It’s not just retirees flying north as the weather warms in the spring — ospreys are returning from their winter homes in Central and South America to breed. Ospreys mate for life and often return to the same nest from year to year. Osprey nests are often sited on perches and man-made platforms, and sometimes on rooftops, chimneys, telephone poles, and even boats. These nests can weigh several hundred pounds.

It’s their size and weight that explain why, when a newly-constructed nest was spotted on top of a chimney of the barn at Colt State Park, staff from the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) took it down. The roof, windows, doors and stone of this historic barn have been recently restored in order to preserve and protect the structure, where Samuel Colt once housed his prized Jersey cows. DEM decided to remove the nest to protect the building.

This is actually the second time they’ve removed a nest from that spot. Last spring, they removed a nest from the barn, before the roof repair project began. They then returned to remove the new nest this week. Many ground-based observers might not have noticed the second eviction, except for the orange cone left in its place, which drew plenty of attention from avid bird-watchers. Many went to social media and to DEM to protest the seemingly heavy-handed action.

Ospreys are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so it is illegal for anyone to harm them, including their (occupied) nests, eggs, and young. Furthermore, it has long been the work of DEM and other local agencies to protect and monitor the local osprey population, after helping to bring the population of these raptors back from the brink of extirpation, some 50 years ago.

DEM says that when it inspected the new nest, there were no eggs present, so they were able to obtain a permit to remove the nest (from their own Fish and Wildlife Division), which was done Monday.

According to Gail Mastrati, assistant to the director at DEM, after the nest was removed, a two-and-a-half-foot tall traffic cone was fastened to the chimney as a temporary measure to deter the ospreys from rebuilding their nest. An antenna-styled deterrent will be installed within the next week.

Colt Park is a great neighborhood to raise young osprey, and it’s understandable that these osprey might want to stay. DEM is hoping the birds spot an alternative, and available, nesting site within the neighboring Mill Gut Estuary, located approximately 1,500 feet east of the barn.

 The Audubon Society of Rhode Island runs the program that monitors osprey nests throughout the state. If you want to help protect these “fish hawks” and participate in Audubon's Rhode Island Osprey Monitoring Program, check out http://riosprey.info/.