Just Googled this. What deterrent do you have on the spreaders? Not a skunk I hope!Crap! I already cleaned it! Plus I installed an osprey deterrent on each spreader. Dangit!
Ospreys have few natural enemies. Mostly the eggs and the young are victims of predation, but sometimes, even adults especially incubating females are snatched from their nests by owls, under the cover of darkness. Eagles are another avian threat to osprey chicks.
Although adult ospreys fiercely defend their nests, a determined raccoon, fox, skunk or a similar land based predator might raid the nest to steal eggs or chicks, if it is within its reach.
Ospreys tend to avoid these perils by building their nests on isolated spots such as islands, secluded trees, or on top of man-made structures such as nesting platforms, electricity poles and other, similar, hard to reach spots.