2020 Osprey Telemetry Project Update | MPG Ranch

2020 Osprey Telemetry Project Update

December 29, 2020

This update summarizes our efforts to outfit Osprey nestlings with GPS transmitters and the activities of those outfitted in previous seasons.

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We’ve been capturing Ospreys and outfitting them with leg bands and satellite transmitters since the summer of 2012.

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We began this spring closely watching the northern migrations of four individuals that we captured in prior years.

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We were thrilled as Ospreys laid eggs in all three nests on MPG Ranch in May. Unfortunately, cold temperatures and heavy precipitation made incubation and foraging difficult.

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On June 20, Scooter’s transmitter stopped moving at a location near the Bitterroot River about a mile from his nest.

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Finley set up at a nest platform north of Corvallis, but once again failed to produce any young.

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After a brief visit to MPG Ranch on April 10, Avery flew southeast and had settled along the Yellowstone River, five miles from Emigrant, MT, by April 14.

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While Avery was incubating, we learned that her nest was being regularly surveyed by Dr. Marco Restani and the Yellowstone Osprey Project.

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With no young Osprey produced on MPG Ranch, we surveyed the Bitterroot River for other nests that we could safely access with a bucket truck.

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Six of the young Osprey that we had outfitted with GPS transmitters survived their first fall journeys south.

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Dartmoor only made it a short distance before its transmitter went down on a steep forested slope near the Clark Canyon Reservoir, about ten miles southwest of Dillon, MT.

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Of all the Ospreys we’ve tracked, Boots gave us the biggest surprise when it migrated to Cuba in 2018.

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Boots stopped at Gavin’s Point fish hatchery near Yankton, SD, from August 26-31.

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On September 8, Boots left the mainland and headed out over the Gulf of Mexico. However, after covering over 100 miles, Boots returned to the Louisiana Coast.

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We hope next year will be more successful for Ospreys nesting on MPG Ranch

Previous Research Update

2020 Turkey Vulture Telemetry Update

Next Research Update

2020 Fall Migration Research Update