Another day in the field, and 178 miles! I visited 21 nests...not all I had hoped to get to, but still a productive day of data gathering. Out of the 21 nests, 13 were incubating. I read five additional bands. One osprey, nesting in a very difficult spot for band reading, was found perching in a low, easy spot and I got his band read quickly once I noticed him in the trees. My sincere thanks to him! Oddly, several nests where I had observed ospreys before were vacant today. There is one pair that is moving around, seen here and there, but just not ready to choose their nest and lay eggs. A few others are settling in, but have not popped out any eggs yet. I found one female who has moved to her third nest..After repeated nest failures, she keeps swapping nests and swapping mates. Hope this one is the right one. The pair who seemed to fighting a pair of eagles for their nest, are back on the nest. No eggs. Other ospreys seen there too, so I am searching for another nest in the area. I have to be a bit of a detective to figure everything out, and to find new nests. Please do let me know if you see ospreys dropping sticks anywhere!
And if anyone out there has a huge telephoto lens and would like to help me get a difficult band read, let me know. I mean REALLY long...and still we will have to blow it up. But it might be easier than me sitting for hours and hours and waiting for this bird to sit still where I can see the legs. That moment when they come in for a landing, with both legs dangling, might just reveal what I need with a fast, long lens. I came home to a sweet phone message from one of the osprey nest hosts, telling me the birds had laid their first egg. Nice. Thanks to everyone who helps and supports me in this work, in so many different ways. Deep appreciation on this end.
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