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I missed the discussion on inland
Ospreys during May so didn't comment then but as I have been researching
the species for some decades and studied the species for my Master of
Science Degree, I thought I would give my five cents worth now.
Alan Morris's comments are correct. Lake
Macquarie is, and has been for over a century, the southern limit of
breeding of the Osprey in New South Wales. There was one attempt to nest
on the Central Coast in the early to mid 1990's. There are regular
sightings of single birds, and occasionally pairs, as far south as Sydney and
even down to the far south coast. Despite this breeding has not been
confirmed in these southern areas. Inland observations occur during the
non-breeding season and I have seen them at the Hanging Rock Broadwater near
Cangai, west of Jackadgery. I have observed a pair at their nest at Sherwood,
west of Kempsey and they nest on Susan and Elizabeth Islands in the Clarence
River at Grafton. In Australia they are, however, principally birds of the
coastline and estuaries as well as tidal rivers, unlike some Northern Hemisphere
populations.
Greg Clancy
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