Thatchbed Island and Its Ospreys Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-Hires-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 2
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Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 1 Thatchbed Island and its Ospreys Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 2 Our Vision and Mission The Essex Land Trust is an independent nonprofit organization supported by generous donations and managed by a dedicated group of volunteers. Its vision is to preserve our community’s open space and natural resources for the benefit of future generations. To this end, our Mission is to acquire open space by gift or purchase and to protect the environment and the small-town character of the three villages, Essex, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton, which comprise the town of Essex and to provide our community with passive recreational and educational opportunities. To fulfill these objectives, the Land Trust conserves wildlife habitats, forests, fields, rivers, wetlands and scenic views by maintaining properties in a natural state. The Essex Land Trust is accredited by the national Land Trust Alliance. Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 3 Thatc hbed Island and its Ospreys Published by the Essex Land Trust Essex, Connecticut March, 2020 Essex Land Trust Caring for our world here at home www.essexlandtrust.org 1 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 4 “Of all the raptors, the Osprey is the one that can live most happily with modern man, if given the chance.” — Roger Tory Peterson 2 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 5 Dedication Thatchbed Island & its Ospreys is dedicated to Thatchbed Island Steward Paul Greenberg and OspreyCam guru Bob Nussbaum, who have each dedicated countless hours over many years in establishing and maintaining the north end platform as well as installing and maintaining the OspreyCam. This project could not have happened without their commitment. Paul Greenberg and Bob Nussbaum. 3 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 6 Thatchbed Island and its Ospreys 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 2. A History of Thatchbed Island ........................................................................ 7 3. The Osprey Platform ........................................................................................ 10 4. The OspreyCam ................................................................................................ 13 5. The Osprey Season .......................................................................................... 16 6. Decline and Recovery ...................................................................................... 39 7. The Connecticut River and Environmental Legislation .............................. 41 8. Additional Information about Osprey ............................................................ 42 9. Sources & Bibliography .................................................................................. 45 This project has been funded in part through the generous support of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, having contributed funds for the Osprey camera on Thatchbed Island and the printing of this booklet. 4 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 7 Introduction By Jim Denham Known in earlier days as the fish hawk, the Osprey is a fish- This is the Osprey that we have come to observe here in the eating bird. It is about two feet long, with a wingspread of Lower Connecticut River Valley as we go about our daily lives, nearly six feet and weighs 3 to 4½ pounds. It is dark brown enjoying the natural environment where we are fortunate to on top and has some white on its head. It is white below live. As will be seen in this booklet, Ospreys have not always with a few streaks of dark brown. Along coastlines, lakes, been as plentiful. Their comeback is a success story in the and rivers almost worldwide, the Osprey is often seen flying recovery of a species that was almost destined to extinction. over the water, hovering from heights of 50 to 100 feet, and Fortunately, we have been witnesses to its recovery, which plunging feet first to catch fish with its talons. Ospreys feed for the Essex Land Trust, is celebrated annually by the return by making spectacular plunges into water. After a successful of our resident Ospreys to one of our properties, Thatchbed strike, the bird rises heavily from the water and flies away, Island. carrying the fish headfirst. 5 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 8 In Thatchbed Island and its Ospreys, the Essex Land Trust We have borrowed our information from multiple sources, aims to highlight the story of this iconic “indicator species” listed in the bibliography. Several individuals have made (meaning it alerts us to the environmental condition of an specific contributions: Steve Knauth on Thatchbed’s History, ecosystem). Equally, we want to stress the importance of Paul Greenberg on The Osprey Platform and Its History, preserving our land and environment for the benefit of all Bob Nussbaum who has worked tirelessly to install, upgrade life and to promote awareness of our collective stewardship and maintain the OspreyCam on our platform, and Megan responsibilities. Our efforts behind Thatchbed’s Ospreys have Ryan who helped to consolidate the i nformation made been supported by grants from the Community Foundation available by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Finally, Andrew of Middlesex County, which has funded the installation of a Griswold on the Connecticut Audubon Society made live broadcast camera on our adopted platform and has also valuable contributions in reviewing this project. underwritten some of the cost of publishing this booklet. I thank all for contributing to this project. Sunrise over Thatchbed Island. 6 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 9 A History of Thatchbed Island By Steve Knauth Once largely ignored, the island between Essex’s Middle The oldest map showing the thatch beds dates to the Cove and South Cove has survived threats both natural and 1880s, where it appeared as more of a reed bed than an man-made to become a vital part of the Connecticut River actual island. Still, it was enough to protect Middle Cove tidelands. The island itself has been disappearing due to from the direct ravages of the Connecticut River, with its erosion caused by the Connecticut River and rising sea annual freshets and frequent floods. level. Records show that it once covered more than 30 acres while its current size is estimated to be around eight acres. Thatchbed Island taken in the 1930s. Middle Cove was home to the David Mack shipyard, the last to dump the spoils of any channel dredging, which helped of the big Essex shipbuilders. Well into the 1870s, a channel turn it into more of an island over the years. The island was was maintained between the island and the mainland also used by the local populace for haying, although not to (where the Essex Yacht Club sits today) to permit shipping as great an extent as the Great Meadow. to come and go. The thatch beds were also a handy place 7 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 10 The last of the Connecticut River steamers pulled away After the war, developers focused on Thatchbed Island itself. from Steamboat Dock in 1931, ending an era and taking a In 1946, former state governor Abraham Ribicoff, along with local industry with it. Essex businessman James Parmalee other investors, announced plans to erect a full-scale marina saw yachting as the future of Essex and, over the next few on the island, complete with buildings, piers, and floating years, he developed the old wharf and warehouse for docks. The cove would be dredged and the spoils dumped recreational boating, including a ship’s store and marina. on the island as fill. The plan worked. By the end of the decade there were up to 100 sail and powerboats in and around Essex harbor. That’s when local residents took notice. According to a report in the Deep River New Era, Essex yachtsman Capt. With that success, the largely unused Middle Cove area Walter Rowe purchased six acres at the north end of the began to attract developers’ attention. That included what island “to “protect the natural beauty of the beds” and was also being called “Thatchbed Island,” a backwater where keep them “free of ad billboards.” local watermen such as Oliver LaPlace fished and hunted among the reeds and shallows. Many Essex families still owned their small portions of the island, leftover from the days of haying. The marina project One plan called for a road to be built around Middle Cove, was abandoned. which would be dredged for boating with the spoils to be dumped on the thatch beds. World War II put a halt to the project. Thatchbed Island, Middle Cove, downtown Essex, North Cove and Great Meadow - Aerial view taken in the 1950s. 8 Mech-Osprey Booklet-Comb Pgs-HiRes-Final:Layout 1 3/23/20 11:46 AM Page 11 In 1965, the Connecticut Water Commission stepped in to became the first property to be owned by the Land Trust soon halt the dumping, claiming that the spoils were flowing back after it was founded in 1968. The Junior Wildlife Association into the river during floods and freshets. Two years later, the of Essex organized the first clean-up of the island in the island was designated as an “endangered property” in the 1970s. In recent years, the Essex Land Trust conducted State of Connecticut’s proposal for a Connecticut River Land periodic cleanups as part of its involvement in the annual Trust. In 1970, it was among the first tidal marshes to come Source to Sea Connecticut River Cleanup. under the protection of the State’s Public Act 695: Wetlands Bill, and was thus fully protected from development.