In the spring of 2012, a pair oosprey11f Ospreys built an elaborate nest high in a dead tree on the far side of a pond along the sixth hole at Briars Creek Golf Club off River Road near Mullet Hall.   There had been a nest a couple of years earlier along the tenth hole.   It had been a delight at that time to watch over a couple of months as the pair raised and fledged their chicks.   The new nest in 2012 may have been the same pair.   Building the newer nest last year took a few weeks and the pair appeared to begin nesting and brooding some eggs. Though the nest was far too high to actually see any eggs.   After a couple of weeks, with no evidence of chicks hatching, the couple abandoned the nest.
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Osprey fledglings on Martha’s Vinyard
From UNCC website

It is not unusual for an Osprey couple, especially if young themselves, to fail in their first attempt to have a family at a new location.   They often return to the same location to nest over a few years and we were optimistic about seeing them again in 2013, hoping they would be more successful.   However some late spring storms last year took the tree down after the Ospreys had left.   That pair may be the same ones seen this year fishing in the lake and on the marsh.   There was also evidence that a pair tried to build a nest right next to the fifteenth green.   But they left soon after starting construction.   That site was very exposed and virtually on top of the green.   While Ospreys will tolerate some human traffic in the vicinity of their nesting sites, if too close they will give up.  
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Baltimore Gas & Electric crew removing Osprey nest

The Charleston County Parks Caw Caw Nature center has two nesting platforms, one of which has been home to an Osprey family, the other may be too close to a canoe landing.   On the other hand, there are sites in Mt Pleasant and along the NC Outer Banks where Ospreys nest within   a hundred yards of busy marsh causeways.   These platforms are often erected by utility companies because otherwise the Ospreys have been known to build nests at the top of high voltage electrical towers posing a threat to themselves and reliable electric service for the   human settlers.   For an update on the project, see our post “Osprey Platforms Installed”
See the page about our Osprey Nesting Platform project. For more information about Ospreys in South Carolina, visit the DNR site. Read about 40 year project to monitor and protect Osprey’s on Martha’s Vineyard