|
Meeri Meets The Ospreys is a true story of love and dedication. Meeri
Zetterstrom of Georgia, Vermont, is an animal and bird lover whose efforts
to protect ospreys at
Lake Arrowhead helped a lone pair of the majestic members of the raptor
family successfully raise a family.
Prompted by Meeri, Central Vermont Public Service and the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife have assisted ospreys at Lake Arrowhead since 1990, creating buffer zones, educating the public about the endangered birds, and installing nesting platforms for the birds to live on. Ospreys have spent the spring and summer on a CVPS island at Lake Arrowhead for the past decade, but failed to breed until 1998, when one chick was successfully hatched. In 1999, the parents successfully produced two more offspring who made it from the nest into the wild. Decades ago, ospreys were nearly wiped out, along with peregrine falcons and several other species, by the use of pesticides, which caused the birds' eggs to fail. The ospreys, which feed almost exclusively on fish, have slowly returned to Vermont over the past decade. In a majority of cases, the birds have nested on manmade platforms put up to assist them. At Lake Arrowhead, the birds have been bothered by human interference, some of it intentional, but for the past two years interference has been reduced, and the result has been the first successful osprey breeding at Lake Arrowhead in at least 20 years. Thanks to the ospreys, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Meeri Zetterstrom, and working with her to protect Lake Arrowhead's ospreys. Vermont owes her a debt of gratitude for her persistence over the years in watching out for the ospreys, and I want to thank her personally for her foresight all those years ago. The Department of Fish & Wildlife is also to be commended for its efforts to protect the birds. While ospreys might have one day returned to Lake Arrowhead without Meeri's intervention, she deserves enormous credit for her unfailing efforts to help these great birds raise a family so that all of us may enjoy them. This book is based on her efforts, and is a tribute to "Grandma Osprey," as we call her at CVPS.
Bob Young |
Pages 2 & 3
