The price we pay for caring....

We are very busy confirming successful fledging of the chicks on all nests. In the process I have stumbled upon several new nests, or nests I  didn’t know about! It still remains interesting at this stage of the breeding season. I came upon a new nest being built in the past few weeks and the banded male is from Iowa. It’s a little unusual for a male to travel that far from his fledging site, tho we have had an occasional male from a different state in the past.

I can also share with my long term readers that the male who successfully raised three chicks on his own last year, after his mate died /disappeared , has successfully fledged one chick with his new mate this year. It was a joyful experience to watch this young chick, whose parents are both so attentive, survive to fledging age. Last years test of his parental skills has turned him into a very devoted, reliable parent. Almost every time I visited the nest, he was there. 

I can also share that the two remaining chicks on the Arboretum cam nest have both fledged successfully. We are still sad about the tragic collision that caused such severe injuries to the third chick that he had to be euthanized. I believe that these sorts of accidents happen more frequently that we realize. Once a chick fledges, they can get into so many different kinds of trouble away from the nest. We were lucky that the chick was found quickly, but the outcome was still a sad one. 

That came on the heels of another tragic situation that we could not fully understand. I found a chick on a nest with no adults attending to it. It was a nest where we thought we had a monitor watching, but sometimes a volunteer loses interest and does not inform us that they will no longer be visiting the nest. I watched for 3.5 hours and saw no adult. I sent another monitor, Trusty Barb,  the next day and she found an adult female perched nearby and the chick flapping its wings, preparing for fledge. So I thought perhaps something had happened to the male and the female was caring for the chick alone. That might explain her absence when I was there. We also met a lovely gentleman, Bob,  who walked his dog near this nest and he became quite interested in this chick. The three of us were there over a period of days and saw several adults, male and female, near or on the nest. The chick was seen eating once. But my own observations and questions to the other monitors determined that the adults there were not providing any parental care, not reliably feeding the chick. There were behavioral clues that they were not the parents of the chick but were just Ospreys looking for a territory. The chick seemed distressed by the presence of the male. By the time we realized all this, the chick seemed to be quite weak, and then it disappeared. It was probably predated. We were heartbroken to watch this little guy waiting for food that didnt come. We have no idea what may have happened to the parents, since they do not just abandon their offspring. I wish we had figured it out sooner so we could have rescued him, but the nest itself was problematic since it is on a transmission line in the water. It would have required both state and federal permits to “take” the chick and Xcel energy would have had to climb the structure to rescue the chick. We simply were not able to coordinate all this in time. That little one won our human hearts and moved us to tears. Sometimes we just cant save  a chick, and that brought the three of us a great deal of sadness. But, as I have said before, I am glad that I still care enough about each and every bird to shed a tear over the losses. And I am glad I have some people working with me whose hearts are so big that they also care enough to weep and to lose sleep over these precious birds that bring so much meaning into our lives. Thanks to Barb Ankrum and Bob Holly. 

we lost one at the Arb....

We have been going thru some sad losses these last few weeks, and sometimes it’s hard to write about it. I must share that we have lost one of the chicks from the Arboretum nest. Last Thursday August 9, I was there to check the nest in person for you guys since we can’t see much on the cam. I found another chick flying, one in the nest and the first to fledge was missing. Someone from the Arboretum came to tell me that the chick was found on the ground that morning and taken to The Raptor Center. I checked with them that day and was Informed that the chick was too unstable to examine. The same was still true the next day. When they tried to examine him, the least bit of stress caused labored breathing. They observed two droopy wings and today they discovered a broken coracoid and internal injuries. Both wing tips were cold. So unfortunately they had to euthanize him. Clearly these injuries were the result of some kind of impact. He was found beneath a power line and not too far from a tall fence. We are so deeply saddened by this accident. A very special thanks to Rhonda Andreen from the Arboretum for rescuing this young bird and taking him to TRC. There  is a photo of him on our Facebook page that she took that day, as disturbing as it is. We have had some other losses too and numerous tears have been shed. But we must focus on the chicks who have made it. I am sure the last chick at the Arboretum has probably fledged now and I will get out there to confirm that soon. Even after 25 years, I never get use to this, and it still brings me grief. May every other osprey chick be safe and successful in their flying adventures.

help for some Ospreys

A few quick updates....for those concerned about the chicks in the tilted box that our friend Ken stabilized two weeks ago.....they have all fledged!!!!!! Woo hoo! They are still returning to the nest but are no longer in danger of ending up on the ground. We will replace the box this fall.
And for those concerned about the leaning tower of Ospreys.....Our friend Ken said he has access to some used 40 foot poles and will save us a few! Another Woo Hoo! We will investigate the situation, after the birds are more independent, to see if that ground is a suitable spot to set a pole. He also said he has a friend who can save us some lumber for new Nestboxes. So we are pooling our efforts to make some safer homes for our osprey friends. It restores my faith in humanity when people come together to help these birds. For some reason I cannot access my photos of these nests on this page but photos are available on our Facebook page! You may be able to go there and look, even if you are not a member of Facebook.

flying at the Arb!

Since our current view of the Arboretum Osprey Cam nest is obscured by osprey body waste, ahem, I have been visiting in person to see how the family is doing. Yesterday I found all three chicks still in the nest, which surprised me a bit since they are now two months old. But today I found two in the nest and one perched nearby on a power pole across the field from the nest. I was hoping to see him fly, but when Dad delivered a fish to the rest of the family, it was not enough of a motivating factor for him to return to the nest. He seemed to be enjoying his space! He had one foot tucked up and his eyes closed lazily, as he basked in the late afternoon sun. I stayed and watched them for quite a while, but he was making me sleepy watching him, so I left him there and will check again soon. I am sure the others will follow him within a few days!
I enjoyed watching several newly fledged chicks today. On one nest I found a young male out on the very end of the nest perch. I wondered if he walked out there or flew out there. His siblings remained in the nest with Mom. After a while Mom came out and perched next to him, and he began to act a bit nervous. He kept looking at the nest, looking around, he got closer to mom as if he was suggesting that she move. She was oblivious. He put his wings out, and then decided, no. He turned around several times, looking at his nest mates lounging. Watching him began to make me nervous....what was he going to do? Finally he took the leap and flew several loops before he landed safely back in the nest! Whew! I’ll drink to that!