Record South Whidbey
INSIDE: SWHS spring sports previews ... Sports, A10A12
SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 20 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Surprises await ospreys’ return Shooting restraints shot down in county By JIM LARSEN Record editor
When osprey return to Whidbey Island from the south this spring they’ll find a few changes in their homes. Some will be gone, some were moved, and some must be rebuilt starting from scratch. Osprey nests are visible from several places along Highway 525, particularly between Freeland and Greenbank, and motorists get possessive of the birds of prey. They watch the adults feed the young as they hungrily poke their heads above the nest, and if they’re really lucky, the can see the young take wing for the first time, daringly leaping off a nest 100 feet or more above the ground. The fish-eating raptors don’t know it, but their nests are well taken care of during the winter months by a Puget Sound Energy (PSE) expert who keeps the supportive Whidbey Audubon Society apprised of his efforts. Passersby may have noticed the nest south of Greenbank was recently removed to allow a cell tower company to do repairs. But don’t be surprised to see it rebuilt this spring. Mel Walters, the PSE biologist, spoke to Whidbey Audubon last month and said the osprey will be allowed to build a new nest on that same site. Audubon member Robin Llewellyn, a Greenbank resident, actually rode in a cherry picker as cell tower work was done atop a power pole on Race Road on Central Whidbey. “It works so well to have a company that’s of the same mindset as environmental people,” she said, referring to PSE. “These birds would not have a place to nest without the support of these companies, there are not enough old growth trees left.” She described here ascent in the cherry picker by saying, “Oh, my gosh, it was a thrill! I’ll never forget it. I felt like a little kid going up on a wonderful ride.” At 96-feet, she found herself holding onto the edge of the nest and enjoying the bird’s eye view of the surroundings. An old, aromatic, osprey egg was
By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
power lines themselves or by electronics in the cell platforms. In the Greenbank case the nest was allowed to be removed, with state removal, for major work on the cell platform.
A controversial proposal that would have paved the way for no-shooting areas in Island County was struck down this week. On Wednesday, Republican Island County commissioners Kelly Emerson and Jill Johnson refused the pleas of Democratic Commissioner Helen Price Johnson to continue the discussion at a later meeting, agreeing instead to kill the proposal once and for all. The hot button issue, which has been under debate since last summer, once again drew a large crowd, including a television news crew. While most of those in attendance were critics, a few supporters were sprinkled among the audience and the decision was not what they wanted to hear. “To say we’re disappointed is an understatement,” said Jack Lyons, a resident of Norcliffe. Norcliffe, Sea View and Tilbury residents sparked the creation of the controversial proposal last year when they signed a petition and asked the board to ban shooting in their community. One of their neighbors has a firing range on his property and they believe it’s a safety risk. The board declined to approve the request outright but agreed to begin drafting standards that communities needed to meet before the commissioners consider shooting bans in their areas. Lyons and other residents assisted in the process, volunteering hundreds of hours of their own time. They examined the codes of all 39 counties in the state and claim that 22 already have similar rules in place for densely populated areas. The proposal stalled late last year, however, in the wake of public outcry and because the primary sponsor, former Commissioner Angie Homola, was unseated by Johnson. The issue was set to be discussed again Wednesday but was almost decided two days ahead of schedule. Emerson, a stark critic of the proposal, ran Monday’s meeting and made a surprise request to settle the issue then to avoid wasting any more time on a proposal that has the support of “only one board member.” She said the county doesn’t have the resources to administer new rules and claimed the population base on Whidbey or Camano islands simply doesn’t justify their creation.
See Osprey, A7
See Shooting rules, A6
Photo courtesy of Melvin Walters
An osprey with a fish in its talon prepares to land on its nest. A nest similar to this was recently removed from a power pole south of Greenbank, but it is expected to be rebuilt when the ospreys return in April. found beneath the litter of limbs that comprised the nest. “When they tore it down they ran across the egg, it didn’t hatch, but it had to go to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife guy who took the egg. It was a couple of years old,” she said. At this particular site, according to information from Whidbey Audubon, in 2010 PSE built a nesting platform near the pole shared with a cell phone company. The osprey accepted the platform at first, but then reverted to the cell tower. Therefore, on Feb. 26, Northwest Utility Services, contracted by Verizon, destroyed the nest on the cell tower, set up deterrents for future nesting and reinforced the nearby platform pole to make it more attractive for nesting. The osprey nesting season on Whidbey Island begins in April, so any changes to nests must be completed well before then. March 1 was the deadline for nest changes. Walters told The Record on Wednesday ospreys like to nest atop power poles with cellular platforms. PSE leases the space
Photos by Northwest Utility crew
Although this osprey nest along Highway 525 south of Greenbank was vacant for the winter, the view enjoyed by the birds of prey is obvious. The nest was removed for cell phone equipment upgrades but the birds will likely build a new nest on the same site when they return this spring. to cell companies but they are not allowed to touch osprey nests without PSE oversight. “Usually when PSE has a situation where a nest is in danger due to wires and fires I move the nest,” he said. Fires can be sparked by the