Lacawac Hiking Trails
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Osprey  

The osprey was once considered an endangered species in the 1950's and 1960's due to habitat alteration and use of the pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane​). Osprey nesting platforms were implemented as a solution to help restore populations in Pennsylvania. The osprey population is thriving today because of this technique and the banning of DDT. It is now considered a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's list of threatened species.
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This nesting platform was constructed in 1997 by a local Eagle Scout troop. A platform was also erected near the Wallenpaupack dam in Hawley, Pa. 
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Traits

  • Easily identified by its dark brown back and clear white underside.​
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  • Face has a dark colored mask
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  • Female osprey are identified by a "necklace" marking on the chest
  • Males are generally smaller than females
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  • Distinctive curved wing angle while in flight 
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Did you know that an osprey's wingspan can reach up to 54-72 inches?​

Diet

While walking along Heron Pond you may be lucky enough to watch the ospreys distinctive and fascinating fishing technique
  • The osprey will begin hunting by flying 30-100 feet above the waters surface while it scopes out the fish below, possibly hovering over a likely spot. 
  • When its meal is spotted the osprey will plunge rapidly downward with its wings folded and strike the water breast first.
  • One the osprey has captured a fish it will emerge from the water stopping in mid-air to shake off water from its feathers.
  • The bird will then fly back to its perch or nest to enjoy its meal. 

Fun Fact: The fish is almost always carried face forward to reduce air resistance, and is usually gripped with both feet. ​

Nesting 

  • Nesting Period - Late March - early April. Ospreys will mate for life.
  • Egg Incubation - 22-32 days. Typical number of eggs laid is 3. 
  • First Flight - 51-59 days.
  • First Nesting - 3-5 years of age
Osprey's can live up to 20 years in the wild!
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  • Home
  • About
    • Sources
    • Contact Us
  • Visitors Center
    • Native Plant Garden
    • Bees
    • Weather Station
  • Historic Great Camp Trail
    • Connell Park
    • Sustainable Forestry
    • Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
    • Early Years
    • Field Station
  • Lake Lacawac Trail
    • White Pine
    • Eastern Hemlock
    • Sphagnum Moss
    • Blueberry Bushes
    • Bog Plants
    • Lake Lacawac
    • Glacial Bog
    • Pickerelweed
    • Diversity of Birds
    • Glacial Erratic Rock
    • American Black Bear >
      • Diet
      • Population
      • Reproduction
  • Big Lake Trail
    • Food Web
    • North American Beaver
    • Osprey
    • Watershed
    • Japanese Barberry >
      • Characteristics
      • Threat to Forest
      • Control Methods
    • Minerals & Rocks >
      • Minerals
      • Igneous Rocks
      • Sedimentary Rocks
      • Metamorphic Rocks
      • Identification
    • Sugar Maple
    • Streams
    • Hydroelectric Dam
    • Lake Wallenpaupack >
      • Electricity Generation
      • Recreation
      • Watershed Management
    • Wild Grapevines
    • Hayscented Fern
  • Maurice Broun Trail
    • Fields & Meadows
    • Stone Walls
    • Gypsy Moth Caterpillars
    • Oak Trees >
      • White Oak
      • Red Oak
      • Black Oak
    • Raccoons
    • Owls
    • Snakes >
      • Snake ID
    • Bats >
      • Bat Houses
  • Ledges Trail
    • Deer Exclosures
    • Geological Faults >
      • Normal Fault
      • Reverse Fault
      • Strike-slip Fault
    • Wild Orchids
    • Ledges
    • Ferns
    • Mosses & Lichen
    • Vernal Pools
    • Mushrooms
  • Warbler Trail
  • Partner Ridge Trail
  • Watres Trail
    • Edge Effect
    • Hummocks and Hollows
  • Carriage-Lakefront Trails
    • Native Fish
    • Lake Research
    • Aquatic Vegatation
    • Plankton
    • Lake Succession >
      • Oligotrophic Lake
      • Mesotrophic Lake
      • Eutrophic Lake