May 18, 2005
An Osprey Homecoming
We don't normally plug things in the web logs, but I wanted to alert our osprey fans to a special film that they will likely enjoy.
For those who followed our Osprey Cam and Web Log last year, you might remember that at that time we were treated to a video clip of Bucko, a southern Michigan osprey fledgling that was learning to fish. The clip was courtesy of Christi Vedejs from the website Ospreylovers.com.
During that time, Christi was working on an osprey documentary video that she has now finished. In fact, the documentary just aired on PBS in Michigan and it is also available on DVD through her media company, Earthluv Media. The documentary is titled "An Osprey Homecoming" and it tells the story of the Osprey Reintroduction Program of Southern Michigan. In 2002, one of the program's hacked ospreys returned to the Kensington Metropark in Michigan and started a family. Bucko was the product of that nesting season, making him the first native-born osprey chick known to hatch in southern Michigan in over 60 years.
The film, which was a finalist at the International Wildlife Film Festival, is wonderful to watch because not only do you get to see the behind-the-scenes activity of the hacking program, but you also get to see the family life of ospreys as the parents go from preparing the nest to watching their chicks learn to fish. There's even a scene where one male osprey has to chase off a menacing bald eagle.
The three chicks whose stories you follow are Bucko, Ossie, and Sam, who by the end of the story head off to Central or South America for the winter. That was a few years ago when the film was shot, so now in 2005, the folks at Kensington Metropark are waiting to see if the three young ospreys return to raise their own families. In fact, they're having a contest in Michigan for the first people to spot the banded ospreys (note that immature ospreys wait about two or three years before returning north to breed).
The documentary features excellent osprey photography and a charming soundtrack, as well as amazing shots of a sandhill crane family, a great blue heron family, and other local wildlife.
If you'd like to learn more about the documentary, watch a trailer, or visit their store, be sure to check out the Osprey Homecoming website:
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster