Osprey Cruise attracts about 110

The 13th annual Osprey Cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene attracted about 110 people on Saturday.

The Coeur d'Alene Chamber Natural Resources Committee, in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, organize the cruise in Cougar Bay.

Guests watched as Dr. Wayne Melquist banded the chicks with USFWS bands as part of the cruise program.

Melquist has been banding osprey chicks since 1972 and has also worked with reintroducing osprey to South Dakota from the North Idaho area.

He said the osprey that summer on Lake Coeur d'Alene arrive in April and head to South America in September.

The nests in and around the lake are typically used by the same pair year after year. He shared samples of items that attract the birds but are harmful to them such as baling twine and fishing line with hooks and bobbers.

"The cool springs we have had the past few years have impacted the nesting cycle and the chicks that he banded on Saturday are still several weeks from fledging the nest in comparison to years where the spring has been pleasant," said a press release.

The cruise occurs the weekend after the Fourth of July.