March 2015Sanibel Island, Florida • www.ospreys.com

March 2015 - The International sprey Foundation 1

William E. Heyd will

be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of The International Osprey Foundation on March 22.

His topic is “Images to Inspire: The Magnificence of Peregrine Falcons and Osprey.” Using his own photographs and research, Heyd will describe the history of peregrines in the U.S., with emphasis on nesting in urban settings; and nesting of osprey.

“I have traveled extensively in Michigan,

southern Florida, Southeast Arizona, the Texas Gulf Coast and Rio Grande Valley, northwestern Ohio, the U.S. East Coast, and other locations to photograph wildlife and nature,” he says. And his passion has been much aided by advances in technology.

He says, “Today’s sophisticated digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras are really computers.  The CanonEOS1DX SLR which I use today, and the predecessor Canon EOS7D, include a continuous focusing mode which can take up to twelve images per second, continuously focusing for each exposure. This facilitates photographing flying birds, dragonflies, butterflies, dancers, soccer players, and the like.

“The 7D and especially the 1DX, can capture suitable images under lower light conditions, e.g., photographing owls or sandhill cranes at dusk. I use a Canon 100 to 400 mm image-stabilizing zoom lens with either camera to shoot hand-held

in a wide variety of photographic opportunities. Just ten years ago I don’t think that I could have imagined using such powerful capabilities,” says Heyd.

He will talk about the four P’s of his work – be prepared, be patient, be persistent, be passionate.

“I do not use a flash or make noises in wildlife photography,” Heyd notes.

A Ph.D. scientist (though not an ornithologist or biologist), Heyd has had a lifelong interest in wildlife and the outdoors, as well as photography, which he has pursued more fully in recent years.

His images have appeared in several solo exhibits, nature publications and he has presented them to several Audubon and birding groups. 

The Magnificence of Peregrine Falcons and Osprey

William Heyd, the speaker at the TIOF annual meeting on March 22

Aerial battle between a bald eagle and an osprey by William Heyd An osprey carries a fish in its talons

TIOF ANNUAL MEETINGThe International Osprey Foundation annual meeting will take place on Sunday, March 22 at 7 p.m. at The Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel. A short business meeting will precede the featured speaker’s presentation.A $3 donation is requested of non-members.

Fledgling Numbers DownOn Sanibel, just 62 osprey chicks

survived to leave their nests in 2014, down from 97 in 2013. That’s the

collective data from six TIOF monitoring groups that cover the island. It’s the fewest fledglings since 2007 – a year of persistent red tide - when the total was 45.

The groups observed 113 nests, of which 64 were active, which means nesting activity was observed.

They also reported that two eaglets fledged, compared with four the previous year.

continued on page 2

March 2015 - The International sprey Foundation2

El Nino Connection May Affect Nesting StatsThis is an excerpt from a column by Mark ‘Bird’ Westall, project director

for TIOF, that appeared in the Island Sun on Sanibel. It may help to explain the reduced number of osprey chicks that fledged last winter.

Westall believes there may be an El Nino connection.

The Canary In A Coal MineHave you ever heard the phrase “canary in a coal mine”? Back in the

1800s, canaries or mice were placed in cages deep in the coal mines of the Appalachian Mountains to act as an early indicator of dangerously high levels of poisonous gases. Supposedly those creatures are more sensitive to a toxic environment than humans and, hopefully, could give the working miners a heads-up when carbon monoxide levels got too high.

Last week, I wrote about wood storks being “indicator species” mirroring the health of south Florida’s wetlands. In a sense, the storks, and other indicator species, are our “canaries in the mine” when it comes to the health of the natural environment.

And the storks are not doing so well. Monitoring the well-being of the life around us can give us humans an indication of how we are doing in managing the delicate balance of the natural world. The more we understand how life functions and works, the more efficient we can become in managing those resources.

That is the reason why I began monitoring the ospreys here on Sanibel in 1979. Being high-order predators (like us), the concept is that if they are doing ok, then so is the environment around us. And that argument still remains valid to this day, so the Osprey Foundation

continues to monitor the reproductive success of the birds here on Sanibel with the help of approximately 30 to 40 volunteers.

We have 35 years of records tabulating how many nests are active on the island and how many chicks were fledged. At first glance, every indication from that monitoring is that the osprey have been doing well. Mostly due to the artificial platform program (they produce twice as many chicks as natural sites), the occupied territories for nesting ospreys has expanded from thirty-five nests in 1979 to over 113 in 2014. As long as we have the platforms and the fish supply in the Pine Island Sound estuary remains healthy, I think the ospreys will continue to do well.

It is interesting to note, however, that there seems to be some sort of connection between osprey productivity and the Southern Oscillation (El Nino). El Niño is an above-average warming of the equatorial waters of the Pacific and its effect on Sanibel can be that our normal weather patterns go haywire. Typically, we experience less tropical weather (hurricanes) during the summer, but increased poor weather during the winter.

I clearly remember the winter and spring of 1982-83 when, instead of our normal 10 inches of rain during the winter, Sanibel received 28 inches that year. The weather that winter was so bad the ospreys could not catch enough food to feed themselves and their young. Normal chick mortality in the nest for ospreys is around 33 percent; that year they suffered 65 percent. Then again, just prior to the El Nino of 1997-98, the ospreys experienced poor productivity.

