I misread Larry's post. He referenced the time at which BLOT was published, not when Oberholser made his observations. Robert R. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Robert Reeves" <birder.reeves@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Jun 28, 2013 11:04 PM Subject: Re: [texbirds] Summer Ospreys To: <lmj6464@xxxxxxx> Cc: <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Were coastal waters extensively polluted with chlorinated hydrocarbons during the early 20th Century? Robert Reeves Pflugerville On Jun 28, 2013 9:16 PM, <lmj6464@xxxxxxx> wrote: > Dear Texbirders, > > There has been enough comment on summer Ospreys on the coast that I > decided to do a little research on this rather than shooting from the hip > as I did in this morning's post. > > The 2004 edition of the TOS Handbook of Texas birds states that Osprey "is > a very rare and local breeder in the Pineywoods and along the upper coast, > typically near larger reservoirs. Nonbreeding individuals are rare summer > visitors along the coast...." I can confirm that Judith and I saw an > Osprey on a nest at Toledo Bend Reservoir in Sabine County last Friday. > > Oberholser lists two old nesting records, one from Jefferson County (Port > Arthur) in 1925 and one from Cameron County (Port Isabel) in 1908-10. He > also shows several sight records all along the coast during summer. His > records were pretty sparse because at the time of publication the Osprey > population had crashed due to the chlorinated hydrocarbon problem. > > In his 2007 checklist for the South Texas Brushlands (a TPWD publication) > John Arvin lists Ospreys as "uncommon" from early May to late September on > the lower coast (from Kenedy County south). > > There is no question that one or two Ospreys can be found with a little > searching in the Cayo del Oso-JFK Causeway-Laguna Madre area in Corpus all > through the summer. I have never seen any nesting, although there have > been a couple of nesting platforms built. As Mark Barosik suggested, I > assume these are immature birds that have not gone north. However, nesting > Osprey seems to be a good thing to keep a lookout for anywhere on the coast. > > Larry Jordan > Corpus Christi > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at > //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds > > Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission > from the List Owner > > > Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner