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After Manatee County abruptly ended her contract, the Coquina Beach Market organizer is launching a new market in Sarasota County.

Tiffany Razzano, Patch Staff

|Updated Fri, Jan 13, 2023 at 5:04 pm ET

OSPREY, FL — After Manatee County abruptly ended its contract with the organizer of the Coquina Beach Market last summer, she’s launching a new weekly market in Osprey on Friday.

The Market at The Point kicks off Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and runs weekly Jan. 13 through April 28. The Point restaurant is located at 131 Bayview Drive in Osprey.

Nancy Ambrose, who ran the Coquina Beach market for nine years, said the county caught her off guard when it terminated its contract with her without cause on Aug. 1. The market ran from November through the end of July last year.

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“It came from someone I had never even heard of,” she told Patch. “The commissioners didn’t even know what was going on. We were all ready to go with our tent. We were all set to go. It blindsided me totally.”

In July, Ambrose met with various county departments for their annual review of the market, which ran

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“Everything was good,” she said. “Nobody had any problems with the market.”

When Patch reached out to the county’s information outreach manager, he didn’t have a comment about the contract termination.

The market was actually thriving at the time the contract was terminated and had remained busy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ambrose.

“Believe it or not, COVID was actually good for the vendors, as far as sales go,” she said. “People were working from home. Kids were going to school from home. Where were they going? Anna Maria Island and they were going to the beach. And it was safe going to the Beach Market. There was social distancing at all booths, everybody was wearing masks and we were outside.”

And the vendors, who closed down for three months from March through May of 2020 because of the pandemic lockdown, “were thrilled to be back in business,” she added.

When her contract with the county was first terminated, Ambrose’s initial concern was about her vendors.

“My first thought was, ‘What’s going to happen to them?’” she said.

She relaxed a bit when she learned that the county would take over the market and began wondering if it was maybe a good time to retire.

“At the time, I felt good about it because I thought the vendors would have a place to vend still,” she said. “I’m like a mama bear. You don’t mess with them. Those are my kids. Unfortunately, as time went by, it appeared more and more likely that there wasn’t going to be a market.”

And the market the county talked about organizing was scaled down to 50 or less vendors. Under Ambrose, the market ranged from 120 to 180 vendors.

When asked about the current timeline for the beach market, Logan told Patch, “There is no information to share at this time regarding the Coquina Beach Market.”

The market was initially set to open Nov. 1, but was delayed because of damages from Hurricane Ian, which hit the Gulf Coast at the end of September, the Anna Maria Island Sun reported.

Ambrose sprung to action to find a home for her vendors.

“We were like a family,” she said. “We were all doing well there. They loved it there.”

While some vendors found spaces at other markets, many events had long waiting lists, she added. So, she began seeking a venue, searching several counties – Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hillsborough and Pinellas – for the ideal host.

Her biggest concern was parking. Not only was enough parking for her vendors required, there also needed to be substantial space for shoppers to park.

Eventually, she connected with The Point in Osprey, which has a restaurant and tiki bar by the water, as well as boat dockage at Channel Marker 38.

The market, featuring more than 100 vendors, will set up in the grassy area closer to U.S. Highway 41.

Shoppers will find a range of local artists, arts and crafts, jewelry, fresh produce, baked goods, assorted foods, apparel, pottery, purses, collectibles, woodworking, health and beauty items, unique gifts, and more! Come and watch local artisans creating and find that perfect souvenir of your trip to Florida.

There will also be entertainment throughout the day, including the Market String Band and roaming clowns strolling the market.

“We’re excited about it and the best part is just getting our Beach Market family back together,” Ambrose said.

For more information, join the Facebook group for The Market at the Point.

An osprey does not express his love quietly. He screams it in decibels as sharp as glass shards that carry for miles. He does not proclaim his love from the rooftops, but from several hundred feet above the rooftops. And it’s not all just proclaiming. There’s a lot of hovering, as well as swooping, diving and climbing. And it usually involves a fish, gripped in specialized talons, though that’s tough to see from the ground. All that drama can come off as formalized and indecipherable as a German opera – though performed at a much higher octave – with more sturm and drang than you’d expect from a 4-pound bird with a 5-foot wingspan.

