Migration Season: Osprey Return To Oswego County For Summer Months

By: Michael Johnson

PULASKI, NY – As the brilliant North Country summer arrives, many creatures complete their annual migration north.

Although methods of travel can vary, both humans and animals share many of the same motivations that drive this ancient ritual. For the animal kingdom, migration is usually triggered by lack of available food or the onset of intolerable weather. For humans, the reasons to migrate are more complex, though no less compelling.

Just outside of the Village of Pulaski, high on a repurposed telephone pole, rests a massive nest. This circular structure, constructed of hundreds of carefully placed branches and twigs, is the seasonal home to a pair of Osprey.

Every spring, as I travel around the town performing the perfunctory chores of homeownership, I make sure to pass by the massive nest, even if it means going a little out of the way. Finally, usually around the end of March, I spot one or two large birds on the nest.

Finding that the Osprey have returned is one of my favorite moments of each year, reassuring me that the natural world is on schedule and functioning reliably. Soon the nest will also be home to several eggs, and one of the adults will stay on them, warming the precious objects through bouts of extremely inclement weather.

Avoiding inclement weather if at all possible is the goal for people living the snowbird lifestyle. Many denizens of the north enjoy snow and everything that comes with it, but then again, many do not.

Migration of humans is as old as humanity, and for a multitude of reasons. Heading south as the snow season approaches is a practice followed by many who have seen their share of frigid winters. Spending the winter months in a warmer climate is the goal, and, having achieved this, returning to the north to avoid sweltering summer of the south drives the next migration.

For the Osprey, the journey is just a little longer. These amazing birds travel across continents, following an instinct and an ability to navigate that is little understood. Osprey, the only member of the hawk family that hunts and eats fish, sometimes fly 2,700 miles one way each season.

An Osprey may fly 160,000 miles over the course of a 15 to 20 year lifespan. No one really knows how birds like the Osprey find their way back to the same nest year after year. The Amazon River Rainforest of Brazil and the Guianas is home in the winter, a vastly different environment from the hardwood and pine forests of the North Country, according to Cornell University.

For the snowbirds of the human variety, the spring migration has its own routine. Opening, cleaning and stocking the summer residence commences, soon to be followed by getting the yard in order. Reacquainting with neighbors, sharing stories of the past few months, and planning the activities of the summer are  time honored traditions.  The days pass quickly during the sweet season, and before too long, it is time to begin closing the summer place and plans are made to travel south once again.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term migrate is defined as “to move from one country, place or locality to another.” 

For humans and animals, many of the motivations to migrate are the same, but the ways of performing the act vary widely, whether the mode of travel is a pair of feathered wings or a Chevy Tahoe, the end result is the same, a new season in a familiar place.

A fresh start,  a time to enjoy the weather while it lasts, and then a time to move on and keep the circle of life slowly turning.

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