[BCNnet] Ospreys and Wes in the news

[Judy Pollock]

Great article in the Sun-Times today about Wes Serafin's success as
"grandfather" of our Cook County osprey chicks and "the sort of crusader that
makes ospreys possible amid suburban sprawl."  Alan Anderson pitched  the
story.  Congratulations to both - and to Craig Thayer, for his part in this
great story.

<http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/outdoors/cst-spt-bowman29.html>http:
//www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/outdoors/cst-spt-bowman29.html


Ospreys are the nest-best thing in Cook County
June 29, 2003
BY DALE BOWMAN STAFF REPORTER


The wispy trail meandered off a wooded back road in southern Cook County,
then spilled open by a shallow lake.

On the other side, a telephone pole interrupted the trees. A nest was built
on top.

A pair of ospreys found this spot several years ago and became what is
believed to be the first to nest in northeast Illinois in the modern era.
>From a quarter-mile away, we eyed the nest. The female sat on the nest while
the male perched starkly in a high, bare tree nearby. Wes Serafin and Alan
Anderson set up spotting scopes. I used my binoculars and occasionally took
their offers to look through the scopes.

"I'm glad they made it through the storms,'' said Serafin, a 53-year-old
pharmacist from Orland Park. I had been with them for a bird count in the
morning. They detoured to check the ospreys.

We could easily see the mother and one young bird. Then the other young one
showed.

"We first found the [downed] nest next to the water's edge,'' Serafin said.

"My friend Craig Taylor found it building a nest next to the trees. They
attempted and failed. Then the tree blew down. That's when we asked the
forest preserve district to help, and they did get Commonwealth Edison to
put a pole up. They were on it the next day. They fledged successfully two
years.''

Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as fish hawks, generally nest
north of us. They winter far south on the Gulf Coast or in Central and South
America. They are our only raptor that plunges into the water in pursuit of
fish. Their wingspan can reach 72 inches.

Joel Greenberg, author of A Natural History of the Chicago Region, said the
last reference to nesting ospreys in northeast Illinois is a "vague
statement made by Robert Kennicott in his 'Catalogue of Animals Observed in
Cook County, Illinois' [published in 1855 in Transactions of Illinois State
Agricultural Society] that the species 'is known to have nested in Cook
County.''' Ospreys are regular visitors during migrations.

It's the wintering that is believed to have held back the recovery of
ospreys. Heavy use of DDT in the 1950s was one culprit in the decline of
raptors. The insecticide was banned in the United States in 1972. That led
to the revival of bald eagles, our national bird. Ospreys recovered more
slowly, perhaps because they sometimes winter where DDT remains in use.
The last two years the Cook County pair did not fledge successfully.
"I don't know whether it was storms, great horned owls or fishermen,''
Serafin said. "They will abandon a nest if disturbed.''

Storms can wipe out the exposed nests. Great horned owls are our area's most
fearless flying hunters and can spook ospreys. The area is a protected one,
but fishermen sometimes sneak in.

"I have mixed feelings,'' Serafin said. "I'm a fisherman, but this is a
protected site, and they should not be here.''

He was a "totally obsessed fisherman'' when he began birding. In his
mid-30s, he bought a Peterson guide for birds to take on fishing trips.
"I was caught hook, line and sinker when I took an organized birding class
at Camp Sagawau [near Lemont],'' Serafin said. "We saw a scarlet tanager, an
indigo bunting and a rose-breasted grosbeak in the same day.''

He would become a past president of the Chicago Ornithological Society and
the sort of crusader that makes ospreys possible amid suburban sprawl.
"I've seen them catch small carp from here,'' Serafin said. "They use all
the sloughs in this area. What we need now is some kind of protection.''
Beavers splashed the water's edge as we watched.
Outdoor notes
June 29, 2003

FIRST CAST
FIELD NOTES
PRUNE ISLAND? Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn sent a sharply worded letter to John C.
Wendland, the vice president of American Land Office Inc., the company that
plans to develop Plum Island near Starved Rock State Park: "[It] is my
position that Plum Island, regardless of the owners, should remain in as
pristine a condition as possible. Any development of Plum Island will result
in harming the delicate ecosystem that has formed on and around the island.
As a habitat for bald eagles and other species, Plum Island is a unique
environmental treasure that should be preserved for the future enjoyment and
benefit of all Illinois citizens, not just a few select property owners."



Judy Pollock
Evanston (Cook)
bobolnk@ix.netcom.com