As with a lot of avian mating rituals, the craziest thing about it is: it works. And it has worked for thousands of years. If the performance pleases her, a female osprey will give her assent and the two will spend the next four months bringing a clutch of chicks out into the world. (They may copulate up to 130 times in the process, but they generally produce two to four eggs.)

Osprey are some of the most widely distributed raptors in the world, found on every continent except Antarctica. Though they sometimes winter in South America, they don’t breed there.

While most birds have some kind of descriptive term attached to their name, osprey are one of the bird world’s few mononyms. Like Cher, Madonna and Bono, their whole name is the single word. The name mutated from the Old French “ospreit,” which somehow mutated from the Latin “Avis praedea,” meaning bird of prey. But the name also mutated from the Latin “ossifrage,” which means “bone breaker,” because osprey look kinda sorta like bearded vultures who have a habit of picking up the bones of dead lambs, flying them up to a great height, then dropping down onto the rocks to crack them open and gain access to the marrow. Even though that’s not what osprey actually do. (Etymology and early natural history are not always precise sciences.)

Almost any paper you read about osprey will say they are nearly pure piscivores, with fish being at least 99% of their diet, but that 1% is probably something of an overstatement. One hundred percent is not a number scientists are generally comfortable with. There are reports of them occasionally eating snakes, very young alligators, or small mammals, but those are nearly always anecdotal.

As a result, osprey are occasionally called fish hawks or sea hawks (as in, the Seattle…).

Osprey fish by diving, usually from 30 to 120 feet up. They spot their fish from on high, often while hovering, then fall, talons out in front of their face. Sometimes they snag their fish in the top few inches of the water and haul them out seemingly without breaking their momentum. Sometimes they will dive as deep as 3 feet. The fish they catch are often 10% to 15% of their body mass.

Everything about their bodies works toward the goal of snagging fish from the water. Their feathers contain an oil that makes them water-resistant, though not waterproof, so after a series of dives they often have to perch and dry them out. Their eyes – a rich golden yellow – have nictitating membranes that slide over them like translucent protective curtains when they hit. Their nostrils can close to keep the high-pressure water from a splash from going into their respiratory system.

Their feet are large, muscular and double jointed, with long, sturdy talons that can pierce and grip their slick and often thrashing prey. Their wings have a telltale kink in the wrist and are long enough to seem almost rubbery when seen flapping from a distance, the length providing the power they need to pull the fish out of the water.

Once in the air, the flexibility in their joints allows them to turn the fish face forward, and it can often look as if they are riding a surfboard or a torpedo. They usually perch somewhere nearby and begin to devour their prey quickly. They tend to save the tail for last and often abandon it.

Because of all this, an osprey’s main environmental requirement is open water. In most of North America this means they fly north in the summer to breed, then south in the winter to avoid ice. As ice is not an issue in Florida, our populations tend to be non-migratory, and here they breed in the winter.

Most courtship tends to happen in December and early January. Hence all the aerial theatrics around here this time of year.

On the mainline Keys, osprey often use manmade structures for nesting. You see nests on radio towers, telephone poles and channel markers. But you also often see them on structures specifically constructed to be osprey nests – usually an old telephone pole with about a 4-foot-square platform on top.

In the backcountry they will often build nests in the mangroves and, occasionally, directly on the ground.

Mostly they build nests out of sticks, but will occasionally include manmade objects such as plastic bags, rope, nylon mesh bait bags and, in the Keys, the occasional bra or scrap of an American flag. Fishing line is also sometimes incorporated, which can be hazardous, as chicks can get fatally entangled.

A study done in the late 1980s showed that osprey had the highest breeding success in the Upper Keys when they nested on manmade structures, rather than on the undeveloped islands in Florida Bay. While that may lead you to think manmade structures were superior, those success rates leveled out between the mainline islands of the Lower Keys and the backcountry islands south of Marathon, which leads me to believe it wasn’t the structures that made the difference, so much as the fishing grounds.

