Photos: Utah Boy Scouts help erect high-in-the-sky nests for ospreys

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune
Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork working with the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources tamp in place a pole and nesting platform for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune
Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork work alongside the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources assembling the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune
Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork working with the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources watch as a crane raises the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles.

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune
Justin Lee works on assembling the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. Making and helping raise the platforms were for an Eagle Scout project that he and other members of Boy Scout troop 1502 of Spanish Fork accomplished with the the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles.

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Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork working with the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources tamp in place a pole and nesting platform for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles. Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork work alongside the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources assembling the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles. Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork working with the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources watch as a crane raises the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles. Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork working with the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources watch as a crane raises the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles. Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Justin Lee works on assembling the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. Making and helping raise the platforms were for an Eagle Scout project that he and other members of Boy Scout troop 1502 of Spanish Fork accomplished with the the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles. Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of Boy Scout troop 1502 from Spanish Fork work alongside the Utah Dept. of Wildlife Rescources assembling the first of seven nesting platforms for osprey on the south end of Utah Lake Tuesday April 5. The seven osprey nesting platforms will be erected in seven different locations along the southwest portion of Utah Lake. Ospreys are a fish-eating bird of prey that migrate to Utah in spring to nest and raise their young. They often choose to build their nests on top of manmade nesting platforms attached to the top of wooden power poles.

The Salt Lake Tribune

· April 6, 2016 3:54 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The southwest portion of Utah Lake saw rapid residential development on Tuesday, with seven new homes erected in the span of a few hours.

Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources hopes that the structures — nesting platforms atop of wooden power poles — will catch the eyes of ospreys seeking a safe place to raise their young. The fish in Utah Lake may be an additional enticement for the birds of prey, arriving in Utah during the spring migration.

The platforms were assembled with the help of Boy Scout Troop 1502 from Spanish Fork; the project was also a partnership between the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, the South Utah Valley Electric Service District, the Central Utah Project and three private property owners.