Arboretum cam nest....

 So sorry for the lack of posts. I am overly busy dealing with some challenges....but we finally have a pair of ospreys at the Arboretum cam nest. The male is a new one, MS, who is three years old and was hatched on a nest nearby in Carver Park. This will be his first breeding attempt. The female is unbanded and I believe she is a new female. I have tried to compare her markings to the female‘s from last year on some saved screen shots. I will keep working on that. The male has exhibited some defensive behaviors, turning his back on her, dropping his wings and shaking them. He also looked at her and put his wings out and approached her as if he was going to push her off the nest. These behaviors are not uncommon with a new pair. We will see what happens!

We also do have some Ospreys incubating...those early returns, the old mated pairs, get right down to it!

I also want to thank The Raptor Respurce Project, Debbie Jordan and Rob Van de Loo for their generous donations to this project. I am so grateful for the support!!!!

https://arb.umn.edu/content/live-osprey-cam

One of my favorites

 One of my favorite ospreys showed up today! (All of us who have been watching ospreys for years do have our favorites!) I was heading to the pottery studio where I make my pots and was late....rushing along, swearing I would not stop to check Osprey nests.....but I HAD to swing in and look at this one nest and there he was, preening in the early morning light, his band so obvious and easy to read. This male Osprey is now ten years old and I have probably written about him many times. Six years ago he sustained a serious injury, a fractured keel, and was found on the ground near a lake. He may have hit something in the water. He spent a month at The Raptor Center, in the middle of the summer, leaving his mate and three chicks to survive on their own. When he was ready for release, they asked if I wanted to release him, since I knew where he belonged. Of course I did! We discussed what might happen behaviorally after a month in rehab. There was some concern that his parental instincts may have turned off during that long stretch of not caring for chicks. When I released him there were a few moments of total exhilaration as he flew off with those long wings carrying him up so quickly, his flight so strong. I was shocked at what happened next.....his mate attacked him as if he were an intruder! I was stunned and it had never occurred to me this might be the response. But what makes a male a good mate, to a female Osprey, is his ability to provide food and protection from other birds. He had failed to do either for a month, leaving her with the heavy responsibilities of providing fish and protecting her three chicks all on her own. That is a lot for a single female Osprey to handle and she was very stressed. She was relentless in her attempts to keep him away from the nest and the chicks in the following weeks, tho he repeatedly tried to bring fish. He occasionally managed to sneak in when she was gone and drop a fish for his chicks. His parental instincts remained strong. After the chicks had all fledged, she did begin her migration and finally this male was able to fully step up and provide food and protection for those young Ospreys. We wondered what would happen the next year.....and when they both returned from their migration, it was if nothing had happened. Those two have been together, successfully producing chicks every year since. I often stare at him and think of the importance of the medical care that The Raptor Center provided. Ospreys do not do well in captivity and the results are not always this good. Its not that often that the long term outcomes, post rehab, are even known! He has produced 16 chicks in his life, 12 of them in the years following his accident. So there he was again this morning, waiting to say hello to me. His mate has not returned yet, but I was over the moon happy just to see him. Sorry if I repeat this story every year...but I think it bears repeating!

544

People Reached

138

Engagements

Boost Post

And another....

 Out and about again today. The male that was the first known return the last two years has not returned yet, tho others have shown up. They do not always show up in the same order and it may be that he hasnt survived. But its way too early to jump to any conclusions. I checked nine nests today and found one osprey....not the one I saw yesterday....but a lone female, waiting patiently on the corner of her damaged nest. What I can say with some certainty is that the early returns are always established, successful breeders. They know that the sooner they get back, the sooner they can lay eggs and the greater the chances of survival for their offspring. Its always interesting and there are always surprises. I cant afford to drive all over the study area in these early days, but I am checking some reports and making circles in areas where I don’t have experienced monitors....and just trying to incorporate nest checks in to my regular errands and commitments. Its always fun to round a corner, wondering what I will see, and spot an Osprey perched there waiting for me!

My first Osprey of 2021

 Its official! I have seen my first Osprey and read my first band! Love it when the old regulars return so early. The lakes are really opening up quickly now and as I suspected, these strong southerly winds easily carried this osprey to his home territory. I suspect we will have more birds here tomorrow! Then the winds turn around for a few days. Southerly winds again on Thursday and Friday. Should be a fun weekend searching for Ospreys!

Wish I had taken a picture of that osprey , but I encountered a problem with a nestbox and felt the need to hurry home and try to find some help to repair it. So many nest box problems this year....and I don’t always have the help I need to fix them. But i keep trying! It felt so good to see one of my Osprey friends, and hear his vocalizations....yelling at eagles.

Not yet .....But very soon

 Yesterday I visited the nests that were reported as occupied by an experienced Osprey watcher earlier this week.....I checked all nests within a five mile area and found no ospreys....and no obvious signs of ospreys, no whitewash, fresh sticks etc. I dont think we have any ospreys back on our nests in the eight county metro area yet.....but they are predicting strong southerly winds tomorrow. Perhaps that will be the day that some of our friends come cruising back to their breeding territories. I will check some nests tomorrow! I am fairly certain we will have some ospreys by the end of this week!

They’re baaaaaack.....

 Well folks.....I have recieved the first credible reports of ospreys back on their nests, tho I have not confirmed it. It is from a reliable person who has watched the nests for several years....I am going to go check a few nests closer to home today....and will check those nests this weekend (and a few others during the week that are on my daily routes). Its an early start to the season! Nests that are close to open water, only the rivers at this time, are the ones that are occupied....but the rains that are predicted for the next few days may open up other fishable waters. So there ya go!!!!! Osprey season seems to have officially begun.....holy smokes. Are you ready? Get those field books and scopes out!

Not yet...

 Lets have a little talk about migration! We are getting reports of ospreys seen in MN and tho several of us have been out checking ( I checked about a dozen nests today) no ospreys have been seen. Yes the weather has been warm but we must remember that Minnesota Ospreys migrate to south and central america for the winter. They are not watching weather reports in MN before they head north! They are hard wired to begin their migration as a response to the amount of daylight, the length of the day. And each Osprey is a little different, but we often see the same ospreys returning early to their nests, and the same ones are late every year! So we are often not surprised by which nests are occupied first. There can be changes when a long time breeding bird does not survive and a new one takes over the territory. At any rate, when they start their move northward is a hormonal reaction to the changes in daylight and doesnt change that much from year to year....but when they start to get closer to their territory they may slow down if they start encountering frozen lakes. Since ospreys are primarily fish eaters, they need a food source to depend upon when they return. So return dates may be altered slightly if lakes are open early, or remain frozen until later than usual. That last push of their migration may be effected by the weather in that regard.....will there be food or not? But generally they do not return until, at the earliest the last week of March, and at the latest, mid April. New younger ospreys may return even later than that to find a mate and a territory.

So when lakes remain frozen later than normal, the ospreys may congregate south of here....Missouri, Kansas etc.....and then we get a lot of them at once when the weather changes. We must also remember that Ospreys are not dumb. Migrating takes a lot of energy, so they prefer to fly when winds are coming from the south, to carry them home easily. They usually wont fly in to a strong north wind. Again, they may hunker down and wait. So perhaps that gives you some idea of what conditions may affect their return dates. As of now, none of my experienced volunteers or I have seen any Ospreys. Keep watching those lakes! And those winds!