The Point Reyes Bird Observatory still operates its famous Palomarin field station at the end of Mesa Road at Bolinas, CA. Less than a mile south of that station is a property operated by an entity called "Commonweal", and next to that property is an apparent antenna array of some sort with tall wooden poles to which wires are attached on National Park land (not to be confused with the nearby Coast Guard communication station with its own communications antennas).
This morning I happened to pass down Mesa Road and was not surprised to see a few raptors on the wooden poles next to the Commonweal property. I have commonly seen red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, American kestrels, white-tailed kites, ospreys, and even peregrine falcons using those poles for hunting or feeding perches. This morning, at about 07:30 hours, I started looking closer and wanted to watch an osprey feed, when I noticed in the morning haze that many poles had birds on them, and they were all ospreys. All of them appeared to be feeding on fish simultaneously. I counted -- two, three, six, ten, twelve... I kept seeing ospreys flying in from the Pacific Ocean carrying fish. Ultimately, I counted as many as nineteen ospreys perched on poles feeding on fish at the same time! I also noticed what appeared to be some commercial fishing boats just offshore. I speculate that there was a run of anchovies or other schooling fish that the fishermen and the fishing hawks exploited. Almost every pole in the antenna array had a perched osprey on top of it, and that was truly unexpected and amazing! I don't know how often this happens at that location, because I have never seen more than three or four birds on those poles at one time. My friend, ecologist Jules Evens, who is author of a recent book "Introduction to California Birdlife" published by UC Callifornia Press, has for years monitored nesting ospreys in the County, including an impressive population of breeding osprey on nearby Kent Lake, with between 20 to 30 pairs nesting on that reservoir in a typical year, if I recall correctly. Some of the ospreys I saw this morning appeared to head back inland after feeding, and a couple of individuals even carried fish inland, though I suspect that this year's nesting has concluded. I would not be surprised if ospreys nesting inland in our county find a way to detect and exploit ocean fish when they occur in abundance, but have no idea how those ospreys detect the presence of the schooling fish. Perhaps they soar high enough to spot activity miles away and then can commute to the food source. Ospreys seem capable of doing a lot of commuting in order to forage, which also seems amazing in view of their long wing span and relatively limber wings. I saw a whole lotta' flapping going on this morning! Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
