(Spirit Lake)– Spirit Lake is the talk of the bird-watching world right now.
The first confirmed Osprey-hatching in Iowa in over 200 years took place this summer. Bird-watcher Ed Thelen says the baby Osprey is in a nest behind the Spirit Lake Middle School.
Thelen, who works in the Fisheries Division of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says Osprey are pretty rare in Iowa. He says they routinely migrate through the state, but very seldom do they spend much time here or rear their young here. Thelen says they’re frequently seen to the north of us…in Northern Minnesota and Canada during the summer and along the Florida coasts during the winter.
Thelen says he and his son Nathan first saw a pair of osprey circling the Spirit Lake High School baseball diamond in the summer of 2000. A nesting platform was built near the middle school. Thelen says the pair of Osprey returned the following spring, built a nest and laid an egg. The egg didn’t hatch though. The same pair of Osprey returned this year and laid atleast one egg that hatched on June 3rd.
Thelen says he’s never had as big an experience bird watching as confirming the live Osprey birth.
Thelen says bird watchers have to be patient because the baby Osprey can only be seen when it sticks its head out of the nest.
Its leg will be tagged so its migration patterns can be tracked.
