Osprey Obsession

2018 begins my fifth year of paying attention to nesting Osprey in the West Salem Area.  It started with volunteering at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve on Eola Drive in 2014.  I was captivated with the Osprey that came to the platform that had been installed by Salem Electric.  The next year, returning Osprey to the nest site on Murlark Ave was brought to my attention by friend John West. Then I began keeping track of other sites in West Salem, the site at Patterson Street & 9th, and the site at the ball fields at Wallace Marine Park.  Keeping track of the observations and adding photos is made easy with e-Bird, and now I go to a whole new level of craziness, adding names.  Another birder/photographer on Facebook has come up with the novel idea of assigning names to the Osprey she photographs to help her keep track.  She gives them a name starting with the first letter of the location of the nest site.  So here goes for my collection of nesting Osprey in West Salem this year.

Each year it seems the first nest site to be occupied is the platform on Murlark Ave.  This female was first observed at the site on March 18th this year. A male has now joined her.  I'm thinking Muriel and Merl.

The Patterson & 9th Streets location provided a sighting on March 22nd.  Salem Electric has now installed a live cam which can be viewed via You Tube.  However if the bird is on the perch as in this photo it is out of range from the camera.  This female was photographed on 4/1/18. Patricia & Patrick seem right.

The ball field at Wallace Marine Park has long had an Osprey Nest.  This occupying pair was noted and photographed on March 30.  Wally sits on top of the pole while Wendy sits on the nest.

The site on Eola Drive NW at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve was the last of the four central West Salem sites to be claimed this year.  I believe this to be the returning male from last year.  I think Ernie fits him.

I don't know that handing out names helps any in keeping track, but it does make them a lot more personable than just referring to them as "the male" or "the female". Names can always be changed, so if you have any better suggestions, please leave a comment.