megram - Index

megram - 55JulOttawa - Index

Birding
By Brian Morin
A Story of Survival
Ospreys offer a lesson in agility and resilience
July/August 2008 • Ottawa 12 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
What do Aristotle and
Shakespeare have in common
with many residents of
Eastern Ontario? Based on accounts in
literature, they clearly enjoyed watching
the antics of Ospreys. The fishhawk,
as it is sometimes called, is
found across the world but Canada
has historically been one if its
strongholds.
One of the thrills of being along
Eastern Ontario’s lakes and rivers
during the summer is watching this
magnificent bird hunting. A little
smaller than an eagle,with more slender,
angled wings, this locally common
species plies our waterways in
search of its next meal, but it was not
always so.
When we were growing up, the
population of Ospreys in North
America was in serious trouble thanks
to a buildup in their bodies of the
insecticide DDT. The birds absorbed
the chemical from the fish they ate,
causing thinner eggshells to be produced.
This usually resulted in total
nest failure, and with fewer young
being born,the species was dying out.
After DDT was banned in the U.S.
PHOTO: BRIAN MORIN