Osprey seem to have adapted well to breeding around humans.

When at Fort Zach a few weeks ago, a pair looked to be nesting on the pole across the field in the northwest corner of the park. It wasn’t clear exactly which part of the breeding process they were in, but hopefully they’re going to move beyond the drama soon and we might all get to see them raise a couple of chicks.

Mel Weber recently opened Southern Vines Fine Wine & Spirits, among other new ventures in the town.

This appears to be a great year for the Census-designated place of Osprey. Only six square miles in area, and with less than 10,000 residents, the community is experiencing tremendous growth in hospitality and retail venues.

Chef Rolf Zahnd moved his New Florida Kitchen to Osprey from Sarasota a few months back, Mel Weber opened Southern Vines Fine Wine & Spirits on Tamiami Trail and now the Phelan family is opening a seafood restaurant, Deep Lagoon, on Blackburn Point Road.

Statistics will tell you that Osprey harbors a fair amount of wealth and, since it controls the northern access to Casey Key, it’s not hard to imagine why. A large plaza sat mostly vacant for years at the corner of Blackburn Point Road and Tamiami Trail, before Benderson Development purchased it, brought the plaza up to modern standards and added a Publix anchor. After that, the tenants, like Southern Vines, rolled in.

Southern Vines is owned by Mel Weber. It’s a full-service store selling wine, liquor, beer and more. Weber has worked in the hospitality and retail business for many years. As with many of us, she left the cold north for the sun in Florida, but, unlike most of us, she arrived from Alaska. Her retail wine operation in Fairbanks was named Northern Vines and she reworked that name for her new project. Her vision is to create a welcoming neighborhood store with a wide selection of popular, affordable wines, plus special personal selections.

A recent celebration marked Weber’s first month in business. Her goal is to present the finest wines and spirits, as well as artisan cheeses, various charcuterie products and other deli items to create an upscale tasting.

“We want everyone to have fine wine, bread, jams and jellies, and custom baskets,” she says. While she is aware that Publix has extensive wine offerings, she says her unique selections, wine tastings and outside events can more than make up for the competition. Her extensive experience provides her with contacts at small wineries, and her focus is on highlighting these producers, as well as other niche winemakers that small Florida distributors provide.

Deep Lagoon, meanwhile, is a concept begun by the Phelan family, creators of Pinchers. The new location on Blackburn Point Road joins others in Naples and Fort Myers. The concept is to provide upscale dining with a focus on fish. Located just before the swing bridge, the location is amazing, with great views of Blackburn Bay. Wines will be priced below $12 per glass, with six-ounce pours costing $8 and nine ounces costing $10-$12.

Chef Rolf’s New Florida Kitchen, meanwhile, is now located in the Casey Key Resorts Mainland. Before leaving for Sarasota, Zahnd ran the Saltwater Cafe and produced a number of TV cooking shows. According to the restaurant’s website, the menu is extensive, as are the wine selections. Another reason to steer your way to Osprey soon.

Bob McGinn has spent his entire career in the wine industry—forming wine clubs, working in wine sales marketing and engaging in all facets of the winemaking process, including vine management, fermentation and yeast analysis. He has developed wine programs for companies such as Marriott, Sheraton and Smith & Wollensky, and consults with local restaurants. You can read more of McGinn’s work at gulfcoastwinejournal.com.

By Ali Holton

Florida is home to many different species of mammals, including rodents. Rodents in general account for almost 40 percent of the mammal population worldwide. These critters have a bad reputation of being unwanted pests and vermin; however, they are incredibly smart animals.

One of the most widely distributed of these intelligent animals are rats. Within the state, there are three species of rats which are the most commonly and frequently encountered by humans: the Norway rat, roof rat and wood rat. These species are also referred to by dozens of more common and regionally popular names. For example, the roof rat is also known as the black rat, gray rat, fruit rat, citrus rat and palm rat.

