The ospreys have returned to Seattle
Apr 28, 2014, 11:14 AM | Updated: 11:37 am
An osprey spotted near its nest by Magnuson Park. (City of Seattle)
(City of Seattle)
Seattle built it and the ospreys came back.
The giant birds have returned to two man-made nests near Seattle parks.
Three years ago, the city, Burlington Northern and the Coast Guard teamed up to replace a nest sitting atop an old telegraph tower on rail lines at Commodore Park in Magnolia.
Crews constructed a 70-foot tower and platform where two ospreys made their home and produced two babies. A pair returned from Central America and had one offspring last spring. Another pair has been spotted adding nest material in the past few days.
Three birds have been seen using a new nest across town near Magnuson Park, which replaced a home in the crow’s nest of a National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration ship.
That man-made nest can be seen from Kite Hill in Magnuson Park or from the parking lot of Building 27.
They aren’t banded, so it’s not clear if the same birds are returning each spring.
Meanwhile, ospreys snubbed a man-made nest on the Chambers Bay waterfront. The Tacoma News Tribune reports the county erected a pole at the Chambers Creek properties in University Place, but the birds settled on an old concrete structure at the edge of the park.
Michelle Tirhi, wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the TNT she wasn’t surprised because the pole is shorter than the birds’ new home.
