Wild fledging adventures….

 Burning the candle at both ends these days….its been one stressful situation after another. Some young ospreys fledge so gracefully, without incident….but some really struggle. For the past three days I have been watching over one of our latest fledges who really got herself into some trouble. When she first took off from her nest on a cell tower she made a very awkward landing in a tight spot. She sat there for a very long time trying to figure out what to do about her predicament. She was wedged between two metal bars…and every time she tried to put her wings out, they got caught. I watched her for many hours…looking around crouching as if she was ready to spring out but the wing would get caught each time. Then she finally hopped up and further IN to the cell tower. Oh dear , a worse spot. Of course this nest was very far from where I live so I had to leave and hope for the best. I got up the next morning at 4:30 to get myself back to her nest by dawn. It took me over an hour to even locate her. She was not where I left her. I listened, searched the ground worked my way around the tower to examine it from every angle….then I saw a wing stretch! She was in a totally different spot perched low on a big round cable. There were some bars in front of her and she repeatedly put her wings out but did not have enough room to extend them fully. She would have to jump out first and put her wings out after she was out of the cell tower. Nope she just couldn’t do it….so she stared backing up and fell off the cable she was perched on, suddenly her legs were dangling below that level of the cell tower and she was beating her wings on the surrounding wires and structures. Yes, some obscenities came bursting out of my mouth. My heart was racing. What would I do to help? And then after just a few minutes, she fell completely thru the cell tower structure and came out below flying! I have no idea how that happened without her injuring her wings! So she flew a few loops and she saw her dad perched on the very top of this tower so she headed for him, but she almost landed on top of him so he flew off and she was sort of thrown right into the center of the tower, down in lower than all the surrounding bars. Oy vey. I watched her there for several hours….she was barely visible, but I kept trying to document each weird spot she landed. I had to leave for a previous appointment….so I asked someone else to check on her. She spent an hour there but couldn’t see her at all. My heart sank. This morning I got up again at about 4 am to get over there early, but a big storm came thru so I waited for the front edge of that storm to pass thru and then went over, even tho it was still raining. The strong winds had passed. I found the chick in the exact same spot I had last seen her. Sad that she was still there and unfed, but happy she wasn’t in a worse spot or injured on the ground. I watched her for many hours….sometimes almost invisible and occasionally flapping her wings which made her obvious. Sometimes just her head popping up above the bars. She was looking around, trying to figure out how to get out of there. The rain let up a bit and suddenly she sort of hopped/flew to a bar that was further out and she struggled to stick that landing, almost falling backwards and into a mass of wires. I gasped…..but she held on tight and managed to stay on that bar. But the vertical bars on either side would prevent her from putting her wings out and jumping off. I knew she would have to be brave and jump out first and then put her wings out. It’s something that older ospreys can easily do but for a newly fledged chick, that takes some real courage. The rain picked up so she sat there for a long time thinking about it. Then the rain let up and she did a lot of preening and drying out. Lo and behold, Dad showed up with a fish and perched one level below her. She eyed him and tried to figure out how she would get to him. Dad just ate the fish and did not take it to the nest. The chick finally screwed her courage to the sticking point and jumped and circled a few times and finally actually stuck her landing on the very top of the cell tower on an outer vertical bar, a safe place….where the adults often perch. Whew. The first good landing in three days. But still….no food! She food begged. Dad finally took off after another visiting osprey. Shortly after he left, Mom showed up. The chick finally took off, did a few loops and landed back on the nest that she left three days earlier. I could finally exhale. She was quite hungry of course and did some food begging, flew another short loop and returned to the nest and finally decided to lay down. Whew. I am sure she is quite tired and quite hungry, as was I. So I asked another monitor to check on her and she reported that she did get fed by mom, like a baby, until her crop was full.

I wanted to be there thru all that in case a rescue was needed…I can never just turn my back and walk away. Sometimes I wish I could. I am still trying to confirm successful fledging on all nests, and sometimes I get there too late and cant find all the chicks…but if I can find one, we know it’s a successful nest. But right now I am so relieved about that chick that filled three days of my life. Recent weeks have been filled with other stress filled osprey related experiences too…..and I feel like I could sleep for a week. But I am so glad that this one had a happy ending! Not all of them do. Photos below of her adventure….

