Stamford Land Conservation Trust Rolls Out The Welcome Mat For Ospreys

STAMFORD, CT — In an effort to promote the conservation and protection of the local osprey population, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust will install an osprey nesting platform tower on Wallacks Drive at Wallacks Point Preserve on April 1.

The community is invited to attend the installation, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Attendees will learn more about the osprey population and the importance of conservation efforts.

SLCT Treasurer and member of the Board of Directors John Stone said he's excited for the tower to be installed. A team of volunteers will bring the equipment in by piece and assemble it on-site.

"We have this beautiful property, and we kind of want to invite the osprey to come in and set up shop. It's going to be a big project with a big team erecting the tower," Stone said.

The tower will be roughly 16 feet tall and weigh several hundred pounds in order to support large and heavy osprey nests, Stone said. It will allow for a safe and stable environment for ospreys to nest and raise their young.

Ospreys, which are large hawks distinguished in flight by its white underparts and the distinctive crook formed by its long, narrow wings, live near water; their diet consists almost entirely of fish, according to the CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP).

Males can weigh 2 to 3.5 pounds, and females can weigh between 2.75 to 4.25 pounds. The birds can grow to between 21 to 25 inches, with a wingspan between 54 to 72 inches.

"Stamford is a waterfront community, and it has a beautiful harbor, and water is part of its heritage for the city," Stone said. "[Ospreys] aren't endangered, but they're protected and they're beautiful birds and we want to encourage them to live with us and among us. We're rolling out the welcome mat by putting up the tower."

In the 1940s, the coastal zone between New York City and Boston supported an estimated 1,000 active osprey nests, CT-DEEP said on its website. But development pressures and eggshell thinning caused by DDT contamination reduced the number to 150 nests in 1969.

The banning of DDT in the 1970s have prompted a steady recovery of osprey populations, but the birds are still exposed to pesticide contamination at their wintering grounds in the West Indies, Central America and northern South America, CT-DEEP noted.

Ospreys return to Connecticut in late March.

The tower at Wallacks Point Preserve is expected to remain there for decades until it falls over.

"We protect land in perpetuity," Stone said, noting that this particular project was special for him. "Of all the projects I've done in my life, this is the only one where our actions stretch over generations."