We
(Rafael Cruz, Jennifer Popham and I) were driving a Polaris, a type of small
UTV, when we first saw the osprey. It rested at the base of the dunes, eating a
fish. We maintained our course and the osprey flew away as we approached. I was
excited to see my first Fire Island osprey, but our priority was to monitor
piping plovers, so I didn’t assign any particular significance to the sighting.
My
attitude changed when I saw the osprey perching on the predator exclosure for
nest 4A.
Piping
plovers are protected by the Endangered Species act. One of the measures taken
to protect plovers at Fire Island is erecting predator exclosures around nests
to prevent cats, foxes, raccoons and other predators from eating or damaging
the eggs. The predator exclosures are made out of wire mesh and have holes big
enough to admit a piping plover, but small enough to keep out predators. The
exclosures also have mesh netting stretched across the top to keep out avian
predators.
The
osprey meant no harm; the exclosure struck it as little more than an ideal
place to perch and eat its fish. Maybe keep an eye out for that pesky Polaris
that kept chasing it down the beach.
The
plovers saw it differently. Neither bird was incubating the nest; both were too
busy running around outside the exclosure, trying to attract the osprey’s
attention and lure it away. One of the most common ways plovers lure predators
away from their nests is by pretending they’ve broken a wing, marking them as
easy prey. They’ll stay just ahead of any predator that chases them, ending the
ruse and flying away once they’re far enough from the nest. One of the two
plovers at nest 4A decided to take the extreme approach to this technique,
spreading both wings and flopping on the ground like a small child having a
fit.
Rafael
and I approached the exclosure to scare away the osprey and it flew away once
we were close enough, fish and all. We retreated and one of the plovers returned
to the nest to resume incubation.
The
osprey hadn’t flown far, no more than 50 meters down the beach, and the other
plover still wasn’t satisfied. It is one of the boldest plovers I have ever
encountered, for even though it was smaller than the fish the osprey was
eating, let alone the osprey itself, the plover passed a few feet in front of
the osprey before sitting down, pretending to incubate a nonexistent nest. The
plover did this multiple times. Ospreys only eat fish and this osprey showed no interest in the pipsqueak plover
that passed it by – but how was the plover to know that? It was a brave little
bird, but after a little while it gave up the ruse and returned to the nest. We
scared the osprey away one last time, just to be sure, for there are many places
on the beach that are good for eating fish, but each and every plover nest is
precious.
