Royal Grille

Appreciation, by definition, is the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something. 2020 has been nothing short of stressful, but if we took a step back on the year’s events so far, could we appreciate all the year has given us? I sure can; we have seen good in all of you through your love and support here at the Royal Grille. Tough times call for tough measures and you sure showed up when it really mattered! This community has stood tall in the face of change and uncertainty with the best attitudes a restaurant team could ever ask for. And for that we appreciate YOU!

Canadian Lakes was founded on community values, friends, family, and all the beauty Michigan’s “up north” has to offer. We have missed our normal everyday routines and had to come up with new and exciting ways to feed and entertain ourselves. Over the past few months, I have watched families grow into new and vibrant units, I have looked out on the 18th green and not been able to watch golfers but was able to see mothers and daughters hiking. I have seen families on walks together. Golfing will be back in full force, but now we have started new traditions and created other memories to last a lifetime! Here at the Royal Grille we will always

• Over 60 YEARS installation experience • Extensive inventory of carpet, vinyl planks, specialty flooring • We bring the showroom to you with home sampling • Unconditional 2 YEAR Guarantee on Labor • Canadian Lakes resident serving Canadian Lakes

P: 231-359-1195 |

C: 708-542-6418

We are only 1 of 3 shops in Michigan to win this award 2 years in row!

pride ourselves in taking care of your hunger needs. We will always thrive on those happy smiles. We will never forget all the love and support you showed us with every to-go order that came in. To show our appreciation to all of you we have given your beautiful restaurant a face lift, some fresh paint, beautiful photos, eye catching décor, and some spectacular carpet to pull it all together. Summer will bring new food, great drinks and an all new appreciation for everything Canadian Lakes has to offer! Keep enjoying the Royal Grille the way all of you do already. The second half of 2020 will be amazing, and we will soon forget we ever had any hurdles to jump to get there!

14905 220th Ave.

just west of US 131 231-796-8320

www.qualitycarandtruckrepair.com Mon - Fri: 8am -5:30pm Import & Domestic

• Night Drop Box • State-of-the-Art Facility • Most Extended Warranties Honored • 2yr/24,000 Mile Warranty • Clean, Comfortable Waiting Area • Wi-Fi

OSPREYS in Mecosta County (Pandion Haliaetus)

*Please confirm before you plan to partake in any Canadian Lakes function as COVID-19 may affect meetings, events, and operations.

Last year I became aware of an effort by a representative from the Detroit Zoological Society, working with Michigan Audubon and the MDNR, to catalog and monitor osprey nests in Michigan. I contacted them and was sent an old list showing osprey nest sites in Mecosta County. Being familiar with the lakes and loon nesting sites in our county, I thought it would be interesting to also monitor osprey nests. During the Covid shut down was a good time to prepare a data sheet and drive around to check out osprey nests. I discovered that only nine of the 18 nest site locations on the old list still existed but found six additional that were not on their list. At the same time, I recorded three bald eagle nest sites of which I was previously aware. For each site I recorded the location by roads and latitude and longitude, plus the type of each nest. Nine are on pole platforms, three on cell phone towers, two on electric poles, and one on a parking lot light pole. So far, I have viewed and recorded these fifteen osprey nests and observed an osprey or a pair in each nest at one time or another. There was one nest last summer on an electric pole that the power company removed over the winter, but the ospreys rebuilt it within one week this April. At Canadian Lakes we have an osprey nest located on the south side of Buchanan Road, between East and West Royal Roads. At this location an osprey on the nest can look down on both the Main Lake and Lake of the Clouds. Around ten years ago, after observing ospreys attempting to build a nest on an electric power pole, I constructed the platform on which the nest is built, and Consumers Power donated and erected it nearby on a pole. We have had a pair of adult osprey and baby ospreys on this nest every year since. Around six years ago, I was fortunate to observe Sergej Postupalsky tagging the two baby ospreys. He had a younger accomplice who climbed up the pole, snatched a baby, put it in a bag and then lowered it on a rope to Sergej, who tagged it and sent it back up. Dr. Postupalsky, from the University of Wisconsin, was banding osprey and eagles around the upper midwest as part of a study and monitoring program which he initiated, until he passed away in 2016. The osprey is a bird of prey that feeds almost entirely on fish. They have very long talons which are covered with tiny projections called spicules and these have a sandpaper-like surface which helps them grasp slippery fish. While many fish are snatched from the surface, ospreys frequently dive into the water to get their fish. Their dense oily plumage keeps them dry when diving into the water and they have a specialized nasal valve which prevents water from entering their nostrils. When spotting a fish from above they will hover briefly before diving toward the water and grab the fish with their talons. Another unusual feature of the osprey is its ability to turn one of its talons so that it can carry the fish head first for better aerodynamics. Ospreys normally mate for life and the male selects a nest site, then carries sticks, mud and other vegetation to the nest site where the female arranges it. In our area their most frequent nest sites are on a wooden platform atop a tall pole, which has been installed just for their use. They will also use cell phone towers, or electric power line poles when there is no platform available in the area where they want to nest. Electric power companies have frequently erected the pole platforms to prevent ospreys from using their electric power poles for the nest, which may damage their lines. Recently ospreys were observed building a nest from scratch on an electric power pole within one week. Their nests are usually

by Dale Doepker

photo credit Dale Doepker

top: pole platform nest on 9 Mile road between 80th and 90th middle: cell tower nest on east side of 131 Expressway, just north of 19 Mile Rd bottom: electric pole nest at substation on 9 Mile, one mile west of Remus

located where they have easy access to a lake or pond which has abundant fish. However, some nests are located several miles from the closest water. On occasion a nest may be found in a tree when there is no suitable structure available. The osprey has a body length of about 22 inches and a wingspan of 57 to 67 inches. Adults weigh between 2.2 and 4.5 pounds, with the males being around 20% heavier than females, and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Ospreys have a normal life span of 15-20 years and come north to breed, but during the winter they migrate to warmer areas where open water can be found. An osprey pair will normally return to the same breeding location each year but will frequently separate and go to different wintering grounds in August or September. Ospreys lay two to four eggs with an incubation period of around 40 days, and the babies will stay in the nest to be fed by the adults 8 to 10 weeks after hatching. Young ospreys make their wintering migration alone, instinctively knowing where to go without following their parents. The osprey population worldwide declined dramatically from 1940 to 1970, but since the banning of DDT in 1972, they have made a great comeback. Ospreys were listed as endangered in 1976, then upgraded to threatened in 1983 and in 1999 downgraded again to a “species of special concern.” They remain a federally protected species, along with eagles, loons, swans, etc. Since their nests are always high above ground, they have little to fear from predators or even human observers. At Ferris State University there is an osprey nest on top of a parking lot light pole, with a video camera mounted above it. This nest can be viewed online in real time at www.osprey.ferris.edu. All the osprey nests that have been identified in Mecosta County are observable from a road, but the three eagle nests are in trees far off any road, and only one can be seen from a road.