Osprey nest lands near Bigfork Dam

The usually serene peacefulness of the Swan River Nature Trail in Bigfork was disrupted for a good cause last week as a bucket truck crew from Flathead Electric installed a new osprey nest platform adjacent to the Bigfork Dam Tuesday.

With daylight quickly fading and temperatures dropping as the crew waited for the right size bucket truck to arrive from Kalispell, a small group gathered on the PacifiCorps owned land to witness the placing of the platform built in the woodworking shop of Bigfork’s Rick Trembath.

Originally conceived as an Eagle Scout project by Gabrielle Thorsen of Bigfork’s BSA Troop 1916, the project was put on the back burner when Thorsen adopted a new plan to produce masks to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

Not wanting to see the project abandoned altogether, MonaRae Tuhy and her colleagues in the Bigfork Rotaract Club, an offshoot of Rotary International that focuses on service projects, decided to take on the challenge. After speaking with several experts, including Flathead Valley Community College Natural Resources Professor Christina Relyea, PacificCorps wildlife biologist Summer Peterman and others, a plan was devised to bring before PacifiCorps and Flathead Electric. More than a year later, several members of the Rotaract Club were on hand last week to see the project come to fruition.

“It’s been interesting to say the least, but Flathead Electric has been extremely receptive and cooperative with what we are trying to do,” Tuhy said. “PacifiCorps was also outstanding to work with. They got their bird people involved and, once we got through the tiresome legal aspects, then we got the approval to move ahead with the project and here we are today to see it done.”

An osprey nesting platform had rested atop a pole at the location for many years before being brought down by a spring storm in 2015. While several groups had discussed replacing the platform over the past few years, it took the right combination of planning, cooperation and timing to see the project completed.

“We really didn’t think we would be able to get it done this year, but this way it will be in place in the spring, which is perfect,” Tuhy said. “When we saw that we had a window of good weather to get this done, we called everyone up and they all really came together to make sure it was completed when it needed to be.”

According to flathead area wildlife biologist Doug MacCarter, who has been studying osprey in the region since the 1960s, the osprey population in the area is healthy and strong and the new nesting platform will serve to help keep it that way.

“For years now, there were no ospreys utilizing what is a perfect place for a nest,” he said. “Now, hopefully, when the ospreys come back in the spring we will have a new breeding pair at that location.”