Monomoscoy Osprey Platform Repaired Just In Time For Spring

“It’s a rush to get our things set up before they show up,” Mr. Rassman said, noting that osprey migrate north from warmer climates toward the end of March to nest and mate. “These birds are flying back and forth to South America and coming back, not just to Cape Cod, but to the same tree, the same platform.”

Katie McBrien, a Mashpee resident and English language arts teacher at Quashnet Middle School, has a view of the osprey nest in Jehu Pond from her home on Bayshore Drive, off Monomoscoy Road.

Ms. McBrien said she noticed that the platform in Jehu Pond had blown over in early March and is happy that the platform was repaired before the osprey returned.

“Anybody who bikes or walks down Monomoscoy Road, it is right in your view, so in my mind it is very sad that it was down,” she said. “I know the ospreys come back to the same nest, that was a bit of a concern to me.”

Every year at the end of March and beginning of April when the osprey begin to arrive, Ms. McBrien said, she has a running bet with her best friend, who also works at the Quashnet School.

“Whoever spots the first osprey, the other one has to buy them a beer,” Ms. McBrien said. “We definitely have our eyes on the skies but none yet.”

Mr. Rassman said platforms like the one in Jehu Pond serve several purposes.

The platforms provide a safe alternative to power lines for osprey to build their nests on and provide plenty of exposure for the large birds of prey, which have wingspans of several feet, he said.

Perhaps most importantly, though, the visibility of the osprey platforms “helps people relate to nature,” Mr. Rassman said.

“They’re kind of a cultural thing on Cape Cod,” he said. “Osprey are kind of a great story, like many of the birds of prey they suffered with DDT.”

The use of DDT, a potent pesticide, in the mid-1900s brought osprey to the edge of extinction, with just 11 pairs of osprey nesting in Massachusetts in 1964, according to the Massachusetts Audubon Society website. Since the banning of DDT in the 1970s the fishing birds have had a resurgence, with hundreds of pairs now nesting along water bodies in Massachusetts, most in the Cape Cod region.

The story of ospreys’ recovery from DDT “is a positive story in the environment,” Mr. Rassman said. “Sometimes we don’t have that many positive stories.”

When a platform is in need of repairs the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge, a nonprofit volunteer organization, should be contacted to coordinate the repairs, Mr. Rassman said. In addition, individuals who enjoy watching the osprey should consider donating to the Friends to help provide funds for maintenance of osprey platforms, he said.