SOAR
saving our avian resources
SOAR
25494 320th Street
Dedham, IA 51440
Phone: (712) 683-5555
Fax: (712) 683-5535
www.soarraptors.org
diversityfarms@iowatelecom.net
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SOAR saving our avian resources |
SOAR 25494 320th Street Dedham, IA 51440 Phone: (712) 683-5555 Fax: (712) 683-5535 www.soarraptors.org |
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Greetings and Welcome SOAR (Saving Our Avian Resources) is a non-profit organization that was established in 1999. SOAR is dedicated to saving our avian resources through raptor rehabilitation, education, and research.
July 1, 2007 The birds are coming July 11!! Kay will travel to Minnesota and bring our new batch of five young birds home on July 11th. We need more sponsors for this year's birds. $500 for each bird. We pay the Raptor Center in Minnesota $500 for each bird. Also, our web cam project has stalled a bit. We need funding to pay the monthly internet access bill. The web cam has already been purchased with the donated funds raised by Coon Rapids-Bayard schools. Please help us get the cam up and running so you and the volunteers can keep an eye on the birds. Please help SOAR and Iowa restore these majestic birds to our state. Sponsor a young bird, donate to the web cam project or even donate fresh fish!! Please call Kay at 712-683-5555 and tell her how you can help!
Spring 2007 The Coon Rapids-Bayard School District has generously raised $2000.00 to help us install a web cam to help us observe the 2007 birds! We can't thank them enough and you will want to thank them too! October, 2006- The osprey are hopefully in South America by now and we hope that they will return to Iowa to raise young in the spring of 2008. In the meantime, contact SOAR to learn how you can help raise osprey at the Whiterock Conservancy next year. We will be reintroducing osprey for the next 4 years. Click here for schedule of events Update Sept. 13 - Getting ready to go or have they gone? Yesterday morning Y6 and Y9 were at the tower. Last night they weren't. They have not been seen today. They may have left, or they may show up again a time or two more before heading south permanently. Keep your eyes peeled. So why did we go through all this work if they are just going
to leave? In the hopes that they come back. Male osprey return to their
original nesting areas. Because of this ospreys are prime candidates for
relocation. Since the DNR has started reintroducing osprey into the state
in 1997, they have slowly begun to nest here for the first time since
European settlement. This summer there were 6 nests in the state with
others making attempts. So we will keep watch and maybe in 2008, one of
our birds will be back nesting in the state. (Remember, they migrate to
South America and do not return until they are 2 years old). Update Sept. 9 Update Sept. 7 One more new resident will be moving in tomorrow! The Raptor Center in Minnesota has another young osprey who needs a release site. Pat Schlarbaum with the Iowa DNR will once again travel to the center near the Twin Cities and meet Terrie Hoefer in Ames, who will then transport the bird to Kay. Stay tuned for pictures. Speaking of pictures, Kay placed a trail camera on top of
the tower last week. We did this so we could read the id tags on the birds
and see who was eating off the tower. Y9, Y6, and AC were photographed Don't forget that you can observe the birds every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 5-7 p.m. Turn south off of Hwy 141 at the old sale barn (just east of the Middle Raccoon River Bridge - just east of Coon Rapids), follow the field road back to the green steel gate (the gate will be open for you), go through the gate and find spotting scopes, binoculars, and lawn chairs set up for observations at the north end of the large pond. The photo at right shows one of the birds soaring on September
4th. This photo was taken by volunteer Janet Pulver. We can't see the
id tag, however we know it is not AT because AT is missing tail feathers
and this bird has all of his. Update Sept. 2
Update Aug. 30 The door was opened on Satuday August 26th to release the newest arrivals. FX and the Wisconsin bird flew out, eager to be free. Each day we have not been able to see all 7 birds at once. It is possible that some may have begun to head south. This morning three osprey congregated in one tree while 6 vultures came together in another tree just north of the ospreys. We waited an hour and watched. No ospreys came to the roof but one vulture did and started to eat. We also watched one pied-billed grebe and one cormorant while sitting there observing. Update Aug. 25 - New Roomies!!
Click here to continue reading
and see lots of great photos of the new birds Update Aug. 22 Well we must apologize for slowing down in the number of posts
to this blog. We thought you might be getting tired of hearing the same
thing everyday. (All the osprey are fine, they are eating, blah blah). But we are excited to hear that there are people out there who are really reading this and this makes us very excited. Guess what else? You can get excited and come watch the osprey yourself! SOAR and Whiterock Conservancy are inviting you out to observe the osprey every Tuesday and Thursday night until the end of September from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Watch them through the spotting scope, maybe you will get to see them attempt a dive! Come and learn about osprey and how you can help with this important project. Then you can enjoy the birds just as Senator Harkin did! Senator Tom Harkin visits the birds with Kay
Neumann, Click here to continue reading and see more photos Update Aug. 15 The birds are still doing well. They are still eating the fish that we porvide for them. We are not sure how much they are fishing on their own but we feel confident they are learning. Osprey migrate to Central and South America for the winter. Our young birds will stay in the Americas for two years before coming back north for the summer. They will not begin to breed until they are three to four years old. Update Aug. 10 The birds are doing very well. Janet has observed some of the birds with fish that she did not give them. We are currently supplying the birds with cut up carp. But Janet has observed the birds with entire fish which they must have acquired on their own! Fast learners! Update Aug. 4 This morning when Janet drove in she was able to see 3 ospreys on the tower roof and two in a tree to the west. When she put the ladder up to the tower, two flew away and one remained. It stayed until she climbed the ladder to the roof and did o.k. till she put the fish up there and removed the bad, and then he/she flew away also. Beautiful morning. When she was finished, she noticed all were in trees not far from each other and by river. Update Aug. 3 - First dive!
In the picture left, volunteer Janet Pulver is shown throwing fish on to the roof. This afternoon we were able to observe the osprey fishing the river and the pond. At 12:30 three were on the tower and AT was on the snag closest to the pond. Y9 was eating on the tower. There is lots of vocalization going on. It seems as if one bird on the tower is noisier then the others but hard to tell from such a distance. At about 1:00 AT flies to the tower and eats a little bit and another one on the tower begins to eat. A few minutes later the 5th bird shows up. It looks like he has blue on his wing which would make him Y6 but it could be green which makes him AC. Next year we will make their identification markings easier to see from a distance! The 5th bird lands in a snag where another osprey is sitting. Click here to read more and see more pictures of AT fishing. Update Aug. 2 This morning upon arriving, coming into the drive from the highway, we could see with the binoculars, three ospreys in trees along the river, and one osprey on top of the hack tower. As we pulled on in we identified the 5th osprey southwest in the tree frequently used. The osprey on the roof stayed put until the fish were put on top of the tower. He was out of view so we do not know which one he was. At one time there were four flying at one time, confusing, but beautiful just the same. We can’t wait to see them snatch fish up out of the water and carry it off. All seem to have the acquired strength to make long sweeps of the pond and the river as we witnessed this morning. Absolutely beautiful. In the picture above there are 2 osprey Update Aug 1 - All present! Colton and Janet arrived at 7:00 a.m. this morning. All five of the ospreys were on the hack tower. The osprey were wet. Even so, soaked, all left the tower except for Y9. When Janet climbed the tower and then on up to the roof and left the fish, Y9 stayed put. Janet doesn't know if that is a good or questionable thing. The osprey flew off to the west and sat in different trees. It is a reward just seeing them all there. Update July 31 - Y9 is back and Y6 crashes! Kay fed the birds last evening (July 30) and when she did Y6 flew out of the hack tower, flew over the pond and back trying to land in a tree with little success. Then he/she flew over toward the hack tower and crashed. No injuries as Kay looked him/her over good. She placed Y6 back into the hack tower. Also Y9 was back on top of the tower! yeah! It is good to know he is still around.
4 birds on top and Y6 is inside! Yea! This morning all 5 birds were at the tower. Y6 was still inside the box, the other 4 were on top of the tower. Everyone was eating. This is very good news. Kay and the volunteers are thrilled to have everyone accounted for. After Janet took this picture one flew off the tower taking a fish with him. Click here to read more and see more pictures.
