Five bites…

 From what I have seen the tiny Arb chick has gotten five bites of fish all day today. It’s a start. It’s been difficult to watch. The female almost seems afraid to feed the chick. But some progress was made today….its driven me to drink and I am having a cocktail now. My whole body tenses up as I watch. Whew. I hope more food gets in this evening….tho we are now under a tornado watch. Think good thoughts people….lots of good thoughts.

As I said earlier….sometimes cam watching and osprey watching requires great fortitude.

At the nest with the single mom, whose mate had two nests and ultimately abandoned her completely….we have lost one chick this week. Mom is now caring for just one chick. I watched her leave the chick for less than two minutes and come back with a tiny fish that they shared. She was probably unable to provide enough for two….but I hope she can bring this little one to fledge. She did it last year. I have watched so many heroic struggles for life…and my heart has broken a million times. And yet we celebrate the joys of success when they occur.

We are seeing many failures….about ten nests so far and I am still making the rounds to count chicks. Very few three chick nests, and some that had three last week, only have two this week. Sigh.

But today I am sending all my good thoughts to little Arb…cmon, buddy. This little one has done everything right….lifting its head and opening its tiny beak…..we can hear it trying to food beg. Mom, get your shit together….that little being is counting on you!

I suspect she may be very young….when I have watched the rare two year old females that have bred successfully, they also acted this incompetent. But both times they did end up raising one chick to fledge. You can see she has the instinct to feed, but she falters in the execution. Hopefully, having gotten a few bites in today, it will seem less daunting to her. The chick spins in circles cause he isnt sure where she is, and she struggles with the approach and the transfer. Fingers crossed…..let the storms fizzle, let all your good thoughts support this little family.