Partners Assist in the Reintroduction of Osprey at Raystown Lake

Juniata College Students and Pennsylvania State University Wildlife Biologist Dr. Charles Schaadt inspect birds upon arrival.

Tower Built by the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps.

Lake: Raystown Lake, PA

Partners: USACE; Juniata College; Pennsylvania Conservation Corps; Pennsylvania State University – Dubois Campus; Pennsylvania Game Commission; Charles County Maryland; Pennsylvania Mountain Service Corps

Partnership Type: Cooperative Effort

Corps POC: Jeffrey F. Krause Wildlife Biologist, Raystown Lake

Story: Juniata College, is working with the Corps of Engineers to establish an osprey hacking program to initiate nesting ospreys in the region. The Corps has been the guiding force in re-establishing osprey throughout the Northeast through several partnerships. Hacking projects initiated at Corps reservoirs in the late 80’s and early 90’s have led to established populations throughout Pennsylvania.

Although success stories abound throughout Pennsylvania, to date, the Juniata River watershed has yet to produce a successful nesting of osprey. The Raystown hacking project has an opportunity to make a mark in history by filling the gap in distribution of this important bird while providing an unprecedented education opportunity for the new field station activities.

The lead partner is the Juniata College Field Station. Starting in the summer of 2003 and continuing for the next two years, the Juniata College Raystown Field Station plans to hack six osprey chicks each year at a hacking station along the banks of Raystown Lake. Source populations are received from the Middle Patuxent River. The birds are collected and transported by private plane to central Pennsylvania where the birds are transported to the hacking site at Raystown Lake. This past summer, Kirk Peilher, a wildlife biologist from the Pittsburgh District, banded the birds for long-term monitoring while Dr. Charles Schadt, Professor, Pennsylvania State University, provided oversight of bird delivery and health. All six birds successfully fledged during the summer of 2003.

URL: http://services.juniata.edu/station/ospreyreleaseprogram.html