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Sarasota & Manatee County Residents Assist and Protect Florida Wildlife

Posted January 17, 2010

    Judie Berger, a prominent Siesta Key real estate specialist, reports to us that Sarasota and Manatee County residents, especially those on Siesta Key, 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 attempting unsuccessfully 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.

    Ospreys 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.

    According to Brian Ward, a Sarasota FL real estate expert, the beaches and waterways of Sarasota and Manatee Counties 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 walks of life 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 or retire.