Osprey nest on La Crosse airport landing lights in Lake Onalaska. Nest currently monitored by our chapter president, Fritz Funk. photo credit Fritz Funk.

Get Involved! Help Monitor Osprey Nests!

Ospreys are an important indicator species for evaluating the overall health of aquatic systems since they feed primarily on fish and sensitive to environmental contaminants.  They indirectly provide a measure of ecosystem health by their ability to thrive along wateryways provided an availability of fish, nesting structures and good water quality.  Similar to what was observed with eagles in the past 30 years, ospreys appear to be increasing in abundance along the Mississippi. However, this increase has been more recent, and there has been no organized survey effort to monitor osprey nests in this area.  An unusual feature of ospreys is their frequent utilization of artificial structures (communication or powerline towers) to construct their nests.

The UMR Chapter has launched a focused monitoring group within the Center for Conservation Biology's Osprey Watch program with the objective of monitoring osprey nesting activity along the Upper Mississippi River.

Thus far we have located and are monitoring 6 nests in Pools 7 & 8.  This is just scratching the surface and more nesting locations are sure to be found as we expand this monitoring effort along the Upper Mississippi. We plan to reach out to various friends groups, social media and natural resource agencies to help promote the Osprey Watch program to facility osprey monitoring along the Upper Mississippi.

We encourage you to visit the nest sites and record observations on the Osprey Watch website.