osprey

Iris the Osprey is a world-famous bird who’s nested along Missoula’s Clark Fork River for most of her long life. She’s also a longtime participant in research tracking mining pollution in the river. After more than a decade, the latest data on the health of the river is expected soon.

As I watched Rob Domenech, executive director of the Raptor View Research Institute, and his research biologist Brian Busby carefully load the three chicks onto the lift, and heard Harriet’s chirps of protest from above, I considered the importance of this work.

At Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, I saw an Osprey dive into the deepest section of white water and emerge with nothing to show for its effort, and then retreat to a cottonwood branch to watch for another opportunity in the dark, boiling water.

It’s been a bad year for osprey after record flooding in some parts of Northwest Montana. That’s according to the scientists and educators with the…