Home again!

 I have been at Kisa’s nest (no it’s not really his nest) every day…. Crazy long hours this past week. After the first chick fledged on Sunday I have searched and waited for him to return. They don’t commonly disappear on their first flight…. They tend to get into all kinds of trouble a bit later. I was pretty certain that we had lost him yesterday but I just couldn’t bring myself to write that post. Most chicks cannot feed themselves this early. Just learning their water starts, going into the water and getting liftoff out of the water, is a skill that they typically practice over and over before they begin to even try to catch a fish. Facing the truth of the situation was hard. In the process of searching for him, and for the rehabbed male, I even found a new nest, or one I didn’t know about….just barely in time to get an accurate count on chicks and to see and identify the male. I did not see the mom at that nest. Neither have I seen the mom at Kisa’s nest since Sunday.

Kisa’s visits are seeming to be fewer and further between. I woke very early again this morning and went back to check on the remaining chick who had not fledged yet. She was flying from one side of the nest to the other but had not actually left the nest yet. As I pulled into my favorite viewing spot and put up my scope I yelled out loud, OH MY GOD! TWO CHICKS!!!!! My heart started racing….and I quickly started looking for the unique head markings I knew this chick had. HURRY HURRY, turn around, lower your head. YES it was him ( or her…..some spots on the breast, less than the other chick. Could be a female). WOW. Gone four days and here this little rascal is. And I have been there so many hours, I have hiked around, driven around, watched and listened so closely. I did leave this nest mid afternoon yesterday to check a few other nests so he may have returned after I left. Both chicks had food in their crops…..not full, but not empty. They had clearly eaten, so KISA must have been there before I got there.

I watched them for several hours. So relieved. But I still had not seen the second chick fledge. I watched her walk out on the nest perch….and I wrote a few lines in my field book and looked up….perch empty! Wait, what? And then, boom she landed back on the nest! Well done! So both had fledged so my thoughts turned to all those nests I have been neglecting. I decided to make a super quick run past 18 nests and returned about 3.5 hours later…..both still on the nest. Crops emptier now. But still….so wonderful to see them alive and together. Then something startled them….don’t know what…and they both flew off the nest and circled above. Then one chick came back to the nest and the other disappeared. I went for a little hike and found him in a tree not far from the nest. So this was great to see…..now they are both able to fly away from a predator. I loved seeing their startle response, a successful escape from a vulnerable position, and a safe return. A huge hurdle has been passed over now. I am a little pissed at the stress it put me thru the past four days….but whew….so relieved that these two, in this difficult life circumstance, have made it this far. Now I just hope KISA will continue to feed them post fledge. It’s a bit miraculous what he has done so far….but as I told the monitor for this nest, maybe he should be called Kita….knight in tarnished armor. He is feeding them enough to survive, so far….but he isnt feeding them as much as a normal parent would, and he isn’t hanging around to protect them very much. Though I know these two would be dead without him. Mom….I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in four days. I am still hoping against hope that I will get to see the rehabbed male and read his band for a positive ID. So it was a big day, with some very happy news. It’s been such a roller coaster ride! Some people see my car with the signs that say Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch, and they stop and ask about the birds. I have done a lot of educating during this whole weird year! But when I start to unravel this unusual story, people are amazed at how complicated and challenging their lives can be…..and how much I have observed and understood about what was going on! It does give them a new appreciation for what is occurring right under their noses, without much awareness. These people may never look at an osprey in the same way again! And when this season comes to an end, I will actually miss some of these people that took a real interest in the ospreys and wanted to hear the daily updates. My world is so different than most, and it’s fun to share all the insights I have into the lives of these magnificent raptors that have occupied so many years of my life and so much of my heart.