Drags....gnats!

I have been observing a lot of intense headshaking in the last few days on many nests around the metro, which is a sign of gnats ( black flies). It is troubling, given the high failure rate we documented last year on our nests...39% of the nests failed. We cant attribute it all to the same cause, but clearly black flies played a significant part. Our early spring was quite dry so I was hoping we would not have to deal with a large hatch of black flies, but after all our recent rains , I am afraid we are seeing the tell tale signs that the ospreys are being bothered. And this is happening right at the time when our nests are beginning to hatch. As was the case last year, some areas are worse than others. Hoping that this generation of black flies dies off quickly. The black flies are seeking a blood meal and newly hatched chicks are SO vulnerable, no feathers, unable to stand up, or even shake the gnats off, they become weak from blood loss and die.

We are still finding new nests, and seeing lots of extra ospreys flying around at established nests. At some point, quite soon, it will be too late to lay eggs...since these young chicks would need to be ready to migrate by sept or early October. There just isnt enough time to successfully complete the breeding cycle. And yet, new nests are popping up! So as this population grows, will we see more pairs that do not breed? We call these birds “housekeepers” , when a pair remains together, builds a nest, defends a territory , but does not breed. Is this part of the mechanism for population growth to level off? This is why I keep studying them! Still so much to learn!

Hatching! And a thanks!

Well, once again I have been remiss in writing up some posts for you all. What’s my excuse? Field work! So much to do, and some really difficult bands to read....like an upside down silver band with 8 tiny numbers all the way around the band....Boy you really have to adjust your brain to read a band upside down! After repeated visits, I have gotten all the numbers except one last digit! And now the bird is gone! Things like that take so much time, and in the end I failed because she and her mate decided to move on.

We have already discovered seven new nests this year! Many I have stumbled across and some were reported to us. Thanks so much to those people who do report those observations to us!

And the big news today is.......HATCHING!!!! Our first nest has hatched and I have to say I get as excited as I was the first time I saw it. I went to visit this nest mid day, and within five minutes of first observing them, I knew they had begun hatching, but I had to wait for about 2.5 hours for the confirmation. How did I know? The male. His behavior was a dead give away. He was standing on the nest perch the whole time.....would not leave. And everytime the female moved at all, he leaned over and stared into the nest cup. So darn sweet. Now the day before, he was not hanging around the nest as much. But today he was glued to her side. She was sitting a little higher, a little hunched over ( so as not to squish what was beneath) and she occasionally peeked below. But this is a long time mated pair, he is 14 years old, and she is 13 so they are very experienced and are pretty mellow about it all. He is a very good parent, obviously so interested, so curious, so protective. Finally after several hours, he took off to get some food. He was not gone very long, and he delivered a headless goldfish. She got up and took it to the edge of the nest and began eating the boney parts of the fish, as he stood in the nest staring down into the nest cup. When she got to the fleshy, soft belly of the fish she began leaning into the nest cup with tiny bits of food for the wee one. It doesn’t take very many bites to fill up their tiny crops at this stage. As she fed, I impulsively yelled out loud “woo hoo! Yippee” and I started clapping. Thank goodness no one was around to witness my behavior. It wasnt long before she resettled into brooding the tiny new chick. After 27 years of watching this, the first nest each year is like seeing it for the first time and I still get very excited. So, yes I am drinking some sparkling wine as I write this! Heres to our first new Osprey of 2020!

Our hatching is going to be really spread out this year, as some nests have just laid eggs!

I also need to send out some deep thanks to those who have sent some very generous donations to help keep this research project going during a difficult year. A huge thanks to Gail, Debbie Jordan, and Robert Van de Loo for the financial support and for showing me that you believe in what I am doing. It means the world to me! A million thanks!

May you all be well and stay safe!

Arb cam fixed...three eggs!

The Arboretum Osprey Cam was finally fixed! Egg number two was laid on 4/29 and the third egg was laid sometime while the cam was down, probably Saturday May 2. Here is the view this morning! Just a peek! Yeah!