Long-Distance Voyagers Settle in Whitley Co.
Published: Friday, August 20, 2021
For years, Nub and Rita Waugh were known in and around Whitley County as the dairy farmers with the extensive arrowhead collection.
"Especially with the fourth-graders," said Nub, whose longstanding relationship with the Whitley County Agricultural Museum and 4-H Learning Center makes him a favorite guest speaker at area schools.
These days, however, the Waughs are attracting attention because of the osprey family living on the motor platform atop the three legs rising up from their grain bins.
As bird enthusiasts, Nub and Rita enjoy watching the adults and their hatchling go about their high-flying business and listening to their distinctive, high-pitched calls to ward off buzzards that get too close.
They've even named them.
The father, of course, is Ozzy the Osprey; mom goes by Honey, inspired by the Honeyville Steel logo on one of the grain legs that's partially obscured by the birds' massive nest; and Rita calls the fledgling Bobble because of the way it resembles a bobble-head doll at feeding time.
"We're into birds," said Nub, whose nickname has trumped his given moniker, Harold, since birth. "We were wanting to put up a (purple) martin house but weren't going to raise it up until the 15th (of April).
"We got these instead."
The first sign that something was really up at the Waughs' place came when Nub stumbled across a good-sized fish while mowing the area near the bins.
"It was laying right there by that tarp," he said. "It was puzzling—Who would throw a fish out there big enough to eat? And there were two, 5-foot-long sticks, cornstalks and bean stubbles everywhere. I looked up and didn't even know what they were. I've lived here my whole life and know about everything there is here that's wild and thought, 'I got an eagle up there.'"
After using binoculars to get a closer look, the Waughs researched the Internet to identify the birds and learn that: Ospreys mate for life, they take turns laying on the eggs while the other goes fishing and are the only hawks able to plunge feet-first into water to a depth of nearly 3 feet.
Ospreys, which are native to Indiana, do have a predominantly white head, accented with a black mask for a Lone Ranger look, and are often mistaken for bald eagles. Another osprey family has taken up residence on a cell tower that can be seen from the Waughs' backyard and they're aware of at least one other nest in the vicinity. Thankfully, the martins did return in time for mosquito season, Nub said.
Nub and Rita often ride their golf cart down a path to an area behind their house from where they observe the ospreys. Feeding time can begin as early at 2 p.m. but generally goes from 6-8. This is a welcome livestock addition to the farm for the Waughs, who gave up their 20-30 red Holstein, stanchion dairy operation about a year ago. They are still raising 17 heifers, two steers and a cow.
"He can't quite give it up," Rita said.
As semi-retired, fourth-generation farmers, the Waughs are relieved their bins are currently empty because federal law prohibits the removal of an active osprey nest under most circumstances. But they want fellow operators to know what they'll be up against if a nesting pair of ospreys decides to call one of the tall structures at their farms home next spring.
"We've got 25,000 bushels of storage here," said Nub. "If beans were $17.50 a bushel, I'd want them suckers off of there right now."
Ospreys feed almost exclusively on fish. While it might appear odd for them to put down stakes in the middle of a cornfield, Nub gets why they have decided to settle on his property near Columbia City—New, old, Loon, Mud, Goose and Troy Cedar lakes are located within a mile and Big, Crooked, the tri-lakes and several others aren't much farther away.
The parent ospreys can be seen bringing in their fresh catch on a daily basis, much to the delight of the Waughs and curious passersby. The ospreys' nest covers the entire platform.
Nub, who is recovering from bladder cancer, isn't able climb up the tower to assess the situation, but he has a pretty good idea of what's happening up there from observing the nest through binoculars.
"It's covering the motor and the shield over the belt pully," he said. "They've got sticks in that belt and it would tear that belt right off if I turned it on, I'm sure."
The Waughs' hands are tied in the short term. Ospreys are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty which prevents them from being hunted or caught, and their nests from being purposely removed or destroyed during the nesting period from March-August.
Inactive nests may be removed without a permit from September-February when the ospreys are at their wintering grounds in Central America and South America.
There are other options for landowners and businesses if the nests interfere with a necessary work operation or pose a health or safety risk, according to Lee Humberg, the USDA Indiana Wildlife Services director based in West Lafayette. In general, however, farmers should look at ospreys as welcomed visitors instead of annoying guests overstaying their welcome.
Humberg's program deals specifically with human-wildlife conflicts, especially those relating to agricultural interests.
"I don't get a lot of calls on ospreys, generally a couple a year," he said during a phone interview. "Most osprey conflicts revolve around power-line and communications towers near water sources, such as a river or a lake. Ospreys are usually fairly sensitive to human disturbance, so if (the Waughs') grain bins were actively being used they probably would have selected an alternative site.
"If they're OK with the ospreys being there, that's a win-win because it's good for them and it's good for the birds. If it were a producer that needed to use their facilities, there are options. We can work with them to help them find rehabilitators, or someone who may be able to take the young to a rehab center or potentially remove the nest if it just had to come down."
The preference is for the landowner to find a workaround, such as waiting until the end of the nesting period to take action. Osprey-friendly steps can then be taken to modify or move the structure so the birds don't consider it a suitable place to make a nest, or in a way that allows the birds to live there without being a nuisance.
"Sometimes it's little bit of a waiting game, but it really comes down to the impact," Humberg said. "If it's a life-and-death situation, or imperative to human safety, then that elevates the need to do something immediately. Most of the time, a happy resolution is found."
Ospreys are less prevalent in Indiana than in the upper Midwest where inland bodies of water are more abundant. Heavy use of the insecticide DDT negatively impacted raptor reproduction in the mid-20th century, and their numbers declined precipitously across the nation.
Like eagles, ospreys are making an impressive comeback. They have been removed from the endangered list but remain "a species of special concern within Indiana," Humberg said.
Indiana took part in a restoration program in the early 2000s by transplanting birds from the East Coast, but "they've actually done better on their own," Humberg said. "There's always a benefit to having our native wildlife here because they naturally evolved in this environment, and it's good just because the whole ecosystem revolves around having all the pieces in play.
"You start removing certain components and it can have cascading effects."
It can also be argued that ospreys have a positive impact on residents' quality of life. They're so revered on the West Coast, the NFL's Seattle Seahawks were named after them.
Their presence can also benefit farmers.
"If you have a raptor on site, they can be perceived as birds of prey that would go after pigeons, starlings or other pest birds a producer may not want around," Humberg said.
It's also fun to contemplate where these part-time residents of Indiana spent their winter.
"Ospreys are one of the most long-range migrators that we have here in Indiana and they do some really cool things like hanging out in the Caribbean," Humberg added. "They're long-distance voyagers, very much so."
After the ospreys temporarily split up and move out—Honey will head south while Ozzie will finish Bobble's flight training—the Waughs anticipate having the nest removed in preparation for the fall harvest. They rent most of their 232 acres to former Noble County farmer of the year Doug Burnworth, who also has access to the bins.
But if Ozzie and Honey appreciated Nub and Rita's hospitality, and felt Columbia City is an excellent place to raise a family, there's a very good chance they'll return. Nub may even rig up a way for them get their old place back as long as the grain motor can run.
"My guess is, they've kinda gotten used to us being back here," Nub said.
And, vice versa.
Landowners who are dealing with wildlife interaction that has become concerning can call their Indiana Department of Natural Resources district biologist or Humberg's office.
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