Ethiopian Review

GLOUCESTER – — The dam at Cow Creek Pond, filled with schools of easy-to-grab fish, is irresistible to osprey.

Next to one of Gloucester County’s busiest roads, it’s also a deathtrap.

Each year, a dozen or so of the hulking birds snatch fish from the pond and accidentally fly into traffic, state officials say.

The result isn’t pretty. The birds bounce off windshields or car doors and come to rest along the roadside, where their carcasses rot until wildlife officials remove them.

“The last time I was down there, I think there were four of them,” said Robert Pickett, an environmental manager with the state Department of Transportation in Fredericksburg.

Ospreys have long made summer homes along the Chesapeake Bay. The abundance of tributaries and bays stocked with marine life appeal to the bird, which dines almost exclusively on fish.

They’re so common in places like Gloucester that waterside residents install nesting platforms and name the birds who return year after year.

Ospreys didn’t regularly visit Cow Creek Pond until three years ago, when hickory shad began spawning there, said Roger Anderson, who lives nearby on the North River.

He said the shad gather near a man-made dam, which is about 30 feet from Route 3/14 , the main road to Mathews and points north.

Ospreys swoop down and seize shad, which typically weigh a pound, with their talons. They often continue their flight past the dam and directly to the road.

“Ospreys are not rocket scientists,” Anderson said.

Pickett said the weight of the fish plus a vacuumlike wind generated by motor vehicles leave ospreys with little chance of survival.

Anderson said he was so fed up with the sight that he and two friends strung wire netting across the flight path to keep ospreys from flying into traffic.

It worked to an extent, as fewer carcasses appeared roadside, Anderson said. But the wire barricade is not a permanent solution, he said, which is why the trio asked VDOT to install a fence along the road.

VDOT is considering “some sort of barrier” for the birds, said Marcie Parker, administrator of VDOT’s Saluda office. However, it hasn’t secured funding for the job, she said.

VDOT officials plan to meet in September with representatives from U.S. Fish and Wildlife — ospreys are federally protected from hunters — to hopefully reach a solution, Pickett said.

In addition to protecting ospreys, a fence would alleviate safety issues, Anderson said.

The wingspan of an osprey can reach 6 feet. They can blind or, at the least, distract drivers whose paths they fly into, said Anderson.

That’s a concern, he said, because there are ditches on both sides of Route 3/14 . Anderson said it’s only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.

“We’ve had some real close calls up there,” he said.

David Teagle, who helped Anderson string the netting, said they will take their case to Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, to help ensure something is done to address the situation.

“They’re a neat bird and a big part of life on the river,” Teagle said.

About ospreys
• They can grow to 2 feet in length and have a 6-foot wingspan.

• They have a white breast and belly, with black wings and a dark eye stripe.

• They can be found around the Chesapeake Bay from March to September.

- By Cory Nealon | Daily Press