Update July 30, 2006 At the morning feeding two ospreys were on the same tree as yesterday morning. Also one osprey in a tree just southwest of the tree with the other two. Y6 is still in the hack tower. All appears well. Then the two that were sitting together flew off and went to the tree way over west, a tree they all frequent. We only saw a total of 4 osprey. We sure hope someone spots the fifth one soon. We don’t know if it is the same four all the time or different and we are seeing all five but not at the same time. Update July 29, 2006 - Chasing vultures! This morning, two ospreys were on the tower, one eating the other just perched. Y6 is still in the hack tower. A total of 4 ospreys were observed this morning. The 5th was never seen, but he was probably around. When Janet went to feed them, both ospreys on the top flew west and landed in dead trees, one alone and right by the river, and the other one flew to the same tree where one of the osprey was already perched. Noon: One osprey was on a snag sticking up out of the water
(the one furthest east) He stayed there for an hour. When he finally took
off he flew west pitching down across the pond, and he had a hold of a
fish, but he dropped it and it continued skimming the water and then the
osprey banked up and flew after a vulture! He chased it quite a
ways west then banked and turned back to land on a tree just west of the
osprey tower. He remained in that tree while I was there. Two other osprey
came flying from the south, one landed in a tree just north of the one
that just landed after chasing vulture. The other osprey went This evening at 6:00p.m. we could see two ospreys in the top of a dead limbed tree. Y6 was still in the tower and doing fine. The inside was completely shaded so hopefully cooler than the earlier part of the day. We spied another osprey over west in another dead topped limb, where they have been known to perch before. While there, the two in the tree flew off. One went to the same tree as the one far west, the other in a tree just a bit west of the one that we first saw them in. They seem to frequent the same trees. So total all day, we only could account for four ospreys at one time. Same thing this evening. Only four. The other may have been around but we were unable to pick him out if he was.
Update July 28, 2006 - Y6 all alone and AH shows off It was very hot today. This morning when Janet and Colton came to the tower for the morning feeding there was only one osprey seen flying south along the river and Y6 all alone in the box. Later in the morning there was one short minute when AC, AH, AT and Y9 were located. One bird was perched in the snag closest to the pond, a second in a snag north and west of the close snag. A third bird flew in about a half hour after the first two birds were located and perched in the snag west of the tower and then we caught a brief glimpse of a 4th bird flying into the shade on the west side of the river. As it got closer to lunch time the birds began to move more; flying up and down the river, landing in different trees. (To conserve space a blog page has been created. To read more about AH's smooth fishing and to see pictures, click here.) Update July 27, 2006-AH gains his wings and AC takes a swim and a 4th bird fledges What an exciting day! First we have to tell you that last
night at the evening feeding AH flew out of the box. Kay, Executive Director
of SOAR was worried. AH was the smallest bird weighing 1250 grams, the
other birds weighed 1300-1500 grams. He also had an abrasion on his keel.
So we thought maybe he Update July 25, 2006 The birds are doing very well! AC and AT were the first two birds to take flight on Sunday the 23rd and have been been flying up and down the Middle Raccoon River. This morning AC and AT sat on the roof of the tower and ate some fish. They did not fly off until volunteers Colton and Janet Pulver came to feed them at 7:30 a.m. They did a "fly-by" at 8:30. At 9:30 a red-tail hawk flew near the tower and AH, Y6 and Y9 who are still in the hackbox, called loudly to it. At 9:42 AT came back and after about 15 minutes began eating a fish. (Janet and Kay throw fish onto the roof of the hack box for those that have fledged). AC did not return to the tower until nearly 11:00. By then the three inside had retreated to the shade in the back of the box.
Update July 23, 2006: The birds have been in the tower eating fresh fish and flapping their wings while overlooking Whiterock Conservancy. This morning the gate to the nest box was lowered and one osprey flew out while the other four watched! We will continue to watch all the birds very closely until they leave on thier migration to Central and South America. We will continue to feed them for awhile as well, to be sure they are getting all they need. Once an osprey begins to fly we say it has fledged. In the wild, after fledging, young ospreys begin to hunt on their own. However, they often continue to return to the nest to receive food from their parents for two to eight weeks after fledging. Because ospreys migrate individually, juvenile ospreys must be fully independent of their parents by the time the southward migration begins. Yearling ospreys almost always remain on the wintering grounds throughout the next year and won't return north until they are 2 years old. They mature at 3 but do not begin nesting until they are 5 years old. In order to tell the birds apart they
have been banded with a letter code and also marked with ink. This will
help the volunteers to watch each individual bird and make notes on their
health, eating habits, etc. The birds are:
