It’s been a record-breaking year for Vineyard osprey, the majestic raptor that now nests on the Island in greater numbers than ever before.

Home to only two breeding pairs in 1970, the Island can now count 83 such pairs of osprey among its avian residents.

Three baby osprey chicks are being hand raised by Gus Ben David in Edgartown following an accident aloft over Chappaquiddick last Thursday. The birds, which are about two weeks old, fell from their nest when the electrical pole that held them and their nest caught fire. Suddenly homeless, the three little birds were rescued by NStar crews and turned over to Mr. Ben David, a noted naturalist and owner of the World of Reptiles and Bird Park off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

Gus Ben David of Edgartown, who for years ran the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and now runs the World of Reptiles and Bird Park in Edgartown, is already a celebrity in the world of naturalists. He has a wide international following of young and old alike.

And now he has another feather in his cap.

Last month Mr. Ben David was inducted into the International Wild Waterfowl Association hall of fame at its annual meeting held in Roanoak Rapids, N.C. It was a lifetime achievement award in special recognition of his work teaching children over the years.

A juvenile bald eagle that has been in recovery for over a month was released back into the wild on Tuesday afternoon. Augustus Ben David, the owner of World of Reptiles and Bird Park in Edgartown, had cared for the animal for weeks after it was found disoriented and malnourished on a Chappaquiddick beach.

Mr. Ben David released the bird at South Beach beneath a bright autumn afternoon sun in a stiff east-northeast breeze.

When he opened the cage door, the two-year-old bird immediately took flight and headed toward Edgartown Great Pond.

Spending time with Augustus (Gus) Ben David 2nd at the World of
Reptiles is a learning experience from start to finish.

But it is in the snake room, in the basement of his home in
Edgartown, surrounded by over a hundred feet of slithering reptiles
locked in wooden cages, where Mr. Ben David is in his element.

Today's lesson is turtles.

A tiny boy wearing a T-shirt, shorts and cap stands up suddenly and
shades his eyes with his hands.

"I can't see, Gus - sorry!" he exclaims.