Sarasota & Siesta Key Residents
Actively Assist and Protect Wildlife
Posted January 19, 2010
Sarasota County residents are very active in assisting and protecting various members of the Florida wildlife that add to the natural beauty of the area.
Residents at Bay Tree Club on the southern end of Siesta Key, for example, are sharing their waterfront view with a pair of nesting ospreys.
In past decades. Ospreys, that used to inhabit Western Florida's waterways where they found plentiful supplies of fish, their natural food, were pushed to the brink of extinction due to
over-development of Florida's coastal lands.
A Bay Tree Club couple recently observed a pair of osprey unsuccessfully trying to find a place to build a nest and decided to give them a hand.
After getting approval from their condo association, this conservation-minded couple installed a "nesting platform" for the pair in late December.
Osprey pairs mate for life, so these residents hope that helping this Osprey pair find a comfortable nesting spot here on Siesta Key will cause them to return each year to raise more young.
The osprey pair have begun building a nest on the platform provided for them. Residents of the area
have dubbed the osprey pair "Oscar" and "Olivia", and are hoping to see the birth of the first baby osprey on the platform in the near future.
Ospreys are considered a good indicator of the health of a local environment. The presence here in the Sarasota area of osprey nesting pairs attests to the healthy environment being maintained
and nurtured here through both government and private efforts.
The beaches and waterways of the Sarasota Florida area also serve as important habitats for other endangered species. Many local residents are involved in protecting the
nesting grounds of sea turtles. Other groups assist and protect the endangered manatee, injured pelicans
and other waterfowl. Since the late 1990's, Sarasota County has been an leader in the development and enforcement of codes to protect various wildlife species.
A simple walk on our beaches, viewing the care with which nesting turtles are protected, hearing stories of residents like those building a nesting platform for a pair of
osprey, or watching residents carefully removing fish line and hooks from entangled pelicans will give you an idea of the extent to which our residents work singly and in groups to make the Sarasota - Bradenton Florida area
one of the most attractive places for both wildlife and people to live. People from all over and with many different passions
find a home here and each contributes to making this an even nicer place to live, work, raise a family and retire.
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