Happy…

 I suspect you all are ripe and ready for a happy post about ospreys! Well today, after I made sure the Arb chick was being fed, I headed back to the nest with the single Mom whose mate is at TRC. When I visited last week I saw two chicks, but a big poop squirt came from the opposite direction! I never saw a third chick tho. The volunteer monitor on that nest visited two days ago and only saw two chicks. I was concerned, but I do know it’s a tall task for a single osprey to feed three chicks on her own so I wondered if we might have lost one there. It would be understandable. When I arrived I saw no ospreys on the nest….my heart rate increased….now what? I parked and put my spotting scope up on the window….and immediately saw….THREE CHICKS! But they were home alone. One chick was noticably smaller than the other two. I checked the time…..I watched these three super sweet ospreys, the little guy flanked on each side by a bigger sibling. 15 minutes later Mom arrived with a fish and she started feeding the little guy first….the bigger chicks just waited. Then all three stood in a line, and mom fed them all fairly equally. It was mesmerizing. And some day they are gonna cart me away to the funny farm cause I find myself talking out loud to them. When I first saw the three chicks, I shouted outloud, “THREE!”

And as I watched the female feeding all these perfectly well behaved chicks, I kept saying “AWESOME! “ “You are a spectacular Mom!” Man I hope they all make it…..this is a difficult situation for a single female to be in….all alone with these chicks since they were newly hatched….and she has gotten thru one of the most dangerous phases, during the first two weeks or so, when the little guys cant thermoregulate. Leaving them unattended to get fish was risky, but necessary, and now they are all past that stage, and are beginning to lose their down and grow some feathers. There are still many hurdles and dangers ahead but….WOW! Super Mom! She definitely gets the mother of the year award!

Then I moved on to checking many other nests and saw a bunch of three chick broods. A few smaller families….a few that nested so late I still cant see the chicks to count them!

Tonight I get to have a glass of wine, not to dull the anxiety, but to celebrate this one heroic female osprey doing her very best in catastrophic circumstances. She doesnt know we are all pulling for her and her sweet family.

Another loss…

 More bad news….the biggest Arb chick seems to have died. I scrolled back thru the video and the chick was fed, VERY well at about 8 last night, and then it toddled back towards the middle of the nest and fell over and never was able to roll back over….it laid there all night, unbrooded and appears to be dead this morning. The middle chick is still OK and Mom brooded that one all night.

Its heartbreaking. Tragic.

We will see what they do with the body….and I hope they can manage to care for this remaining chick. Sigh.

Another loss?

 Sadly I have come to the conclusion that the littlest chick on the Arb nest perished yesterday, 6/24. He crawled off to the bottom right part of the nest and could barely be seen…and we have never seen him since. The camera is so oddly positioned and doesn t show the entire nest…..so we have to jump to some conclusions. We are only seeing two chicks being fed. At one point yesterday the female was looking into that corner and seemed to be pecking at something….I wonder if she was trying to see if the chick was alive. For some reason the other two chicks have migrated to that part of the nest and we just cant see much….and it’s worrisome that the chicks are hanging out so near the edges of the nest. Those of us who were watching this nest last year know that with no anchored sticks, basically no nest, the chicks have nothing to protect them or to hang on to in a storm and they can easily be blown off the nest. But they seem to have survived the heavy rains last night. The female continues to behave somewhat oddly….often flying off…and the male is there often and even broods the chicks sometimes. As long as the chicks are small enough to be brooded, protected by the parents, they will probably be fine…..the problems begin when they are too big to be sat on! My advice on how to prevent these problems was not heeded. We will worry until chicks fledge successfully.

Meanwhile I wanted to acknowledge the very real grief some of us feel over the loss of this chick. Tho his life was very short, he wiggled his way into our hearts. The grief comes from a very real sense of compassion for the struggles of all creatures on this earth. Survival is not always easy.

Celebrate!

 Even as my heart is breaking over what is happening on the Arb nest….littlest chick is fading, the nest material has blown away again, mom is not brooding or protecting them much…I stopped today at the nest where we have a single mom caring for her chicks while her mate is in rehab. A storm was coming thru so she has hunkered down on her brood…..when the wind died down and the rain stopped, she got up and flew off….gone ten minutes and came back with a fish! Two chicks immediately popped up, and then a big poop squirt came from the opposite direction! There must be THREE chicks there, tho I only saw two! She immediately fed those two and may have been feeding a smaller unseen chick. Wow! And she has survived a week of temps in the 90s with young chicks all surviving as well!!!! That aint easy! I sat there watching them thru my scope and uttering….“you are f—king awesome!” The chicks look to be a little past 2 weeks….heads dark, light baby down gone. I did not get to see their bodies. I am so happy about that situation….she is magnificent….an experienced female who stepped up and did what needed to be done. Remember she didnt feed the chicks at all the first 24 hours as she was just waiting for her mate to return…but then as she started to figure out what the situation was, she has proven herself to be a Super Osprey! As these chicks grow they will need more and more food so her job will only get harder in some ways, but they are more able to be alone for periods of time. So I celebrate her, as my heart breaks.

Acceptance…

 I know there is great concern for the Arboretum cam nest chicks….and it can be difficult to watch the struggles that all birds can face. Nature is not a Disney movie. Yesterday morning the female gave all three chicks a good feeding. During the afternoon she seemed to be neglecting them. She didnt feed, and she even left them, to sit on the nestperch…not even providing shade and shelter. I can’t explain her behaviors, other than the fact that she is probably a first time mother. She just isnt a great parent. Maybe she will learn, maybe she wont. She did finally feed the older two chicks quite well last evening, but the littlest chick was hanging back, not joining the others, not even facing Mom sometimes. Adults respond to certain behaviors so this chick has to do its part to elicit the right behaviors from the parents. It may be that this chick has deficiencies that the adults are aware of. And yet I see Mom offer more shelter to the smallest chick. This morning I saw two feedings, and the bigger chicks got good meals, but the little one got nothing. Again, it didnt move towards mom, often faced away. Then Mom flew off….and Dad was there eating and looking at the chicks, looking for her….and he finally went over and collected them up and brooded them! This is unusual for a male to do. But sadly, he didnt feed them. But maybe he will start filling in more. He accurately read the needs of the chicks for parental protection. The female returned after about ten minutes….and she went to the perch. The male left. All we can do is watch….I hate this term but in nature it is “survival of the fittest”. Not all chicks survive. If this little chick doesnt have strong enough instincts to do what needs to be done to get fed, it probably wouldnt survive on its own anyway.

For all those who are messaging me and asking me to intervene….There are state and federal laws that govern these things. It is illegal to “take” a chick without permits to do so from both the state and federal authorities. Ospreys are not an endangered species….the population is large and growing. We had 132 successful nests in the metro last year, meaning they fledged at least one chick. 35 nests failed for one reason or another. ( all the data from 2022 was posted earlier). So when you look at the big picture, Ospreys are doing well. Nests fail and chicks die for all sorts of reasons and it’s all normal. Its still sad.

Many nest cams across the country deal with these issues, when the viewing public has difficulty accepting the saddest parts of natural outcomes. My human heart does hurt. I have invested 30 years of my life in watching, documenting and helping ospreys when I can. But sometimes we have to accept what feels unacceptable. In my mind, I separate things into different categories…and when a wild creature is in trouble because of human behaviors, it feels like we have more of an obligation to intervene. ( Like repairing and maintaining the artificial nesting platforms we have errected for them) But when it is a natural process, I think we have to just use the opportunity to learn about behaviors. We must allow this process to unfold in its own way. The ospreys may surprise you. And we can share our grief over the inevitable losses. Think good thoughts for these birds!

Progress!

 There are so many things I would like to write about but it takes time to write posts and the demands of the fieldwork right now are so great. BUT I gotta say I watched the Arb female feeding the three chicks this morning and for the first time I saw her intentionally trying to give fish bits to each chick. In those early feedings it seemed like she would feed the biggest and most aggressive chick most of the food, and I was worried that the smaller chicks might not make it. But just like humans, a young first time mother will make mistakes and then start to figure out how to do better. This morning she was reaching over the closest and biggest chick to get a bite into the beak of the smaller one in the back. Wow! Yes she was clearly trying to feed each one and moving around in a circle to care for each one. Their crops, where they store the food as its digested, are still tiny and fill up quickly, so its normal for smaller chicks to get their fill and fall into what we call a food coma….they fall asleep.…they quit reaching out for food. The bigger chick will be able to take more food, and it will.

All normal. But this subtle change in the females behavior is uplifting….now she stands closer, she reaches out to each chick, and she puts the chicks needs before her own. During those early hours after hatching, she didnt feed the chicks at all….she fed herself, she stood so far way from the chicks, she acted like she couldnt reach them. So these changes are all so positive! I was so happy to see her reaching over one chick to feed another!

Tho it was uncomfortable to watch her early mistakes….her struggles to figure things out, she too is growing and learning! They still have many hurdles ahead….but I think we have crossed over a significant one!

Third chick at the Arb!

 Well what do ya know….the last egg hatched on the Arb nest last night about 8 p.m. I hope this female will be able to feed all three of them enough to get them thru this heatwave. So many young birds are seeming lethargic these days. I am trying to get my nest checks in very early as we are counting chicks now and later in the day they can be harder to see…and honestly the heat drains me too.

Second hatch at the Arb

 Wow….we have had a second hatch already on the Arb nest this evening….and sadly, the female is not feeding them. She eats, but seems confused about what to do, or how to do it….she acts like the chicks should come to her for food. I wish the male would step in and start feeding them. This is a new female and most likely is a first time mother. I hope her instincts kick in pretty soon.…in this heat, they need fish for fluid.

Hatch at the Arb

 We have a hatch at the Arboretum nest! Perhaps you can see the chicks head out of the egg on the right….

Good news!

 I have visited the nest with the single female, her mate in rehab, everyday since we learned about the predicament that osprey is in. I have felt very concerned about her ability to step up and care for those chicks alone. Today I was very happy to see her leave the nest and return in about ten minutes with a fish. She fed for 25 minutes, so it was a fairly large fish, before I saw her swallow that fishtail! It looked like she may be feeding more than one chick. During this time she was not only visited again by an unbanded male, but there was a second visitor and they both circled, chirped, and one tried to land on the nest. In spite of this disturbance, she remained fairly focused on the task at hand….feeding those chicks. She stopped to snap at the male who tried to land…..NO! For the first time, today I felt relieved. I think she is beginning to grasp what is happening and what she needs to do. She is finding her inner heroine! Every day that goes by, those chicks are more able to survive the times when she has to leave them alone. Every day, they are closer to being able to thermoregulate. Every day they are closer to growing feathers. They still face great peril, but surviving these early days gives me hope! I have watched over so many single parent broods over the years….and its amazing how many of them do survive to fledge successfully. Sometimes not all chicks make it however. But if even one makes it, it will be a successful nest. I thought you would all love to hear this positive news….today, I know they had at least one big meal, where it appeared that they ate until they just couldnt anymore! I will keep checking on them as much as possible…..but I do have a zillion other nests to check!

Trouble….

 Another taxing week in the osprey world. We are confirming hatching on many nests and I was able to see, and count, the first little chicks which hatched about two weeks ago. Lordy, they are cute. I watched one nest where the older experienced male came with a fish and fed the whole family…A bite for Momma, a bite for this chick and a bite for that chick! Sweet. Just as I was swooning over the cutie patooties, we got word that another one of our beloved, older males had been injured. We have lost two already this year. This male is now in rehab and we are hoping for the best. Ospreys don’t do well in captivity and we are sending him all our good thoughts for healing of some serious injuries. They do think it’s possible that he could heal and regain full flight abilities. Meanwhile, this leaves his mate with newly hatched chicks to care for alone. In the past most of the single parents I have observed had chicks that were a little older….these are wee ones that cant even be seen. The first day the female did not leave the nest to get food at all….she was just waiting for her mate to return with food. I observed for over 8 hours. The second day I did see two feedings, 7 hours apart. Can the chicks survive these early days of their lives with so little food and fluid? Today I was at the nest by 8:30 a.m. and the female had a totally empty crop. I watched her leave 7 times and each time she came back without a fish. I know this female can catch a fish so why isn’t she? She is still confused about what is happening and looking for her mate. She is being visited by another male which further confuses her, so she food begs and then lunges at him if he tries to land. She is trying to handle conflicting instincts….asking for food, which is what females do, and defending her territory from what is a perceived threat. I was starting to think the chicks had died, so she was not getting the signals from hungry chicks that would inspire her to get food. Then I saw a very subtle clue….a tiny poop squirt. If I had blinked at the wrong moment, I would have missed it. Finally at about 3 p.m. today, as storm clouds were gathering, she flew off and came back with a fish. She fed what I think may be just one chick. Me and one of my nest monitors watched her carefully as she ate and fed the chick, to be sure food was actually being taken. The rain began and she fed quickly and then hunkered down on the wee one as the rain increased. She did not finish the fish so they will have another meal when the rain stops. I will check on them again tomorrow….spending long hours observing in hopes that she will begin to accept her unfortunate circumstance and pick up the feeding schedule. My presence certainly doesnt change anything or help her in anyway, but it helps me…..I always like to learn more, and I rest easier if I know whats happening. Its been a stressful few days.

We seem to have one of these single parent situations every year now….and we are often pleasantly surprised by a happy outcome, so let’s hope it happens again….maybe a double happy ending with a fledging chick and a successful return of this magnificent male. He has two offspring that are nesting successfully in my study area….so he has some spectacular genes! Think good thoughts!