Fence sitting…

 Another 12 hour day in the field….i have been so busy trying to watch over chicks that were potentially in trouble. Sometimes it takes an experienced eye to decide if a chick needs help or just time and observation. I woke up very early after not sleeping well and received an email about a chick that had been sitting on a ballfield fence during high human activity, ballgames since sometime around 5:30 yesterday. So I left home at 6:30 a.m. and headed first to that nest. I was expecting that the chick would be back in the nest by then. But I arrived to find a chick sitting on a fence, near a parking lot. A man pulled up in his car and told me he came to check on the chick as it had been there, unmoved, for 12 hours. He had reported it to The Raptor Center. I explained that newly fledged chicks can act pretty weird and perch in odd places, but this chick should be hungry! I was also concerned about where the other chick was since it was not on the nest or anywhere I could see. I watched the chick on the fence. It was too tall for me to grab the bird. Someone was walking its small dog and the dog stopped right below the chick and put his paws up on the fence and the chick gave an alarm call, but she did not move. Many people walked right near the chick, never even noticing it. I finally spotted the other chick flying in and it landed on a lightpole near the fence perching chick. Mom was on another lightpole. After at least an hour, the male came with a small fish and mom and the flying chick flew to the nest. The fence sitter didn’t move. Its crop was empty. At one point the sibling flew a short loop directly over the fence sitters head and back to the nest, almost as if she was encouraging her sister to return to the nest. I emailed the monitor who watches this nest and she came! Thanks Vicky! We talked and watched and chick….and finally since I wanted to determine if something was wrong with this chick or not, I decided to approach the chick to see if I could encourage it to fly….and it finally did! Just a low swoop across the field to the same fence on the other side. Hmmmm. Flew well and landed fine. So Vicky stayed to watch while I went to check other nests….hoping that dad would bring a whopper that might motivate this girl to get back to the nest. Vicky called me several hours later to say The Raptor Center had sent someone to check on the bird but they couldn’t reach it either and it flew….a good strong, high flight and she had videos. You can’t catch a flighted bird! So they left and the chick returned to the fence! That’s just where she wanted to be! After I finished my nest checks, I returned at about 3:30 to find the chick a few feet from where it had been at 7 am. Still with an empty crop. The mom and sibling were in various places, coming and going. After an hour or so, the chick took off and did some very low loops and then started climbing , gaining altitude slowly and finally made it back to the nest….and almost landed on its sibling. She didn’t appreciate that but no aggression occurred. The flight was strong, and the landing a bit awkward! Typical for a newly fledged osprey. After 32 years of watching them, I always say, flying is easy, landing is hard! They just sat there side by side, the fence sitter dozing a bit, finally safe at home….and then finally the dad arrived with a good size fish! Of course both chicks dove for it….you all probably know that momentary chaos as they fight for the fish! But the fence sitter got it! The other chick just walked away, to the opposite side of the nest. Our hungry girl inhaled the fish, having not eaten for at least 24 hours. It was such a huge relief. After some time, the other sibling walked a bit closer and watched the chick eating, not trying to snatch the fish, but just being nearby, in case there were leftovers. She was very respectful of her hungry sibling. Whew! I felt like we had a happy ending, which was what I expected, but it took longer than I thought it would! So I went to recheck our single mom and her fledgling! Mom was not there in the morning when I stopped by, and that chick was still alone with an empty crop at the end of the day. Oh dear…..and then suddenly this young male began crying….that whiney food begging call and I knew Mom was on the way! Yes! She delivered a whole fish for her chick! I visited a few more nests on my way home, found another newly fledged chick…after a brief search…with its mom on a nearby cell tower. And so I finally made it home 12 hours after I departed. That’s my life these days! Long days, cheer leading for these chicks we love so much. I was there to do a rescue if needed, but was so happy it wasn’t necessary! It started with a stomach in knots, worried, and ended with a glass of wine. Not all days end well tho as we have lost chicks in recent storms, and I have seen a couple dead chicks on nest edges today. Some nests were empty that shouldn’t be. But we celebrate the ones that do survive, and do get back to the nest. And all the hours I spend watching over these birds, are still learning. I watched a mom as her chick flew off to a nearby nest, that had not been active this year but had two adults on it today that were unrelated to the chick! The mom started vocalizing….switching between the chirping call they give to unknown ospreys and an alarm call…it was odd, but was clearly a response to her chick landing on someone else’s nest! So fun to just be out among these birds, watching, listening, noting their reactions and behaviors. I never tire of it. Thanks again to Vicky and to the person who emailed me about the chick on the fence, and the other people at the park who expressed their concerns. It’s lovely when people are aware and concerned. We can sleep better tonight!

Success!

 Well it’s that exciting and tragic time of year….

Many of you may remember the situation I wrote about earlier with a female who had a “two timing” mate….and shortly after she laid eggs, he abandoned her for his other nest, and other female. She managed to incubate alone, leaving only briefly to get a fish for herself that she would wolf down on the edge of the nest, before resuming incubation. She actually managed it all alone and hatched two chicks! Sadly, one of them didn’t make it. But I am thrilled to announce that her remaining chick fledged successfully this weekend!!! Not many females can pull this off alone. We had another female in the same situation, but she gave up during incubation and abandoned her eggs. This female, that succeeded, was heroic in her efforts and her devotion. Her chick is a beautiful male. Me and the monitors watching over her are so happy. Photos below of this young male and his momma feeding him like a baby….even tho he can self feed!

