April 25...

What a lovely day.....I visited 15 nests and still had many more I had hoped to get to, but didn’t. Sigh. Sometimes bands can take a long time to read, especially on such a bright sunny day. I did visit the arboretum cam nest and both Ospreys are back on the nest.....Z3 was there with an unbanded female, just loafing. It was interesting how many nests had a lone female, waiting.... presumably because the males are having to travel further to get fish with so many lakes still frozen. But some birds were eating so they are finding food! I saw one male struggling with an enormous fish, looked like a pike! Lots of copulating, sky dancing, extra birds chasing.....clearly there is a great deal of competition for nest sites. Some new birds have shown up on nests, which may mean we have lost some of our old friends. But some nests are still empty so we still have Ospreys that have not made their way back to Minnesota. Things are still in flux! Thanks for all the reports, emails from the nest monitors as well as the general public! I appreciate each tidbit of info that is shared! I always enjoy the conversations about behaviors, bird histories, research goals and each chance to share my passion for these birds.