Ospreys will have happy landing at Snohomish River

Published 10:50 pm Tuesday, October 28, 2008

EVERETT — It looks as if five pairs of ospreys will have new places to build their nests when they return to the Snohomish River from Mexico next spring.

An environmental group has reached a deal with the state, the Tulalip Tribes and others to have five large concrete pilings installed in the mouth of the river this winter for the raptors to make their summer homes.

The Pilchuck Audubon Society, the Snohomish County Marine Resources Council and Boeing are pitching in $26,000 to cover the cost of installing the pilings, said Bill Lider of Lynnwood, who works with the environmental group.

The five pilings weigh 15 tons apiece, according to Lider.

“That’s quite a birdhouse,” he said.

The Snohomish River Delta is home to the largest colony of saltwater nesting ospreys on the West Coast, Lider said. Twenty-six nesting pairs call the area home, and each pair has new offspring every year.

They historically have nested in trees but have increasingly adapted to their surroundings. In the case of the Snohomish River, hundreds of old pilings have made a good substitute, Lider said. The pilings decades ago were used to anchor rafts of logs waiting to be sawn into lumber or made into pulp.

Now, some of those pilings are falling over and more are expected to topple in the near future, he said.

“There are some nests out there that are literally hanging by a splinter,” he said.

As part of the project, the Department of Natural Resources also plans to remove 359 old, standalone creosote-soaked pilings from the mouth of the river.

In the river, the birds use only the pilings in which two or more logs are bound together, so removing standalone pilings won’t affect the birds, Lider said. The new concrete pilings will be wide enough for the birds to nest upon, he said.

The department’s preliminary estimate for both projects is $227,800. Old poles soaked in creosote release carcinogens into the water when they fall over and decay.

Bidding is expected to be opened any day, said Jane Chavey, a spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources.

It’s hoped the work can be done before Feb. 15, the beginning of a four-month, do-not-disturb season in shoreline habitats, Chavey said.

Four concrete pilings will be installed on Tulalip Tribes tideflats near Priest Point, and one will be put up on tidal land near Smith Island, owned by Cedar Grove Composting, Lider said.

Ospreys are often referred to as fish hawks but are actually a type of raptor. Ospreys fly in from Mexico and parts south in the spring, returning faithfully to the same nest every year to raise a new brood, Lider said. The breed in the summer in the northern U.S. and Canada.

Like eagles, ospreys were nearly poisoned into extinction in the 1960s by the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. After use of the substance was banned in 1973, ospreys and eagles made a comeback and are now plentiful.

Still, the colony in the Snohomish River estuary is unique because of its size, according to Lider. The birds thrive here because the wide mudflats at the mouth of the river create shallow water that makes it easy for them to spot and hunt for fish.

“If we lose the colony up there, the ospreys are going to be forced to try to nest in high power lines and cell phone towers” in conflict with humans, he said.

Eventually, Pilchuck Audubon would like to replace more of the pilings. The group also has contacted other waterfront property owners — the Port of Everett, Jeld-Wen doors, Kimberly Clark and Miller Shingle — about the possibility of having new pilings for the birds installed on their property, and all said no, according to Lider.

One location where a nest currently exists below Legion Park would be ideal because it’s visible from the park and could be used for educational purposes, Lider said.

That area is slated for eventual redevelopment and the port did not want to install a pillar only to have to remove it later, port spokeswoman Lisa Mandt said.

“We’re still willing to work with the group on finding possible sites,” Mandt said.

Lider said the educational value of the piling project is an important consideration.

“It’s kind of a pilot project, to hopefully build some enthusiasm in the community, to show some property owners that this isn’t such a bad thing,” he said.

“It’s got more of an intangible value to the city than just some dumb birds flying around out there over the water.”

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.