Endangered ospreys are making a comeback in South Australia after several man-made nesting platforms were installed across the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas.
Now another nest has been put up in Tumby Island, near Ski Beach, to help the species grow further.
The platforms can be up to 10 metres tall to protect ospreys from predators and human disturbance.
In the last population survey, only 47 pairs of ospreys were counted in the whole of South Australia.
Fran Solly who is the secretary for Friends of Osprey said the organisation set up a nest with surveillance last year, but footage showed the bird's eggs were being predated on by foxes.
"This week we installed an artificial nesting platform which will bring the nest up off the ground and out of reach of foxes," Ms Solly said.
"We had to get a helicopter to lift the platform from the mainland across to the island, and then it lifted the nest onto the top the platform.
"It's good to know they finally have a safe nest to lay their eggs and raise their young."
The same nest at new heights
Within 24 hours, the surveillance cameras spotted ospreys working hard to build onto the nest with twigs which they then lined with seaweed.
"They're refurbishing it. They've brought a fish to the nest and we could see the ospreys protecting their nest site," Ms Solly said.
"It's absolutely unbelievable. We were really hopeful that this would be the outcome.
"We probably expect towards the end of August that there are eggs and then we hope they hatch by September."
Northern and Yorke Landscape Board general manager Tony Fox said each platform can only hold one nest.
"They make a single nest, but they add to it each year and it gets taller and taller. Over the years sometimes the nest will collapse or get blown over by the wind," Mr Fox said.
Members of the Ardrossan Men's Shed constructed the platforms, and there are plans to install more across the Eyre Peninsula to keep boosting the population.
"They're made from composite materials, a mixture of plastics, fibreglass, and other high-tech materials," Mr Fox said.
Five nesting platforms have recently been installed on the Yorke Peninsula, and last month a sixth was airlifted across the Port Broughton channel.
Just like the platform in Tumby Bay it was immediately successful in attracting a pair of ospreys.
