The Sabine River Authority (SRA) of Louisiana, Toledo Bend Lake Association (TBLA) and lake area businesses are working together to improve osprey nesting success on Toledo Bend.
Don Cooper, longtime lake resident and former president of TBLA, noticed that many of the nesting osprey pairs on Toledo Bend have lost their preferred nesting locations as the old standing timber in the lake has been lost to wind and the elements. This has forced the birds to locate nests on short stumps and other risky nesting locations, often close to the water surface making their nests subject to easy predation and flooding. Cooper asked the TBLA to consider sponsoring or funding a project to install some man-made nesting platforms near old osprey nesting locations in order to boost their nesting success.
In August of 2024, the TBLA Board approved the project. TBLA consulted with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries ornithologist Robert Dobbs, then developed parameters for the platforms, and received approval from SRA Louisiana to install two to four nesting platforms in the lake for a pilot program to start the project.
Stella-Jones Corporation of Converse agreed to donate 40foot poles for the project and D&K Marine Construction agreed to donate their time and equipment to build the platforms and install them on the poles. The first two platforms were installed on February 10 by D&K in the middle portion of Lanan Bayou.
This project demonstrates how volunteers, multiple organizations, state agencies, and businesses can work together to improve wildlife habitat in our area.
We want to especially thank Josh Lewis with Stella-Jones, Blayne Greer with D&K Marine Construction, SRA Louisiana, and Don Cooper for making this project possible.