Most of the nests of Ospreys(Pandion haliaetus) that I have seen in the past were in trees, but sometimes ospreys build their nests in readily manmade structures. On Tuesday I spotted an osprey couple that appeared to have taken over a nest on a channel marker in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
In past years I have seen osprey activity at this same channel marker, but do not know for sure if ospreys were successful in hatching eggs there. The nest takes up only half of the space on the marker and there looks to be enough room to accommodate a second osprey couple. However, I doubt that the current occupants would tolerate the presence of neighbors that close, so it seems unlikely that I will see side-by-side nests in the future.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice Osprey image Mike! The nests I have seen at the refuges I visit usually has lots of Osprey platforms for them to build nests. But then here and there you see some in very strange places! One built a nest on a sign post and others were on roofs of refuge buildings and other structures. A few were very close to the ground. I never knew where I would find them.
Thanks, Reed. The wildlife refuge that I visit the most has only a single nesting platform, which is usually used. There are quite a few nests in the trees, but I have also seen a nest on the roof of a duck blind.
A wonderful image. 😊
Down here some of the power companies actually build platforms for them to nest on. They put them at the tops of power poles that are near the water. The birds seem to like them, too. Most get used every year.
Wow. That’s really cool. There are a number of platforms that I know about in my area, including one at a boat marina. The ospreys seem pretty flexible about where they locate their nests and seem perfectly willing to use the ones from previous years.
They don’t seem to be overly picky. Some of the birds that use the platforms use them year after year.
This couple has kept their nest very tidy considering they could occupy the whole platform! Absolutely no duplexes allowed! It will be neat if you get to see chicks here.
I’ll keep my eyes open to see if there are chicks there. I think I should be able to tell if/when the ospreys are sitting on eggs there.