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Local Osprey Project Concludes
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| Raptor biologist Jane Fink-Cantwell holds up Gabby, an osprey that has been recently nursed back to health. Gabby is one of 20 ospreys placed at Lake Yankton this summer as part of an osprey reintroduction project. (KELLY HERTZ/P&D) |
By Nathan Johnson
nathan.johnson@yankton.net
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a series of stories concerning the osprey reintroduction project that has taken place this summer at Lake Yankton.
———
Even though three of his friends glided and perched around him earlier this week, Gabby took his time.
He gazed from his hack box atop a 20-foot tower and observed the calm waters of Lake Yankton while picking at the rainbow trout provided for him by the staff at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery.
Eighteen of his brothers and sisters who took part in the osprey reintroduction project west of Yankton have literally flown the coup. One was euthanized due to ill health.
Now, with a biologist and an enthusiastic team of volunteers watching, Gabby is the center of attention.
Will he be the last to fly? Or will he have to be held captive through the winter until he has enough wind under his wings to get by on his own?
“What we suspect is, even though Gabby is free to fly, she would prefer to have a bit of breakfast before taking off,” observed Jane Fink-Cantwell, a raptor biologist who is overseeing the osprey reintroduction project near Yankton. Even though Fink-Cantwell has determined that Gabby is a male, she and others have had a hard time breaking the habit of calling him a “her.”
It has been a long road to health for the young osprey, who recently underwent weeks of medical care and strength training to overcome avian aspergillosis, a fungal respiratory illness that can occur in young birds when stressed or ill-fed.
“We’ve done all we can,” Fink-Cantwell said. “We’ve provided good medical treatment for her. We have weighed her repeatedly. We replaced her feathers after line-flying her extensively to build up her chest muscles. The rest is up to Gabby.”
Sondra Kuklish and her husband, Gordon, have long had an interest in birds and dedicated much of their free time this summer to volunteering with the osprey project. They said they are fascinated by the ospreys’ ability to learn, to fish, to fly and to survive on their own without parents to teach them.
When Gabby needed to be taken to St. Paul, Minn., for medical tests earlier this month, they escorted the bird.
“She was very good. She was extremely quiet,” Sondra said. “We kept her cage covered so she had no distractions, and she really rode very well.”
After spending so much time with the bird and caring for it, she teared up as she watched Gabby inch out of his cage.
“I’m in love with this bird,” Sondra said. “I have very mixed emotions. I want to see him go, to be free. At the same time, I want to hang on.”
Ultimately, Gabby did fly. But his freedom was short-lived.
“He flew quite well and then ended up landing in some reeds along the wetland,” Fink-Cantwell said Friday. “He was unable to get out, and in the meantime damaged his wings trying to escape. I was able to find him, capture him and he’s going back to Idaho with me.”
Gabby will have to hold on to his passport for Mexico or some other southern country until next year, the biologist explained. After rehabilitating him over the winter on her Idaho ranch, Fink-Cantwell plans to bring the bird back to Yankton next summer, when another 20 osprey will be delivered to the reintroduction site.
“No one can say we didn’t give that bird the college try,” she said. “Things don’t always go the way we humans think they should. The bird is on a different course, but she’s under good care. That I can assure you.”
Next year, Fink-Cantwell said that, with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, some nesting platforms will be constructed along the shore of Lake Yankton.
“That way, when these osprey return in two years, they’ll have nesting platforms to entice them to nest here,” she said.
Since arriving in July to oversee the joint South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, Corps of Engineers, University of Idaho and Idaho Department of Fish and Game project, Fink-Cantwell said it has been nothing but a positive experience.
“I can’t say enough about the community support that we’ve garnered here along the shores of Lake Yankton,” she said. “There’s been multiple agency support. And the birds seem very fond of the site. They have ample opportunities for perching during the daytime on the island, and they use the channel to roost at night.”
Three of the four ospreys fitted with satellite tracking devices have begun migrating south. One has gotten as far as Kansas City, Mo., Fink-Cantwell said.
“It’s been a very successful project to date,” she concluded.
———
Even though three of his friends glided and perched around him earlier this week, Gabby took his time.
He gazed from his hack box atop a 20-foot tower and observed the calm waters of Lake Yankton while picking at the rainbow trout provided for him by the staff at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery.
Eighteen of his brothers and sisters who took part in the osprey reintroduction project west of Yankton have literally flown the coup. One was euthanized due to ill health.
Now, with a biologist and an enthusiastic team of volunteers watching, Gabby is the center of attention.
Will he be the last to fly? Or will he have to be held captive through the winter until he has enough wind under his wings to get by on his own?
“What we suspect is, even though Gabby is free to fly, she would prefer to have a bit of breakfast before taking off,” observed Jane Fink-Cantwell, a raptor biologist who is overseeing the osprey reintroduction project near Yankton. Even though Fink-Cantwell has determined that Gabby is a male, she and others have had a hard time breaking the habit of calling him a “her.”
It has been a long road to health for the young osprey, who recently underwent weeks of medical care and strength training to overcome avian aspergillosis, a fungal respiratory illness that can occur in young birds when stressed or ill-fed.
“We’ve done all we can,” Fink-Cantwell said. “We’ve provided good medical treatment for her. We have weighed her repeatedly. We replaced her feathers after line-flying her extensively to build up her chest muscles. The rest is up to Gabby.”
Sondra Kuklish and her husband, Gordon, have long had an interest in birds and dedicated much of their free time this summer to volunteering with the osprey project. They said they are fascinated by the ospreys’ ability to learn, to fish, to fly and to survive on their own without parents to teach them.
When Gabby needed to be taken to St. Paul, Minn., for medical tests earlier this month, they escorted the bird.
“She was very good. She was extremely quiet,” Sondra said. “We kept her cage covered so she had no distractions, and she really rode very well.”
After spending so much time with the bird and caring for it, she teared up as she watched Gabby inch out of his cage.
“I’m in love with this bird,” Sondra said. “I have very mixed emotions. I want to see him go, to be free. At the same time, I want to hang on.”
Ultimately, Gabby did fly. But his freedom was short-lived.
“He flew quite well and then ended up landing in some reeds along the wetland,” Fink-Cantwell said Friday. “He was unable to get out, and in the meantime damaged his wings trying to escape. I was able to find him, capture him and he’s going back to Idaho with me.”
Gabby will have to hold on to his passport for Mexico or some other southern country until next year, the biologist explained. After rehabilitating him over the winter on her Idaho ranch, Fink-Cantwell plans to bring the bird back to Yankton next summer, when another 20 osprey will be delivered to the reintroduction site.
“No one can say we didn’t give that bird the college try,” she said. “Things don’t always go the way we humans think they should. The bird is on a different course, but she’s under good care. That I can assure you.”
Next year, Fink-Cantwell said that, with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, some nesting platforms will be constructed along the shore of Lake Yankton.
“That way, when these osprey return in two years, they’ll have nesting platforms to entice them to nest here,” she said.
Since arriving in July to oversee the joint South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, Corps of Engineers, University of Idaho and Idaho Department of Fish and Game project, Fink-Cantwell said it has been nothing but a positive experience.
“I can’t say enough about the community support that we’ve garnered here along the shores of Lake Yankton,” she said. “There’s been multiple agency support. And the birds seem very fond of the site. They have ample opportunities for perching during the daytime on the island, and they use the channel to roost at night.”
Three of the four ospreys fitted with satellite tracking devices have begun migrating south. One has gotten as far as Kansas City, Mo., Fink-Cantwell said.
“It’s been a very successful project to date,” she concluded.
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