The Osprey Live Webcam on the Town of Osoyoos’ website has displayed plenty of high drama over the past several weeks. (Screen capture)
Call it a Mother Nature soap opera.
That would be an apt description of what has happened over the past several weeks in relation to the popular osprey nest live webcam that has garnered so much attention by local residents and many from outside our community over the past several weeks.
The Town of Osoyoos partnered with FortisBC three years ago to install a live camera each spring and provide a live feed showing an osprey nest built on top of a hydro pole located just north of the entrance to Osoyoos Elementary School.
As all regular visitors to the webcam offered on the Town of Osoyoos website have noticed since the camera went live on March 31, there has been plenty of drama over the past eight weeks.
Instead of the nest being home to an osprey family, the nest was taken over by various Canada geese and that has been the case since early April, said Gerald Davis, the town’s director of community services, who is the town’s contact with FortisBC officials in relation to the osprey nest webcam.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure of everything that’s going on up there, but I do know some Canada geese eggs were hatched a few days ago,” said Davis.
He has talked to officials with FortisBC on several occasions and they indicated that the adult osprey that inhabited the next in 2016 appear to have tried to build another nest not far away near the Osoyoos Childcare Centre, said Davis.
The problem with that scenario is that nest is located close to dangerous high voltage wires and FortisBC crews might have to dismantle that nest due to the dangers posed, he said.
There were also some concerns about osprey being in close proximity to children attending the daycare, said Davis.
While there have been sightings of osprey at the nest located near the elementary school, almost all reports indicate the nest has been inhabited by Canada geese since early April, he said.
Reports on the town website indicate four goslings were hatched on May 8 and all four had left the nest by May 9.
Another report indicated random visits from two adult osprey on May 11 and that the female osprey had laid an egg in the nest on May 15.
FortisBC has posted information that Canada geese often do nest prior to ospreys and will occupy an osprey nest early in the spring season and that Canada geese sometimes nest before the osprey return. It also states osprey often return and challenge the geese for the nest site, with varying degrees of success.
In its last posting on May 3, Fortis BC writes, “our environmental department have looked at the situation concerning the osprey nest and advised that it looks like the osprey have found a new nest site for the time being in a nearby farm field near the Hwy. 3 intersection. Since the osprey have already found an alternative nest site, the recommendation is to leave the goose where it is for now and install a goose deterring device (covering the nest) once the geese have left.
“The goose deterrent will then be removed at the beginning of the next osprey breeding season so the geese won’t be able to start using the platform before the osprey have returned from their winter ground.”
As of last Friday, the nest was being occupied by two adult osprey.
The drama hasn’t deterred people from viewing the webcam, said Davis.
“From everything I’ve heard, viewership is still really strong and people are still interesting in observing what’s going on,” he said. “It’s sort of like a Mother Nature soap opera between the osprey and the Canada geese.”
The webcam site is located at www.osoyoos.ca under the Community tab.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
