Where oh where?

I have spent some long days in the field lately...10-11 hour days...trying to get correct head counts and watching for fledging, making sure bands are read. Yesterday, after one of those long days I got an email from a new homeowner near a nest saying there had been a bald eagle in a tree near the nest all day and she had not seen the chick at all. Oh dear. (He had been on the nest all day the previous day, and I had taken a peek at him myself....still on the nest.) This occurred at 8 in the evening while I was icing a swollen, red toe from lots of walking on a hot day. It made no sense to me that adult ospreys would allow a bald eagle to remain close to a nest. Perhaps the chick had already been predated. I realized there was nothing I could do at that time of day....so I promised to come first thing in the morning. I was there by 7:30 a.m. Nest was empty. Damn. One adult in a tree nearby. I watched closely for 30 minutes.  No vocalizations, no sign of the chick, but thankfully, no bald eagle. I was sadly coming to the conclusion that the chick had been predated. Then the male came with a fish and he flew around, offering it to anyone who was hungry. No takers. After a few fly abouts he landed in a pine tree away from the nest. He nibbled on the fish. I knew he was trying to find and attract the chick. Then something flew past....flapping way too fast, as juveniles often do at first. But he disappeared behind some trees. The male waited . Eventually he delivered the fish to the female, and she took it and immediately flew in circles over the area, behind some trees, disappearing for 10 minutes at a time. Then returning to her perching tree. She nibbled on the fish. Then she did the same thing, circling around the area, displaying the fish, disappearing....and then returning to her tree. After one absence she came back with very little of the fish remaining. She sat in her usual perch and finished the fish. She went on another spin around the area, clearly searching for her youngster, trying to get him back home. She seemed to know exactly where he had gone. FINALLY I saw that rapid flapping and an Osprey landed in the very tippy top of a pine tree. Yes, it’s the chick. Woo hoo, the adult male remained in his perch , but the female went over and perched about three trees away ....close, but no too close.  All is well. I was so amazed to observe all this for 3.5 hours......the parents concern, the female who knew exactly where her chick was, their attempts to get him to return to the nest to eat. He was enjoying his first forays out into the world on his own.....like some teenager who was exploring his independence. I left them in their perches to go check other nests. And when I got home at the end of the day, I just had to make one more visit to this nest, so out I went again, to find that sweet little guy on the nest, with a full crop, and both parents perched in the tree near the nest. What great parents. What fun it was to watch this family’s dynamics. Once again, I have fallen in love. I try not to anthropomorphise, but it was quite clear what they were doing. They knew the chick was not dead, and they knew where he was, and it certainly appeared that they wanted him to come home and eat. Many of these interesting behaviors are only revealed if you spend a great deal of time just observing, without preconceived notions. I don’t get to do this very often these days, with so many nests to visit. I dont think there was ever a bald eagle in the tree....I think it was the youngster, who has different coloring than the adults. But it was a treat to sit and watch all the subtle clues and reactions that revealed what was happening at this nest. Very sweet, very attentive adults. Ya gotta love these birds! I sure do! 

Fledging!

Just a quickie tonight....our first chicks have successfully fledged! Fun to watch them today doing their loops, perching in different places as Mom stayed near the nest watching over them. It’s very exciting! But it’s also a vulnerable time.....now the door is open to them getting into all kinds of new trouble. I am always prepared with boxes, towels, in my car. Hope I don’t have to do any rescues this year. I also enjoyed watching some chicks practice the fine art of self feeding. One chick had a fish and kept switching which foot he would hold it in, and in the process he kept turning in circles. “Am I left footed? Am I right footed? How do I know? Nothing feels right!”

We are also dealing with a lot of sad struggles on some nests, but I will save those stories. Tonight, let’s celebrate these first flights and behavioral milestones which are so fun to observe!

Gone

The accumulating nesting failures this year are continuing. Below is a photo from last year of a nest built in a dead snag in a marshy area. About a week ago that nest held two beautiful chicks....and yesterday when I visited this nest it was gone and the chicks perished. This is the challenging life of an Osprey, but it still breaks my heart. ( in fact I pulled over on the side of the road and let out a few swear words.) I had so recently watched those sweet chicks with such joy. All the heavy rains and storms must have collapsed the nest. This was one of very few nests in a tree that we have documented in this study. This also points to why the increasing nest attempts on cell towers and ballfield lights are actually a smart adaptation for the ospreys since those structures do not fall. Many nests have failed for many different reasons this year. I am still trying to decipher the unifying factors in all these failures, if there are any. My cursory count of nest failures so far is 46. And this is still early July, with more failures possible. We had 40 failures last year and 37 the year before. To me this is a growing to a startling number. It’s curious that so many of the failures are clustered together and nests in other areas are successful. Many of our chicks are a little younger than they usually are by early July, but still a delight to watch the little guys motoring around the nest. Some of the older ones now are almost fully feathered, while some recently hatched chicks have not even been seen and counted yet! What a weird year.