We also have discovered many losses in recent weeks….more about that in another post. But just today I found a chick who is in trouble and I need help watching over her as we try to figure out what we can do to help her. If any of my monitors with a good scope have some extra time in the next few weeks to help monitor this nest, ( maplewood area) please email me…osprey.mn@gmail.com

Almost!

 Some  fun videos…..this is one of the first chicks to hatch in the metro and he is very close to fledging. Still  needs to get a little more loft, but he is working hard at it! When I was new at this osprey monitoring, I used to count the flaps….and when they get serious about fledging they will flap 30, 40, 50 times or more! They will be hopping and getting some loft and eventually hovering a few feet above the nest! It’s very exciting.…makes my heart rate go up!

Losses and thanks!

The past week has been trying….we have found three chicks dead on the ground. The first two may have blown out in storms, and the most recent was reported to me by a person in the public who saw the chick fall out of the nest when an adult took off….perhaps accidentally knocking it out. I went to look for it and it even had some food in its crop. So terribly sad. It’s what I hate about this time of year….its when things can so easily go wrong. Chicks are too big to be sheltered under mom all the time and yet they cant fly yet. Tho fledging brings its own tragedies. I know it’s hard for people to face this aspect of osprey monitoring…it’s not all sweetness and rainbows. But we have to document these losses, by taking photos and trying to learn what has happened when we can.…watching how the adults respond to these losses. It takes a strong mind and a soft heart to balance our desire to document, learn, and to care about the chicks that have been lost. On the first two deaths, there were other chicks in the nest to care for, so for the adults, life goes on. On the tragedy that occurred yesterday, it was the only chick and the adults were nowhere to be found this morning. They probably have no idea what happened to their chick.
I appreciate the report from the person who witnessed the fall of the chick.
We are anxiously preparing for our first fledges…..the window is open for a few nests now. There is always a lot of breath holding and excitement. Our initial chick counts and current counts are holding steady at many nests, tho we have had some mortalities along the way.
So below are a few sad photos of 2 of the chicks that perished. And a big, crowded, happy family that is preparing for the first fledge!

And I want to extend a very deep, heartfelt thank you to the Raptor Resource Project for their generous donation to us. We could not keep up this level of monitoring without a lot of help and the financial support they have shown us over the years has made such a huge difference. It is hard to find the right words to appropriately express my gratitude. A MILLION thanks to John Howe and everyone at the RRP!

After the storm….

 We had a wild night here in Minnesota, with a big storm going thru in the wee hours of the morning. I have been working so hard to get chicks counted on all nests and we have sadly lost some along the way. But after a night like last night, with a reported six tornados confirmed, I tried to hit as many nests today as is humanly possible, targeting the area where the tornados supposedly hit the hardest, on the western side. I made it to 28 nests! I am happy to report not a single chick was missing from those nests! I found one nest that was down one chick but the monitor confirmed that loss had occurred prior to this storm. There were trees down, branches down, but NO OSPREYS down!

They know how to survive! Now there are many more nests to check and I hope many of the monitors are out doing that today.

Some monitors had found a dead chick on the ground on Friday after we had torrential rains on Wednesday and Thursday….and horrible heat and humidity the weekend before. It’s never easy to handle. I have found several nests with changing counts as chicks disappear along the way. So far the mortalities are significant, but in the realm of normal. The failed nests are climbing, but still similar to past years.

I had to share a fun little photo of a nest I visited yesterday….this nest used to have one of our favorite banded males for many years, and last year, mid season he just disappeared. We could not find him and he didn’t show up at the raptor center. That female managed to care for her two chicks alone. So the spring started with some sadness without our dear old friend, but this female quickly found a new mate. I didn’t think I could love him the way I loved the older banded one…but this fellow and his family have won my heart. When I was watching them yesterday, with three big, healthy, beautiful chicks crowded under Momma, one of them pushed his head out between Moms legs and looked up at her….with another one leaning in as if to photo bomb me…looking right at me. It just made me laugh out loud. They looked so happy, and a little gooney! So in spite of the loss we suffered here last year, they have bounced back and have a very lovely family.

And a day after a big storm with no known losses so far, it’s a cause to celebrate….

Red flag….

 News about the collapse of an osprey colony on the east coast of Virginia….very troubling. Osprey are an indicator species , at the top of the aquatic food chain, so the decline of their population reveals much to us about the health of our environment. It’s a huge red flag….please read….

https://www.whro.org/environment/2025-06-25/ospreys-are-facing-nearly-complete-collapse-on-virginias-eastern-shore-researchers-say?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6DANK1mvZLiJsLGrptDVOxtWtBP0PHjkT0IP0WL6sBv_lfRbTJmAyO1GJu6Q_aem_ArO2RPhvbgcojiqooEyr1w