Osprey nest
SAN DIEGO -
A pair of protected ospreys recently gave birth to a healthy chick in the South Bay tidelands.
The chick, thought to be between six and eight weeks old, is living with its parents on a nesting platform located on the entrance road to Pepper Park in National City, according to the Port of San Diego. The platform is one of five built by the Port's Environmental Department to protect the migratory raptors. Others are located in the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve, at the Coronado Golf Cource, in Imperial Beach and on Shelter Island.
The nesting platform was built in April 2007 and birds first began nesting on it at the end of 2008.
The osprey is a large, migratory raptor with a wingspan reaching around five and a half feet. The species was once abundant in California but has been reduced over the years. The birds feed mainly on fish and build their enormous nests near water and often on top of utility poles.
The chick, thought to be between six and eight weeks old, is living with its parents on a nesting platform located on the entrance road to Pepper Park in National City, according to the Port of San Diego. The platform is one of five built by the Port's Environmental Department to protect the migratory raptors. Others are located in the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve, at the Coronado Golf Cource, in Imperial Beach and on Shelter Island.
The nesting platform was built in April 2007 and birds first began nesting on it at the end of 2008.
The osprey is a large, migratory raptor with a wingspan reaching around five and a half feet. The species was once abundant in California but has been reduced over the years. The birds feed mainly on fish and build their enormous nests near water and often on top of utility poles.
