CADILLAC —In an effort to encourage ospreys and eagles to nest, volunteers with the nonprofit Cadillac Area Land Conservancy erected a raptor nesting platform in the marsh behind the Waldeck Island Nature Preserve on Stone Ledge Lake.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources provided the platform and guided volunteers with the installation.
The idea for the platform came from lake residents who have been seeing bald eagles and ospreys. Ospreys, a fish-eating bird of prey, readily accept artificial nesting platforms, provided they are placed in favorable habitat. The marsh next to Waldeck Island Nature Preserve provides such a location.
The birds naturally use dead trees and snags for their nesting sites, which frequently decay and fall over.
“Artificial platforms are safer and can be effective for encouraging nesting efforts by these birds,” said Cadillac Area Land Conservancy Board Chairman Steve Cunningham.
“The Conservancy has a wildlife viewing tower at Waldeck Island Nature Preserve near the nesting platform for public viewing. With any luck you’ll see one of nature’s great events, the successful nesting of an eagle or osprey,” he added.
The 11.5-acre Waldeck Island Nature Preserve is open to the public for quiet sports such as hiking and snowshoeing. It is located a short distance south of Cadillac off M-115. The entrance is off the end of Friedrich Strasse Court.
The Cadillac Area Land Conservancy has protected 2,500 acres in Missaukee, Osceloa, Wexford, and northern Lake and Mason counties in northern Michigan. Learn more about the Cadillac Area Land Conservancy at calc-landtrust.org, or call 231-775-3631.
