Osprey Back Yet?

Young osprey (photo by Dana Nesiti)

26 March 2021

There’s a Rule Of Thumb that says: Pittsburgh area osprey return from winter migration around St. Patrick’s Day.

This year the earliest eBird reports for southwestern Pennsylvania show osprey in Beaver and Butler Counties on 20 March 2021 and arriving this week along the Ohio River and at many lakes.

I haven’t seen an one yet so my goal this weekend will be to find an osprey, maybe at the Duquesne nest site.

My goal after that is to see an osprey do this …

(photo by Dana Nesiti)

10 thoughts on “Osprey Back Yet?

  1. It’s a sight that never leaves you. Saw an osprey take a fish from a lake to its nest 35 years ago. Just WOW.

  2. Wow, great video. What a strong bird.

    On another topic, do the people manning (personing?) the webcams turn them off when things get gruesome? I was watching the Hayes eaglets today and the larger one was abusing the smaller one while getting almost all the food. Then, several hours ago, the webcam stopped working and still isn’t. Just wondering if that might indicate bad news.

    1. Mark, the webcams are usually not turned off. Their goal is to educate people about the lives of wild birds/animals.
      It is normal for the older eaglet to harass the younger ones(s). It can even lead to death.
      I don’t know why the Hays cam is off. Check the FB page for updates.

  3. About 3 summers ago I was swimming at Raccoon Creek State Park and looked up to see an osprey in the sky. It started to make tight circles then dived into the water and came up with a fish. This was vey c!ose to where I was swimming. It was just beyond the roped off area. It truly was an amazing sight to see!

  4. About 10 years ago, I used to watch an osprey swood down out of the trees and catch a fish for his nest. Haven’t seen any since, although I don’t sit by the river like I use to. I live between the Boston bridge and coulter on the Yough river

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