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!