OSPREY BOX at THE BRINTON

 

     Peter Lecholat and I met at The Brinton Museum one snowy afternoon. Peter had come to ‘Birding at the Brinton’ led by Bighorn Audubon. The Brinton Museum is both a museum and historic ranch located 2 miles southwest of Big Horn, Wyoming. The monthly birding event became very popular and many friendships developed as a result.

           It was winter as we walked along Little Goose Creek. Peter and I began a conversation about trains and his love of birds. He mentioned that he was a locomotive engineer with the railroad and that as the trains began to slow down, he would have time to watch for birds. It was then I knew Peter was a kindred spirit. So, I asked him if he wanted to join Bighorn Audubon as a board member and thus began a deep friendship and commitment to our joint work with Bighorn Audubon. His wife Donna also became a board member and his entire family contributed to the mission of Bighorn Audubon. 

           We soon developed a relationship with the museum’s Executive Director Ken Shuster. The monthly walks at the Brinton fostered the kind of relationship with Peter and others that you treasure and that happen only a few times during your short lifetime. 

           One day we were watching the Osprey pair that had just returned from their wintering grounds as far as Central and South America. We knew that the birds preferred open grasslands with nests built on tall snags or dead trees – and the Brinton had the necessary landscape. We watched the birds for weeks wondering where they might construct their nest. Which tall cottonwood snag would they select? The year ended and we found no nesting activity. In 2015, the birds returned like clockwork and again did not build a nest. Jenny Williams, Peter and myself went to Ken Shuster with a proposal to build a nest platform for the Osprey. Ken granted permission and we soon selected two sites. Jim Sorenson and his crew from Montana – Dakota Utilities erected the Osprey platforms. The next year we placed large woody debris on the platform to entice the bird and we had success!   

           Peter and his family continued to have an impact on The Brinton, Bighorn Audubon, and on all of those who knew the family. I asked Peter’s son Tony why Peter connected so deeply with birds. “Whether dad was walking about The Brinton, hiking up Little Goose Canyon, sitting quietly at Vistara's while hundreds of grosbeaks flocked to the feeders, birding just helped dad put life into perspective. Birds enriched his life and many of the lives that he touched.”

 

Jackie Canterbury

November, 2024