For osprey researcher, it was love at first sight

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 29, 2006

When Ed Schulz first saw an osprey, he didn’t realize it would be a bird that would steal his heart.

The bird caught his attention after he saw a picture of one that ran in The Herald in 1993. At the time he was an electrical engineer with an avid interest in birding, And he was close to retiring.

“I went down to the waterfront and located a nest by Legion Park, on a light pole,” he said. “I just got into watching them. I got a telescope and noticed that there were several nests out there.”

He became so focused on osprey that he dropped out of the Pilchuck Audubon Society. He then hooked in with the U.S. Geological Survey to do research, including mapping nest sites, capturing and banding osprey and taking lots of pictures of them.

Schulz, 53 of Everett, currently spends his days on the Duwamish River in Seattle, tracking urban osprey that nest on cranes, light poles and any other tall structures they can find. He works with property owners, often helping them build structures to get the birds to move.

Sometimes he builds a platform on top of the cellular tower or telephone poll, allowing the nest to stay in place while reducing the chances of large sticks or bird droppings falling on people below.

Schulz estimates that he has taken 20,000 pictures of ospreys. His portfolio shows it, capturing the birds in every possible situation, including catching fish, fighting with an eagle and hatchling ospreys being fed.

He also installed and monitors the city of Everett’s osprey camera. The camera is mounted on a nest just off Jetty Island. A video feed is piped onto the city’s education facility on the island, but is not currently available online.

Photo Gallery A bald eagle chases an osprey in an attempt to steal a fish that the o… [ view gallery ]

Schulz does have a portable receiver and monitor from the camera that he often turns on while tracking osprey at Legion Park. It only works when he’s in direct line of sight with the nest. Eventually he hopes to get a link to the camera posted on the city’s Web site. He would like the public to take a greater interest in the birds.

“They’re far more interesting than eagles,” he said. “They’re very charismatic to watch.”

People who know Schulz say there is now no one who knows more about the local osprey population he does.

“I think he’s wonderful,” said Ruth Milner, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.