OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — A new 55-foot wooden pole is now in place at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, placed there by a local utility company.
But it’s not there to hold up for power lines or telecommunication wires.
Instead, the pole will help provide a safe nesting spot for ospreys, a large raptor and bird of prey sometimes called a fish hawk.
The pole comes courtesy of Toledo Edison, which, of course, had the tools and the talent to install the equipment.
The nesting places are important since ospreys need elevated platforms that are easily defensible and close to a food source.
“We had wide-open spaces areas, we had areas near shallow water marshes that are good habitat for osprey. And we also wanted to be a part of that recovery effort to continue to help support the species and grow their populations here throughout Ohio," said Jason Lewis, with the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge already has 3 other platforms, which have proven to be a huge success.
The first platform was put in place in 2013 and welcomed the first successful nesting osprey pair in Ottawa County since 1913.
Osprey recovery efforts began in 1996 with a goal of having 20 nesting pairs by 2010.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife believes there are now more than 200.
Ospreys were considered a threatened species in Ohio for much of the last century after they were driven from the area by the widespread use of dangerous pesticides.