Movin' On Up: Pair of Osprey Get New Home
A popular pair of osprey in Kalamazoo, Mich., are getting a new riverside home with a view. In early March, Kalamazoo Nature Center (KNC) staff, Georgia-Pacific, Terra Contracting, local filmmaker Matt Clysdale and artist Brent Spink built a new nesting site for the osprey. The pair began nesting on an old power line pole on GP property in 2009.
The former nesting site was very close to where the route of the new Kalamazoo River Valley Trail (KRVT) is being built, which necessitated the move. KNC’s Kalamazoo Valley Bird Observatory staff surveyed the grounds on the GP property and chose the new site for the osprey nesting platform.
John Brenneman, Research Project Coordinator for KNC who has been involved in the site choice, design, and planning of the new platform said, “Georgia-Pacific has been very willing to accommodate our plans and suggestions to help this threatened species to continue to expand in our area.”
A portion of the existing osprey nest will be placed on top of the new platform to entice the birds to return to it this spring. The pair has become a symbol for the returning health of the Kalamazoo River.
Filmmaker Matt Clysdale began filming a documentary last year when the osprey pair produced three healthy chicks. He will continue to film throughout the project.
