[EBB Sightings] Osprey in Albany/Avocet nests

Hi everone

On June 12, while walking down the Bay Trail just south of Meeker Slough in Richmond late afternoon, there was an Osprey flying back and forward over the bay.  About half an hour later on my walk back I saw an Osprey carrying a fish and heading east over ElCerrito/Richmond but also flying in circles, looking as though it was trying to land, then it disappeared and I did not see in again.

Also can someone tell me if there is someone monitoring the Avocet currently nesting in the East Stege Marsh, the one being restored by Cherokee Simian (formerly the Zeneca site), just south of Meeker Slough ?  I am concerned about their well being as there is human activity within 50 yards of the nests, and in early May one part of the marsh was sprayed with herbicide in an effort to eradicate the 'invasive plant species'.  At that time there were nesting Canada Geese and Avocet present.

Thanks -- please reply off line.

sheila dickie
510/215-1864

-----Original Message-----
>From: Steve Glover 
>Sent: Jun 13, 2006 10:48 PM
>To: Barbara Quein , Sightings at diabloaudubon.com
>Subject: Re: [EBB Sightings] Osprey in Albany
>Hi all,
>During the atlas project there was an Osprey nest on
>private property near Pt. Pinole Regional Shoreline. I
>believe it was originally found by Kirk Swenson and
>Ellen Blustein. It is possible that there is a nest
>closer to Albany than that but see the text below (a
>rough draft from the Contra Costa Breeding Bird Atlas)
>for a discussion of how far they forage from the nest.
>Steve Glover
>Dublin
>Osprey  (Pandion haliaetus)
>Opening comments
>Ospreys are uncommon wintering birds and migrants in
>Contra Costa County with the vast majority of
>sightings coming from August through April. Though
>migrants and commuters may be seen virtually anywhere
>in the county, most sightings are of wintering birds
>frequenting the Richmond shoreline and the watershed
>reservoirs of the Berkeley Hills. As breeding birds,
>however, Ospreys are amongst the rarest of the rare
>with but a single confirmation during the atlas
>project.
>Current status and distribution
>The lone nest detected during the atlas project was
>near Point Pinole Regional Shoreline. Birds are also
>frequently recorded southwest along the bayshore,
>particularly at Pt. Isabel Regional Shoreline. Inland
>they are most often found hunting at the watershed
>reservoirs of the Berkeley Hills and, since it?s
>recent completion, at Los Vaqueros Reservoir at the
>eastern edge of the Diablo Range. 
>Numerous records from April-June in Richmond bayside
>blocks and from the watershed reservoirs suggest that
>an additional pair or two may have bred somewhere in
>the county and simply avoided detection. On the other
>hand, Ospreys are known to forage as far as 20 km from
>the nest site and thus birds noted over inland
>reservoirs may be commuting to the Pinole nest site or
>another unknown site elsewhere. This idea is bolstered
>by the fact that neighbors north of San Pablo
>Reservoir have reported fish falling from the sky! (R.
>Hartwell, pers. comm.)
>Necessary conditions for breeding Ospreys includes a
>steady, easily accessible supply of fish with 10-20 km
>of the nest site, shallow water where fishing is
>easier, and open elevated nest sites free from
>predators (Poole et al. 2002). Ospreys in coastal
>California almost exclusively use tall trees for
>nesting (Shuford 1993) but the Pinole nest was in an
>artificial tower. Elsewhere, Ospreys have responded
>well to artificial nest towers but the one such tower
>in the county, one constructed at San Pablo Reservoir,
>has been used only for perching (R. Hartwell, pers.
>comm.).
>Historical occurrence
>It is unclear if Ospreys historically nested in the
>county but by the time of Grinnell and Wythe they were
>known in the Bay Region only from the Russian River
>region (G&W 1927). Grinnell and Miller (1944) state
>that they were formerly much more common but ?now
>(1944) much reduced in numbers, and known nesting
>stations few.?There are apparently no published
>records of Ospreys for Contra Costa during the 20th
>century until the 1950s when at least five sightings
>were recorded in The Gull. Still, sightings remained
>noteworthy until the early 1980s when they began to be
>recorded regularly. A nest, likely the first for
>Contra Costa County, was reported at Briones Reservoir
>in 1990 (Kite?.)
>Breeding and natural history
>Just a single pair of Osprey were confirmed nesting
>during the five years of the atlas project, that being
>a pair on a nest at Pinole 2-19 May 1998. In Napa
>County (Napa-Solano Audubon Society 2003), nest
>building was noted 30 April and 30 May, a nest with
>young was found on 15 May and a fledgling was recorded
>1 July. The Sonoma atlas found an occupied nest on 30
>March and a nest with young on 1 July, suggesting that
>the breeding cycle is a lengthier affair than our
>meager data would suggest (Burridge 1995). 
>Conservation
>	Osprey populations during the 20th century suffered
>significant declines due to pesticides, particularly
>DDT and DDE (Poole et al. 2002). In Contra Costa
>County, however, Ospreys are undoubtedly more common
>than at any time during recorded history, despite the
>presence of just one known breeding pair. It is
>possible that the more widespread erection of
>artificial nest platforms may lure a handful of
>additional birds to remain to breed.
>Poole, A. F., R. O. Bierregaard, and M. S. Martell.
>2002. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). In The Birds of
>North America, No. 683 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.).
>The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
>--- Barbara Quein  wrote:
>> Yesterday at 5:30 p.m. an osprey was searching for
>> dinner at Albany  
>> Beach, at the foot of Buchannan St. He did catch a
>> fish and headed  
>> north along the shore. Does anyone know the location
>> of the nest ?
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