Click here for more cool facts about ospreys or here :) Update July 17, 2006: The osprey have arrived! Five juvenile osprey, approximately 42 days old arrived at SOAR on Wednesday July 12th. The birds have been placed in the tower and are being watched very closely with binoculars and security cameras. In the terrible heat we have been having lately, extra ventilation holes were cut into the nest box. Also SOAR staff and volunteers have been spraying the birds down with a squirt bottle to help them stay cool. They do this by sticking the bottle through the flap in the wall - so they do not see a human. They enjoy the cool mist. Two of the birds appear to be several days older then the other three and one of these likes to "hog" the water. Stay tuned to this page as we will try to update it with more information and pictures as often as we can. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Osprey once nested and lived in Iowa, but no nests have been
recorded since the state was settled by Osprey return to where they were raised to build a nest and raise their young. For the reintroduction project, the Iowa DNR helps to obtain young osprey from Minnesota and place them in hack towers in the hope they will expand their range into Iowa. In the year 2000, an osprey nesting attempt occurred in northwestern Iowa but no eggs were laid. Last year, osprey attempted to nest at Saylorville and at Don Williams Lake in Boone County. Both of these sites were osprey reintroduction sites. Other reintroduction sites have been at Hartman Reserve in Black Hawk County and at Coralville Reservoir. ..................................................................................................DNR file photo This summer Carroll County will be added to the list. The Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids will hopefully become home to future osprey families. SOAR has obtained the hack tower used at Saylorville, as they have completed their 5 year commitment to the osprey project. (With a nesting pair this spring!). In May, the utility poles were set, the National Guard used their crane, and the local utility company loaned the use of their bucket truck and the tower is up! In mid-July volunteers will travel to Minnesota and pick up
5 young osprey, at a cost to SOAR of $500 each. The osprey come from different
nests, and the Minnesota parents are left with one or two babies in the
nest to finish raising. The young birds will be brought to SOAR and placed
in the tower. They will be fed daily, and watched very closely with security
cameras by volunteers to make sure that everyone is eating and healthy.
It is very important that there is minimal human contact. By the first
week of August, the birds should be taking their first flight attempts.
Volunteers will continue to feed and watch the birds very closely. Sometime
in September the Osprey will migrate to Central America. This process
will be repeated by SOAR for several years. Hopefully in about 5 years,
our birds will begin to come back to western Iowa and start the process
on their own.
Here the osprey hack tower sits on the ground next to the utility poles. Thanks to MidAmerican Energy for setting the poles into the ground.
In this photo you can see the hack box being lifted into place by the Iowa National Guard. Carpenter Mike _____ is getting ready to attach the box to the poles with the use of the _____ bucket truck. Check back to this page often for more pictures. SOAR appreciates all of the volunteers and donations that have made this osprey project possible. We are also in need of more dollars, fresh fish and other help. If you can help with these items or can give technical advice for a live webcam set up, please contact us!
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Osprey! 
on the tower. AT is missing one or two center tail feathers and she has
been seen in the area but we have not observed her (or him) eating off
the tower. AT seemed to be the first to be very comfortable splashing
into the pond and was the first to dive. No one has observed the birds
actually catching anything but that is probably just because we all have
other responsibilities (dang it!). 
As
far as we can tell, there are 4 osprey still hanging around. That is the
most osprey we can see/hear at one time. That doesn't mean that the other
three are gone, although it is possible. Remember that every Tuesday and
Thursday in September you can go and observe the osprey for yourself from
5-7 p.m. The osprey still like to fish on the pond and that is great fun
to watch. Here you can see the tent that we used to observe the osprey
from the east side of the pond. We used the tent so as not to scare the
birds away when we first opened the gate. Osprey can be a bit skitish.
Some
new members have joined the group this evening! Two new osprey from the
Raptor Center in Minnesota have been placed at Whiterock Conservancy.
XF is a young osprey that was found on the ground near a nest near Lake
Amelia in Hugo Minnesota on July 26th. He or she had what amounted to
a broken finger (a fracture of the left phalanx proximalis). XF had already
been banned in Minnesota so his XF band is black. Our birds have purple
bands. And as with all banded birds he/she also has a federal id band
on the other leg.
This
morning when we approached we found one osprey sitting on a branch snag
in the pond, one osprey on the roof and the other three in different trees
along the river plus the one further SW that the one seems to favor. The
one osprey on the roof flew off when I placed the fish on the roof. He
flew to the tree just west of the tower. All five were accounted for and
appear to be doing well. 
-Y6
taking his time
further
north, looked like he/she was following the river.
was the youngest of the bunch. Young or old he apparently thought he needed
to make a break for it and jumped out of the box and landed on the roof,
with some difficulty. Yesterday he almost accidentally fell out of the
box when he was practicing flapping and jumping but he clawed his way
back in. So we watched AH for awhile until we were convinced that if a
great-horned owl tried to eat him during the night he would have a good
chance of escaping. 
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Europeans. That is, not until a reintroduction of osprey was begun by
the Macbride Raptor Center and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
in 1997. 
