# Ospreys find rough going in Stony Creek



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Ospreys find rough going in Stony Creek
Project to boost numbers at metropark sees setback, but at least one lonely bird will soon get company.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/macomb/0507/27/B04-260015.htm
By Jim Lynch / The Detroit News (586) 468-0520 or [email protected]

SHELBY TOWNSHIP -- "C-61" has been having a difficult time since his arrival here last week. 

The male osprey chick -- representing the latest effort to reintroduce the osprey to southern Michigan -- arrived at Stony Creek Metropark on July 19. Park officials provided him with new digs: a hack box 20 feet above the ground and plenty of food. 

But something wasn't to his liking. The chick wouldn't eat for two days, so park officials sent him a few miles west to the Detroit Zoological Institute for monitoring. 

The problem for C-61 -- who was given a number rather than a name because he's intended to stay wild -- might simply be loneliness. And for an osprey that doesn't like to be alone, this is a particularly tough year. 

Under normal circumstances, when park officials bring in new ospreys, they bring them in groups of four to six. Those chicks are typically brought in from northern Michigan sites, but this year it has been difficult finding new ospreys for the Stony Creek project. 

The good news is C-61 soon might have some company. On Tuesday, one osprey chick from the Houghton Lake area had been found and brought to the Detroit Zoo to be with C-61. 

"Hopefully he can stimulate (C-61) to start eating," said Kristin Martin, osprey site project coordinator at Stony Creek. 

It's difficult to say exactly why osprey chicks have been difficult to find this year, said Tom Schneider, curator of birds for the Detroit Zoo. "We had some severe storms come through up north," he said. "In addition, there was a lot of horned owl activity. They are natural predators." 

With the difficulty of finding ospreys -- also known as fish hawks -- in large numbers, C-61 was brought south from Fletcher's Pond near Alpena to Stony Creek all by himself. The reintroduction program is a joint effort between Huron-Clinton Metroparks, the state Department of Natural Resources and the zoo. 

The hope among those trying to bring the birds back to southern Michigan is that the birds will return to the areas where they first flew. It's a process that has worked in the last few years in other areas around Metro Detroit. 

Currently, there are paired ospreys in Kensington Metropark near Milford, in Sterling State Park in Monroe and on cell phone towers in Brighton and Lapeer. 

Stony Creek park visitors have already noticed the absence of the osprey. 

Local residents aren't just waiting to see the osprey. Many have signed up as volunteers to help with its care and feeding. 

Andrew Simon, 14, is one of those. The Washington Township resident is one of the youngest Audubon Society members. He decided to join after he developed his interest in birds. 

When it comes to the osprey, Simon knows exactly what it is that fascinates him -- the way they go after their prey. 

"When they see a fish ... they get lined up and dive right at them," he said. "They go in head-first and then come right out with the fish."


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Osprey adapts to Shelby Twp. - 08/07/05 
Chick came to Stony Creek Metropark in an effort to reintroduce the birds to southern Michigan

http://www.detnews.com/2005/macomb/0508/07/D03-271774.htm

By Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
You can reach Jim Lynch at (586) 468-0520 or [email protected].

SHELBY TOWNSHIP -- The fortunes of "C-61" have brightened a bit since his arrival at Stony Creek Metropark last month. 

After several days without eating, the male osprey chick was sent to the Detroit Zoological Institute for care. Now he is back at Stony Creek in his hack box, which sits 20 feet above the ground. 

And he's not alone. 

The chick, accompanied by a younger osprey, is tearing through about a pound of fish per day. 

"For a while, (C-61) was having to be force-fed at the zoo," said Kristin Martin, osprey site project coordinator at Stony Creek. "But right now, they're both doing really well." 

C-61 represents the latest efforts to reintroduce the osprey to southern Michigan, where it has been a rare sight since the years following World War II. The state Department of Natural Resources, Huron-Clinton Metroparks and the zoo are working together to give the bird a new foothold in this region. 

Park and zoo officials think C-61's frightening lack of appetite was caused by loneliness. So during his stay at the zoo, they searched for a companion. Normally, osprey chicks are brought to the area in pairs or groups of three. 

On July 26, a new osprey chick -- about a week and a half younger than C-61 and from the Houghton Lake area -- arrived to join C-61 at the zoo. Two days later, the pair was taken back to Stony Creek. 

"The little one helped stimulate the older one to eat," Martin said. 

Finding ospreys, also known as fish hawks, has proved difficult this year and provided a puzzle for researchers. Areas in northern Michigan, where the birds are normally found in groups, have turned up far fewer birds than expected. 

"We're not sure why," said Lori Sargent, a wildlife biologist with the state Natural Resources Department. "It's just guessing at this point. There seems to have been a lot of predation, but were not sure by which predator." 

The troubles for C-61 have put the program at Stony Creek about three weeks behind schedule. The program includes bringing in volunteers to monitor the bird's activities. 

Park visitors should be able to see the two ospreys in flight by mid- to late August. 

After 20 years of working in the corporate world, Rick Campbell signed on as an interpreter at Stony Creek's nature center one month ago. He said the interest the public has shown in the osprey's plight has been amazing. 

"The osprey has pretty much been eliminated from southeast Michigan," Campbell said. "So this is a big thing for our area."


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Wild about chicks in Shelby Township
Caretaker raises ospreys with mother's pride

As coordinator of the Osprey Reintroduction Program at Stony Creek Metropark in Shelby Township, Martin has spent three summers tending to the baby hawks, born into a species that has long been on the Department of Natural Resources' threatened list.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060712/NEWS04/607120427/1006


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Interesting birds. I've seen them in the Florida Keys and all the way up into Ontario near Ottawa.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Osprey chicks take flight
Stony Creek part of project to repopulate species

SHELBY TOWNSHIP -- The first flaps of freedom were a little shaky for a pair of 8-week-old osprey chicks released Wednesday at Stony Creek Metropark.

The male chicks have spent nearly five weeks in a 2-foot-by-2-foot hack box located 20 feet above Stony Creek Lake. They've lived on a diet of fish, monitored by volunteers observing the development of the young birds.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060817/METRO03/608170376/1014


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Osprey population back on its way up
Return of threatened raptors shows state program is working

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP -- It was last summer when Irene and Bruce Allan stood outside their auto body shop on Duck Lake Road and looked up to see large birds swooping down on a nearby cell phone tower carrying sticks in their beaks.

The DNR's Osprey Reintroduction Program, launched in 1998, has trained young osprey to fledge, or fly, out of hacking towers in Kensington Metropark, and for the past four years at Stony Creek Metropark, then released them into the wild with hopes they will return. The program also includes releases near Lansing and Battle Creek.

After this year, reductions in federal grant money will curtail the state's program, which cost $10,000 annually. The program has released 53 osprey chicks into the wild to date. A final four will be released within weeks.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/METRO/707310353/1003
Profile=1003


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## Fecus (Apr 12, 2006)

I've seen one on lake St. Clair, It was carrying a good size bass. The fish had to be a good 2 lbs, kinda neat seeing a bird lift somthing like that


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