Ospreys are attempting to nest on cranes in Bellingham’s working waterfront. The Port has a solution
The Port of Bellingham is working to build an Osprey nesting platform due to concerns about the birds attempting to nest on working waterfront cranes.
The Port applied for permits to install the nesting platform in Marine Park, away from the main use area, according to Port of Bellingham spokesperson Mike Hogan.
The 47-foot-tall platform is being built in response to information from the North Cascades Audubon Society that Ospreys have made attempts to nest on the cranes in Fairhaven.
“Osprey generally return to Washington by late March or early April and start looking for nesting sites,” Hogan wrote in a statement to The Bellingham Herald. “The Port’s objective is to have the platform installed by this year’s nesting season.”
Audubon member Jamie Donaldson said observers have seen Ospreys attempting to nest on one or more cranes along the waterfront over the last several years.
“While Osprey prefer to nest up high so they can survey the scene, hunt and watch for predators, a crane is a movable object and unsuitable for nesting,” Donaldson wrote in a statement.
Members of the Audubon Society reached out to the city and Port to seek a solution and provided them with sample plans for building a nesting platform.
“Our hope is that this will be the first of several nesting platforms to be constructed on Port property around Bellingham Bay,” Donaldson wrote.
The estimated cost to design, permit, build and install the nesting platform is $13,000, according to Hogan.
Ospreys are migratory birds that primarily eat fish and prefer to build their nests near large bodies of water surrounded by forested habitats.
They typically build nests on top of dead trees or artificial structures similar to dead trees, like utility or nesting poles. Ospreys often reuse nests year after year, adding sticks to build them bigger with each season.
Artificial Osprey nesting platforms have been shown to be beneficial for the species. Elevated nesting platforms have been built in Seattle to discourage Ospreys from nesting in undesirable locations. Puget Sound Energy has also built more than 65 Osprey nesting platforms since 1979 in an effort to provide safe nesting alternatives for the birds.
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
