Ospreys and Ravens!

 I let myself have a fun day today ….when I don’t try to get to a million nests, or answer a million emails. I spent all afternoon yesterday and several hours this morning doing data entry, ugh, to get caught up on osprey incubations dates. Our first hatches will begin in the next day or two. Then I got another Latte and I went back to watch the ravens and ospreys….spent over 3 hours there between those two nests. It’s so much fun to watch and figure out what is happening. First I looked at the raven nest on the cell tower….two of the three chicks has fledged. One was still wandering around the cell tower, flapping, hopping, poking at things….but not quite ready to fledge. He was mostly alone. The family was off somewhere. Then I went to look at the ospreys. At first I couldn’t see anyone in the nest, but finally got a view of the females head….barely visible. But I kept watching, waiting and finally the male showed up with a fish and I watched them swap positions and the female flew off with the fish. I finally found her eating perch and took some photos of her. Then I returned to the ravens….finally an adult came to the cell tower….the chick was still bopping around, lower on the tower. The adult came down once and put something in the chicks mouth. At one point there was another juvenile that came to the tower but didn’t stay for long. The hours just flew by as I watched them. The vocalizations were definitely raven and not crow. But when they flew off I searched for them and could not spot them in the trees, tho I could hear them. I kept watching for any interactions with the ospreys, and luckily there were none. I imagine by the time I get back again, the last raven chick will have fledged and I am guessing they won’t hang around the cell tower. I wonder if they will return next year. It was a fun way to spend a day….broadening my horizons, still curious…Twin Cities Metro Osprey and Raven Watch!