Now in the spring of 2014, productivity has once again crashed. This year, the ospreys only fledged 62 chicks compared to 97 last year. And the weather folks are telling us that a very strong El Nino is building up in the Pacific. Maybe we are headed for a hot, drier summer and more rain-filled cold-fronts this coming winter.

We’ll have to wait and see.

From page 1

Fledgling Numbers

On Fort Myers Beach it was a similar story. The single team of June Franklin and Sandy Ent reported 34 fledged ospreys in 2014, down from 48 the previous year.

“We observed 27 active nests that produced 34 fledglings. There were originally 30 nests, but three were started and later abandoned,” Franklin said about the 2014 results. Interesting because we had 3 more nests last year (2014), yet 14 less chicks.”

June Franklin and Sandy Ent have been monitoring osprey nests on Fort Myers Beach for five years

Nest Watch Data For 2014Sanibel

2014 62

2012 125

2010 100

2008 79

2006 90

2013 97

2011 122

2009 104

2007 45

2005 85

Fort Myers Beach2014 34

2012 24

2010 21

2013 48

2011 38

March 2015 - The International sprey Foundation 3

North Carolina Osprey RescueJohn Spruill, one of our members, tells us in

his own words of an osprey rescue last July in Hampstead, NC, that, sadly, did not have a

happy ending.“LuAnne Zambrowski, her son Michael,

Jenny and I teamed up to rescue this osprey twice - Saturday and today. LuAnne perfected the capture and nest placement technique on Saturday. Each time, we got it back in its nest successfully.

“Yesterday it had strong flights. But this morning it fell into the drink while on a flight. Its parents feed it upon its return.

“It has made no attempt to put its fierce weapons to work once we have it held properly and firmly.

Let’s hope it concentrates on its future as a naval aviator and avoids training as a destroyer sailor.”

In a follow-up, Spruill wrote:“Sad osprey news . . . This morning the

osprey died in the owl’s nest in our yard.Yesterday morning it ate its flounder with

gusto. But late in the day it ignored the beautiful,

fresh bluefish we put in the nest. We were very concerned. When it was not visible from a distance this morning, I climbed the ladder and found it dead. It had not touched the bluefish. But there were not even any bones left from the Jumping mullet or flounder that it has eaten over the last two days.

“There continued to be no signs of any injury or disease. So the cause of its death is a mystery. Before rigor mortis set in, I made these measurements: wingspread, 53 inches; head-to-tail length, 21 inches.

“The bird is in our freezer awaiting pickup by, or delivery to, the Ornithology Research Curator at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Perhaps he will provide insight as to why the osprey died.”

New Board Members

Carol Gestwicki and Susan Peterson-Tucker joined the board of The International Osprey Foundation late in 2014 and we

are proud to have them.Born in Hamilton Ontario, Carol Gestwicki

and her late husband Ron moved to Sanibel for winters in 2001. Her career was spent first in pediatric nursing in Toronto, New York City and Namibia, and then, after graduate work, on the faculty of early childhood education at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC

On Sanibel, Carol is an osprey nest monitor, a trail guide for SCCF, a monofilament buster for the “Ding” Darling Refuge, a member of the Zonta board and of the team that goes off island each week to teach English as a second language to Spanish-speaking HeadStart mothers.

 Susan Peterson-Tucker was born in Long Island, New York and after graduation worked as a CPA in Sag Harbor and Atlanta. After earning an MBA in finance, she worked for an international automotive parts company as VP of Finance and Operations.

She retired to Sanibel in 2000 and began volunteering at CROW, where she cleaned cages, rescued animals, fed baby birds, worked events and eventually served on the CROW board for 6

years as both treasurer and president. She has volunteered for a Florida dog rescue group and fostered numerous Chihuahuas.

She has also been involved with Hope Hospice for 15 years. For the past 6 years I have been involved with their Parkinson’s program and leads a weekly motion class.

She’s also one of our nest monitors.

All Aboard For Nest ChecksOne of Sanibel’s six nestwatch groups

actually launches a boat to make their observations.

That’s the team that includes Susan and Dave Richard, whose boat they use, Doris Hardy and Sam Tischler.

“We cover all of Clam Bayou - any nest on the shoreline or in Clam Bayou itself – 10 nests active as of January. We go out every two weeks,” said Hardy.

Susan Peterson-Tucker and Carol Gestwicki, new TIOF board members

John Spruill rescues a young osprey from the water in Hampstead, NC

John Spruill rescued this osprey twice

PRESIDENT - Jim Griffith

VICE PRESIDENT & NEWSLETTER EDITOR - Anne Mitchell

TREASURER/ SECRETARY - Inge Glissman

PROJECT DIRECTOR - Mark “Bird” Westall

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR - Debbie Friedlund

- Susan Tucker - Carol Gestwicki

Mr. and Mrs. Porter GossDr. Eugene Majerowicz

Harvey RothsteinCharles Rubright

Jim Fowler, San-Cap Nature CalendarMs. Margaret Smith

Mrs. Carmen SanchezMr. and Mrs. William Alquist

Dwight AndersonMr. and Mrs. David Ladd

James and Martha KannryRobert and Rita Southern

RJW FoundationBrenda and Sam Tischler

Don ScottTim and Carol Gardner

David LovelandDick Preservati

Dr. Jorge and Sofija GalanteNancy Clark

Dianna Andrews

LIFE MEMBERS

TIOF BOARD

Susan and Dave Richard ready their boat for a nest check trip on Clam Bayou

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