BCC students discover rare osprey nest

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Danielle Lemieux was on her routine commute to Berkshire Community College when she spotted a rare sight.

The ornithology student discovered the county’s third ever osprey nest.

Lemieux said that while raptors are not uncommon in the area, they usually colonize coastal areas and finding a nest is “extremely unusual.”

“It’s so exciting that we have this amazing bird nesting in our backyard,” she said. “It’s incredible to think about.”

Lemieux was in her third semester at BCC and was on her way to campus when she discovered the nest atop a light fixture in Lanesboro. She has a long-standing interest in wildlife and is currently taking courses in ornithology, a branch of zoology that focuses on the study of birds.

“I’m always looking for birds, looking for [while I’m] In the car, because I always see something interesting, I looked to my right and I saw this light fixture with a big structure made out of sticks, and I thought, ‘This is interesting. It looks like a bird’s nest,” she said.

“I saw the outlines of these two birds in there, but I couldn’t really identify them because they were so far away.”

She first consulted environmental science professor Thomas Tainen, who speculated that it might be a red-tailed eagle nest common in the area, but did not expect it to be a rare osprey habitat.

“They tend to nest in the south or on the coast near larger bodies of water, so it’s not uncommon to see them nesting here, and it’s not uncommon to see the birds themselves,” Lemieux explained.

“They do tend to migrate here and some tend to stay over the summer, and the young often stay here, but it would be extremely unusual for them to nest here.”

Ospreys often nest in light fixtures, and communities to the south have built platforms to accommodate them.

On her way home from school, she took better photos of the nest and sent them to her great-uncle, an avid birdwatcher and member of the Hoffman Bird Club. Based on the way it was built, he thought it might be an osprey nest and instructed Lemieux to keep observing it to see if he could catch any birds.

The next morning she revisited the site with binoculars and made an exciting discovery.

“I saw one coming, and I thought, ‘Okay, this is a darker bird. It might have been a red-tailed hawk, maybe broad-winged, and then it landed, and I looked Down to the iconic black stripes in the bird’s eyes.

While at school, Lemieux went to Tyning with better photos and was told that this was only the third osprey nest recorded in Berkshire County. She didn’t know this at the time but was very impressed by it. excited.

“They’re still there. They’re still hanging around and I’ve been back a few times to see them,” she reported. “The whole ornithology class went to see it.”

She added that Taining told her it was an amazing find and has been bragging about it ever since.

Lemieux was awarded the Falconer Award last week, which recognizes outstanding student service and/or excellence in scholarship. She said it was “very exciting” and that although she had done well this semester, she was surprised by the recognition.

Her discovery was announced during the ceremony, followed by oohs and aahs from the audience.

“Before taking this class, I was interested in birds, and I have been interested in animals and wildlife almost my entire life, but taking this class really heightened my interest and fascination with birds,” she said.

“I birded with Uncle Dave and we spotted so many birds that we kept a list of all the species we saw this semester and I have 79 species listed so far.”

Bird watching can be done almost anywhere, including installing a bird feeder in your own backyard. Lemieux enjoys walking along the creek near her home, where sparrows and warblers live, but state parks and causeways are other great places for birdwatching, she said.

American crows and invasive European starlings were the most common species she saw.

After college, Lemieux is considering starting in the field of ornithology and then delving into a more specific field such as rodentology, another of her special interests.

Label: Academic Awards, BCC, Birds,