Update on the single mom I have been writing about….( tho I have now discovered at least 4-5 others). Yesterday when I got to the nest at 6:30 am there were no adults. I worried that they spent the night alone, easy pickings for great horned owls. And their crops were empty. After about 30 min KISA showed up with a small fish….the chicks fought aggressively over it ( a sign they are not getting enough food) and the KISA departed again and came back quickly with another fish. With both chicks eating and an adult there, I went to check other nests. Sadly I discovered at least two nests where I did not see a male during two different visits and the females were leaving chicks alone to go get food. I also found some other nests where the number of chicks has gone down and I didnt see a male but I am not sure if those females are actually alone. I feel like something quite alarming is happening.
When I returned to the original single females nest at about 2 pm, the chicks were alone again and then a male came and landed on the nest perch. I looked at his breast and saw a few spots and wondered if KISA had gotten some fish guts on his white breast….and then he looked down and I saw his dorsal feather pattern on his head…..nope, that’s not KISA! ( studies have shown that the feather pattern on the top of an ospreys head is unique to each bird and remains the same thru out it’s life, so it can be used to identify unbanded birds). NOTHING attracts unmated males like an undefended territory….it’s a magnet to them. So this male was testing, “ why isn’t anyone chasing me away?” I wondered the same thing, and I worried if he would be aggressive with the chicks. It was funny how the chicks were food begging and this male was leaning away from them! Then all of a sudden there was a flurry of flapping wings, the male left, and there was Mom! And she had a fish. Whew! One chick began eating….and after a short time KISA came with a fish also, so chicks were chowing down and they were safe. Last evening Pat went to check them again and both Mom and KISA were there, each brought a fish. So the chicks went to bed with full crops. This morning Mom was there, but her crop was empty and chicks were food begging….but she didnt go get fish. I watched for nearly 2.5 hours and Mom took off and did not return. About noon, I left again to check more nests and recheck some from yesterday where I thought there was a single female caring for chicks. I confirmed that today. Sigh. And I am so far behind on nest checks and my concern is growing about what is occurring on our nests. I returned to our focus nest at about 3 pm and KISA was there and both chicks had a fish. So I came home. The chicks have made it thru half of this sizzling hot week, largely due to this amazing male, whose behavior is a bit miraculous. The last super hot day is supposedly tomorrow, with temps beginning to lower a bit on Friday. We had some storms go thru last night and I was deeply worried about those two chicks AND lil Arb….so not much sleep for me. Thank goodness it was just heavy rain and not severe winds or hail so all is well. But the big question remains….what is happening? This is why I have always felt this research is important….because Ospreys are an indicator species and when their numbers plummet it is telling us something about our environment. So I have 30 years of data to look at. The number of failures is becoming high, tho not as high as the year we had massive black fly hatches….not yet anyway. But our mortality rate is soaring. That’s a big red flag. The knot in my stomach is growing.
No comments:
Post a Comment