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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sign up for osprey leg-banding cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene

Dr. Wayne Melquist, PhD removes a juvenile osprey form a nest on Lake Coeur d’Alene on July 13, 2013. He was banding nestlings as part of a long-running research on the population of osprey. North Idaho has the largest nesting population of osprey in the Western U.S. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
From staff and wire reports

WILDLIFE – The popular annual Osprey Boat Cruise that follows biologists checking nests and banding young “fish hawks” is set for July 15 at 9 a.m.

Reserve a seat on the two-hour cruise by calling the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, (208) 664-3194.

Don’t procrastinate if you want to watch the action, get some good photos and learn a lot of information about ospreys from experts on the boat. The 150 seats usually fill quickly.

Phil Cooper, Idaho Fish and Game Department educator, offers these tidbits of information about osprey and the banding research:

    At least 100 pairs of these fish-eating hawks nest annually in the Coeur d’Alene Lake region including the lower reaches of the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene Rivers.

    Adult osprey along with the young of the year birds begin their annual migration in mid-September, traveling all the way to Baja California, Central America and many all the way to South America. The birds return in late winter/early spring to the area where they originally hatched.

    Information on migration patterns and survival rates of Coeur d’Alene-area ospreys has been gathered for more than 25 years by University of Idaho and the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

    Researchers have been studying and banding ospreys at Coeur d’Alene Lake for more than 35 years. The work is done to determine survival and mortality rates and to further define the migration patterns and wintering areas of the population.

    Pre-flight osprey are taken briefly from nests just before fledging as parent birds fly around and screech their disapproval. A band with a unique number is quickly applied to one leg, and the 6- to 7-week-old birds are placed back in the nests.

    Parent osprey immediately return to the nests and continue raising their offspring.

The two-hour cruise will leave from the east side of the Coeur d’Alene Resort boardwalk by Tubbs Hill and McEuen Park promptly at 9 a.m.

Cost is $20 for adults. Children under 12 are free with a paying adult. A family rate of $45 covers two adults and three children up to age 18. Seniors and students are $15.

Speakers on the cruise boat will include wildlife biologists and avian experts.

Settler’s Grove cedars reopening from fire closure

TRAILS – The Settler’s Grove of Ancient Cedars and its associated 5-mile trail is reopening to visitors on Saturday, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests says.

Located in the Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, the area has been under an emergency closure for public safety since fire burned through the area in 2015.

“The impressive ancient cedars are a unique botanical feature along the West Fork of Eagle Creek, which is also the route of the popular Settler’s Grove Trail No. 162,” forest officials say in a release.

“This area offers a glimpse into the bottomland ecosystems encountered by gold prospectors and settlers in the 1880s and is managed to preserve the naturalness of the area for recreational, botanical and historical experiences.”

Directions: From Coeur d’Alene, drive east on I-90. Take Kingston Exit 43 and turn north on Forest Highway 9 for 26 miles to Eagle. Turn left onto Road 152 and travel northeast 1.3 miles. At a junction bear left on Road 805. Go 5.6 miles to the trailhead.