People from across Martha's Vineyard joined together on Saturday to celebrate the arrival of the fish hawks at the 16th annual Osprey Festival at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown. Under sunny skies that provided reasonable warmth, more than 200 people enjoyed guided walks, educational talks, crafts, live music, up-close encounters with live birds, and generous supplies of food and baked goods.
Ordering out: An osprey brings a fish, the mainstay of their diet, back to his lifelong mate, who waits on one of Martha's Vineyard's nesting platforms.
Photo by Tim Johnson
On Tuesday, just days before the event, the male osprey returned to his nest at Felix Neck; the female flew in the following day. Suzan Bellincampi, Executive Director at Felix Neck, said she was excited and relieved to see the "stars of the show" return just in time for the Osprey Festival.
It's nothing short of a miracle that ospreys migrate to South America in the winter months, and return to Martha's Vineyard in early spring to reclaim their old nests. The nesting pair at Felix Neck is just one of approximately 70 others expected to nest on Martha's Vineyard this year.
In 1969 there was just one nesting pair of ospreys on Martha's Vineyard. Thanks to the efforts of Gus Ben David, former executive director of Felix Neck, and a host of other volunteers, landowners, and the electric company, 135 nest poles have been erected on Martha's Vineyard. The osprey population on Martha's Vineyard is now the second largest in all of New England.
Osprey Festival Video
Video footage by Ralph Stewart
Dick Jennings and David Nash were on hand at the festival to discuss monitoring and migration. Both men have dedicated their time to help monitor the ospreys on Martha's Vineyard. They talked about how the decline in the herring population in recent years is a major problem affecting the birds. While ospreys will eat flounder, scup, and other fish, herring has a higher fat content and is a better source of nutrition. Mr. Nash also spoke about the need for additional volunteers to help monitor osprey nests across Martha's Vineyard, including counting fledglings by observing feedings.
Birder Dick Jennings works with Richard Bierregaard, a leading osprey researcher from North Carolina who has ties to Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Jennings told the audience that with the help of Mr. Bierregaard, a local team is planning to put satellite transmitters on three fledglings in the late summer. If the pair at Felix Neck is successful in producing a healthy offspring, they plan to tag it.
In 2007, young Felix was monitored with a transmitter, but unfortunately the bird's signal was lost in Costa Rica. Another bird named Conomo, who was tagged in Lobsterville in the same year, has been tracked recently fishing in a reservoir on the eastern end of Cuba.
Justen Walker, education coordinator at Felix Neck, talked to a group of children about the importance of protecting the watershed. She had the children gather around a plastic model that demonstrates the flow of water from land to the watershed. With the children's help, they were able to demonstrate how rain water, oil, trash, chemicals, and animal wastes flowed into the sea. Ms. Walker explained that ospreys feed exclusively on fish, and when we pollute we may put the birds in danger.
Orthopedic surgeon Willie Cater aims a spotting scope toward a recently returned osprey.
Photos by Ralph Stewart
Elizabeth and Katherine Obrien were two of the children participating in Ms. Walker's Watershed Wonders presentation. Their mother, Kris Obrien, said that she has been coming to the event for the last five years, and it has become a "signal of the beginning of spring" for her family.
Naturalist Susie Bowman led a guided walk on the sanctuary's green trail, which runs closest to the osprey pole. In her typical enthusiastic tone, Ms. Bowman discussed the osprey habitat and pointed out additional signs of spring, including buds forming on some trees.
Tamathy Stage from the Mass Audubon Society's Blue Hills Sanctuary had a barn owl, a kestrel, and a red-tailed hawk on display for all to enjoy. Ms. Stage said the sanctuary often takes in and cares for birds that cannot make it on their own in the wild. For instance, the parents of the red-tailed hawk set up nest on the campus of Boston University. For the safety of the birds, the nest was moved into the forest, but this particular young hawk kept falling out of the nest.
Tamathy Stage, from Massachussetts Audubon Sanctuary in Milton, displays a barn owl.
To the enjoyment of the crowd, the fiddle band Flying Elbows played virtually non-stop throughout the event. The music could be heard clearly inside the craft tent, where children had the opportunity to make an osprey hat and a fish print by painting a rubber fish - which for convenience replaced the technique of using a real fish in some of the earliest festivals.
In the newly refurbished discovery room sits an owl cam, which projects images from the owl nest box located on the backside of the nature center. Through much of the day, the female barn owl was visible next to her seven eggs, which are expected to hatch in a staggered fashion, as each one was laid on separate days between March 19 and April 1.
In the sanctuary's store, beautiful Easter baskets containing nature toys and gifts were on sale. Ms. Bellincampi explained that the money raised at the event will be used to fund the center's educational programs.
An artistic Emma Burt expresses her creativity at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary's 16th annual Osprey Festival this past Saturday.
Aquinnah resident Maureen Clark, who came to the event for the first time with her son, Gregory, said it was well worth the trip. She was most impressed by the home-cooked food, the live music, and the breadth of volunteers that made it "a true community event."
When asking children about their favorite part of the day, one replied "eating the chocolate osprey nest on a pretzel stick," another said "visiting the duck pond," and still another said "climbing a tree and making my own osprey nest."
Caroline Beetz Fenske writes the Edgartown column for The Martha's Vineyard Times.