Roof rats average around 12 to 14 inches in length, which includes their long, bald tails. They are the species typically found nesting in garages, attics and walls or ceilings. Dark, dry, insulated spaces are appealing to these elusive creatures. Roof rats are very nimble climbers and jumpers and live in treetops, which is why they are commonly found in attics. These furry critters are scavengers with an omnivorous diet that consists mostly of fruits, nuts, berries, seeds and even insects and slugs.

Rats are warm-blooded animals that can be found almost anywhere in the state. They are incredibly resilient and adaptable to urban sprawl. They are also very prolific and can reproduce over 20 babies a year each. Most rodents are nocturnal, making them most active between dusk and dawn. They spend their days sleeping in their cozy nests. Sometimes, those cozy nests are in our homes, where these cute critters may be unwanted. Rats inhabiting residential homes have been known to cause damages, such as gnawing through wood, insulation and wiring.

These animals typically enter homes through small openings, commonly within attics. While calling pest control may be appealing, it is also incredibly inhumane as these animals are typically poisoned or baited with glue traps. These malicious forms of pest control can have a devastating impact to the many species who prey on rodents. Rodenticides and glue traps have been responsible for the death of many birds of prey, such as owls and eagles, and glue traps have claimed many lives of nationally protected bat species.

Be sure to have your home inspected thoroughly for access points and remember that there are humane methods such as live traps available to opt for trap and release.

The Florida Keys' ospreys, the fierce fish hawks whose massive nests dot utility poles, channel markers and nesting platforms up and down the ribbon of islands, will no longer be listed as an imperiled species by the state.

State wildlife officials announced Monday that a rare resident population of the migratory birds in Monroe County had been removed from the list in December after a yearlong review found the number of birds rising statewide. While some have argued the Keys' clan should be classified as their own subspecies, state wildlife officials said there's no evidence that the ospreys are genetically distinct. It's still illegal to kill the birds, but the designation means fewer rules for developers.

Conservationists welcomed the reported increase. Three decades ago after a seagrass die-off created a 100-square-mile dead zone across Florida Bay oozing pea-green algae, the population plummeted. But they worry about stripping protections while the bay's health remains fragile following a similar seagrass die-off just three years ago.

"The scary thing is we just had a big seagrass die-off followed by algae blooms. This is the same process that led to the declines of the osprey in the '80s and '90s," said Jerry Lorenz, state research director for Audubon Florida. "So I'm going to remain optimistic, but I'm also going to say let's wait and see."

In 2015, the seagrass die-off blanketed 62 square miles in the bay, triggered by a seasonal drought and compounded by decades of flood control that has choked off the supply of fresh water from the north. Lorenz pointed out that seagrass is recovering faster than it did after the 1980s and early '90s crash, when it took 20 years. Algae blooms have been smaller and more sporadic. Water management has also improved as efforts to restore water flows through Everglades restoration work progresses. But the bay remains vulnerable.

"It's pretty clear we're still in crisis mode," said attorney Jaclyn Lopez, the Florida director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "By removing protections, we're potentially losing resources."

The last time the bay crashed, the birds vanished quickly. Lorenz, who has been monitoring roseate spoonbills and other wading birds in the bay for 30 years, remembers passing a string of nests along a mile-long stretch on his way to visit tiny mangrove islands in the bay where wading birds nest.

"First there were 14 nests, then 12 then nine," he said. "Then there were three, then two and then none."

When they looked into the decline, scientists found birds that fed on the ocean side of the islands fared better than those hunting on the bay side. The ospreys hunt by circling over water, then swooping down to snatch fish with talons that include a reversible fourth claw and toes lined with short spines to better grip fish.

Scientists think that as fish disappeared, the birds became vulnerable. Lorenz said numbers around the Keys have still not rebounded to what they were before they crashed. Florida also provides a major winter home for nesting ospreys, with about 20 percent of the U.S. population outside Alaska nesting in the state.

"Development is only continuing to ramp up in Florida," Lopez added, "so we'll only see continued loss of habitats, more roads and more mortality just by being hit by cars."

©2019 Miami Herald Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.