MONROE - A pair of ospreys have visited Browntown-Cadiz Springs State Recreational Area for several years. Now, they may have a good reason to make it their home.
Friends of Cadiz Springs gathered by Beckman Lake Saturday morning to watch a new housing addition go up ... and up and up. Volunteers from Alliant Energy erected a 72-foot pole with a conglomeration of sticks affixed to a 3-foot platform on top.
"Ospreys are concerned about location, location, location; but the actual house can be a fixer-upper," Green County Parks Manager Steve Johnston said.
Johnston said osprey are "picky" about where they perch; they like a place that is higher than the rest of the area.
"We're hoping they'll perch on the pole and say, 'hey, this looks pretty good,'" Johnston said.
From across the lake, visitors will notice the pole is higher than the surrounding trees.
The pole was part of a square cell phone relay pole near Reedsburg. Alliant Energy brought the pole to the recreation area.
Mike Davis, Alliant Energy Operations Manager in Monroe, said the project was ideal for the company.
"Alliant Energy supports and encourages conservation and environmental projects like this one," he said. Alliant Energy furnishes the equipment; employees volunteer their time and labor.
Osprey numbers declined from 1950 to the 1970s due to pesticide poisoning and eggshell thinning, but after DDT was banned, populations skyrocketed.
The osprey builds its nest on manmade structures and platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in re-establishing ospreys in areas where they had disappeared.
Ospreys are one of the largest birds of prey in North America. They have a white crown and forehead, and a dark eyestripe. They are 21 to 23 inches long with a white breast and belly and a black back. Black wings span 59-71inches. But the bird weighs only 3 to 4.5 pounds. Fish make up 99 percent of their diet.
"The fishing is good here," Johnston said.
Johnston said Beckman Lake had been drained for two years, but was filled last fall and restocked with crappie, bass and pan fish. The Friends of Cadiz Springs contributed 110 northern pike, which the DNR transported to the lake.
Johnston said the osprey pair comes every year and stays about a week fishing the lake. Even drained, the lake still had some water in it from the springs and the creek. But without much to fish for, and no place to nest, the ospreys moved on.
Johnston hopes this year, they'll move in and raise a family.
Friends of Cadiz Springs gathered by Beckman Lake Saturday morning to watch a new housing addition go up ... and up and up. Volunteers from Alliant Energy erected a 72-foot pole with a conglomeration of sticks affixed to a 3-foot platform on top.
"Ospreys are concerned about location, location, location; but the actual house can be a fixer-upper," Green County Parks Manager Steve Johnston said.
Johnston said osprey are "picky" about where they perch; they like a place that is higher than the rest of the area.
"We're hoping they'll perch on the pole and say, 'hey, this looks pretty good,'" Johnston said.
From across the lake, visitors will notice the pole is higher than the surrounding trees.
The pole was part of a square cell phone relay pole near Reedsburg. Alliant Energy brought the pole to the recreation area.
Mike Davis, Alliant Energy Operations Manager in Monroe, said the project was ideal for the company.
"Alliant Energy supports and encourages conservation and environmental projects like this one," he said. Alliant Energy furnishes the equipment; employees volunteer their time and labor.
Osprey numbers declined from 1950 to the 1970s due to pesticide poisoning and eggshell thinning, but after DDT was banned, populations skyrocketed.
The osprey builds its nest on manmade structures and platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in re-establishing ospreys in areas where they had disappeared.
Ospreys are one of the largest birds of prey in North America. They have a white crown and forehead, and a dark eyestripe. They are 21 to 23 inches long with a white breast and belly and a black back. Black wings span 59-71inches. But the bird weighs only 3 to 4.5 pounds. Fish make up 99 percent of their diet.
"The fishing is good here," Johnston said.
Johnston said Beckman Lake had been drained for two years, but was filled last fall and restocked with crappie, bass and pan fish. The Friends of Cadiz Springs contributed 110 northern pike, which the DNR transported to the lake.
Johnston said the osprey pair comes every year and stays about a week fishing the lake. Even drained, the lake still had some water in it from the springs and the creek. But without much to fish for, and no place to nest, the ospreys moved on.
Johnston hopes this year, they'll move in and raise a family.