began working to relocate the nest that was atop a power pole not far from the Fermi II nuclear plant. By Amy Andrews, myFOXDetroit.com, May 2013Ospreys Are Back! Reintroduction effort a success
Osprey population bouncing back in southern Michigan, wildlife officials say
Ospreys make a comeback in southern Michigan
Everyone loves a comeback story, and this is a good one. Just 13 years ago, there was only one osprey nest in southern Michigan. Today, there are at least 49. The large raptor, known as the “fish hawk,” began disappearing from the Great Lakes region in step with increasing use of DDT and other pesticides. Scientists have found that these chemicals cause thinning in osprey eggshells. Suzanne Jacobs, Michigan Radio Newsroom, July 2012Michigan Department of Natural Resources – Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
The “fish hawk” is brown above and white below, and files with a distinct bend in its wing at the “wrist.” Their feet are equipped with spiny scales and long talons that give them a firm grip on slippery fish, their only prey.Southern Michigan Osprey Population Soars!
The Return Of The Osprey… Osprey once nested throughout the Great Lakes Region. That was before the era of DDT. DDT and other pesticides thinned the egg shells of this fish-eating raptor, decimating their population and all but stopping reproduction. Jonathon Schechter, Woods N Water News, August 2012 In 1959, ornithologist Sergej Postupalsky, then 24 years old, visited the Conservation School (now the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center) at Higgins Lake as part of a group from the National Audubon Society. It was his first trip to the area and his introduction to the Deadstream Swamp, the vast wetland west of Houghton Lake which held myriad species of wildlife, including two raptors which held special interest for him, the bald eagle and the osprey.
