Better days....

Well as you all know, this place I live in has been thru some very trying times in the last week. It is a pretty dark time and sometimes monitoring Osprey nests seems pointless when an innocent life is lost in such a horrific manner. But I still drag myself out to check nests. In the last week there has been a lot of hatching, which is a lovely thing to observe.....the males bringing those fish to the female for those first feedings. I am happy to report that I have seen FAR less headshaking and the black flies seem to be subsiding. Thankful that these new chicks will not be tormented.
Today I saw the first chicks for this year....finally big enough to stand up, at about ten days of age. I waited for 90 minutes for the male to bring a fish and when he did, it was a whopper! The female took it and at first there was just one chick standing but then up popped number two! The littlest one was onay able to stand up for short periods, but I could see his little beak reaching out for fish bits. The older chick was able to remain standing thru the entire feeding, until both seemed to collapse into a food coma and Momma just kept eating. Pop stood on the nest the entire time watching and helping to shade the wee ones. He snoozed a bit as well. Happy family. Still such a lift to see those little guys...almost made me forget what our community is going thru. Life does go on....sometimes it’s something this small that can keep me going, hoping for happier, more peaceful days to come. Justice for George. 

I also must send out a huge thanks to Ruth Rechtzigel for her generous donation to help keep this research going. I am so deeply touched by this support. A million thanks!

Drags....gnats!

I have been observing a lot of intense headshaking in the last few days on many nests around the metro, which is a sign of gnats ( black flies). It is troubling, given the high failure rate we documented last year on our nests...39% of the nests failed. We cant attribute it all to the same cause, but clearly black flies played a significant part. Our early spring was quite dry so I was hoping we would not have to deal with a large hatch of black flies, but after all our recent rains , I am afraid we are seeing the tell tale signs that the ospreys are being bothered. And this is happening right at the time when our nests are beginning to hatch. As was the case last year, some areas are worse than others. Hoping that this generation of black flies dies off quickly. The black flies are seeking a blood meal and newly hatched chicks are SO vulnerable, no feathers, unable to stand up, or even shake the gnats off, they become weak from blood loss and die.

We are still finding new nests, and seeing lots of extra ospreys flying around at established nests. At some point, quite soon, it will be too late to lay eggs...since these young chicks would need to be ready to migrate by sept or early October. There just isnt enough time to successfully complete the breeding cycle. And yet, new nests are popping up! So as this population grows, will we see more pairs that do not breed? We call these birds “housekeepers” , when a pair remains together, builds a nest, defends a territory , but does not breed. Is this part of the mechanism for population growth to level off? This is why I keep studying them! Still so much to learn!

Hatching! And a thanks!

Well, once again I have been remiss in writing up some posts for you all. What’s my excuse? Field work! So much to do, and some really difficult bands to read....like an upside down silver band with 8 tiny numbers all the way around the band....Boy you really have to adjust your brain to read a band upside down! After repeated visits, I have gotten all the numbers except one last digit! And now the bird is gone! Things like that take so much time, and in the end I failed because she and her mate decided to move on.

We have already discovered seven new nests this year! Many I have stumbled across and some were reported to us. Thanks so much to those people who do report those observations to us!

And the big news today is.......HATCHING!!!! Our first nest has hatched and I have to say I get as excited as I was the first time I saw it. I went to visit this nest mid day, and within five minutes of first observing them, I knew they had begun hatching, but I had to wait for about 2.5 hours for the confirmation. How did I know? The male. His behavior was a dead give away. He was standing on the nest perch the whole time.....would not leave. And everytime the female moved at all, he leaned over and stared into the nest cup. So darn sweet. Now the day before, he was not hanging around the nest as much. But today he was glued to her side. She was sitting a little higher, a little hunched over ( so as not to squish what was beneath) and she occasionally peeked below. But this is a long time mated pair, he is 14 years old, and she is 13 so they are very experienced and are pretty mellow about it all. He is a very good parent, obviously so interested, so curious, so protective. Finally after several hours, he took off to get some food. He was not gone very long, and he delivered a headless goldfish. She got up and took it to the edge of the nest and began eating the boney parts of the fish, as he stood in the nest staring down into the nest cup. When she got to the fleshy, soft belly of the fish she began leaning into the nest cup with tiny bits of food for the wee one. It doesn’t take very many bites to fill up their tiny crops at this stage. As she fed, I impulsively yelled out loud “woo hoo! Yippee” and I started clapping. Thank goodness no one was around to witness my behavior. It wasnt long before she resettled into brooding the tiny new chick. After 27 years of watching this, the first nest each year is like seeing it for the first time and I still get very excited. So, yes I am drinking some sparkling wine as I write this! Heres to our first new Osprey of 2020!

Our hatching is going to be really spread out this year, as some nests have just laid eggs!

I also need to send out some deep thanks to those who have sent some very generous donations to help keep this research project going during a difficult year. A huge thanks to Gail, Debbie Jordan, and Robert Van de Loo for the financial support and for showing me that you believe in what I am doing. It means the world to me! A million thanks!

May you all be well and stay safe!

Arb cam fixed...three eggs!

The Arboretum Osprey Cam was finally fixed! Egg number two was laid on 4/29 and the third egg was laid sometime while the cam was down, probably Saturday May 2. Here is the view this morning! Just a peek! Yeah!

First egg at Arb

The first egg has been laid today at the U of M Arboretum cam nest! I knew it was coming! They usually lay eggs 2-3 days apart so watch for the second egg on Tuesday or Wednesday!

Arboretum Osprey Cam

Just a quick update to let you know that the Arboretum Osprey Cam is up and running. I first saw birds on the nest in person about a week ago and read the males band then. It is the same pair of Ospreys as last year. The male is Z3, he is 8 years old this year and he hatched on a nest on private property near Carver Park. The female is unbanded, but she looks like the same female as last year. We can observe the behaviors between these two and see a sense of ease and comfort, without the tell tale defensiveness that I often see with a new pair. We are happy to answer questions here about what you see on the cam, so don’t hesitate to ask!

Now we are watching for the first egg to be laid! It should happen any day now. They have refreshed the nest with a lot of soft grasses, and we will probably see them prepare a cup for the eggs.

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

Weird spring...

It’s been a weird spring. Our first ospreys arrived in early April, right on schedule. But then the arrivals seemed to slow down and we still have some empty nests, and nests with just one Osprey, still waiting for its mate. I believe the slowness may be related to the ongoing strong north winds we have had. It seems to have really slowed down the northward movement of some of our Ospreys. We have nests that have just been occupied in the past few days! And now I am starting to see too many ospreys at many nests. Today I was watching five of them chasing and competing for a nest that has been empty throughout April. I have gotten reports of three birds on a nest from several people. I have also observed many ospreys laying down in the nest, as if they were incubating, when I knew they did not have eggs. This too may be related to the cold temps and strong winds. Sadly, I am finding many of our banded birds have not returned, yet anyway. Tho some are just showing up in the past few days, so changes may still occur on some nests. On the other hand, some of most experienced ospreys got back early and have laid their eggs. They instinctively know that the sooner they get back and the sooner they lay eggs, the greater the survival rate for their offspring.

I have been watching a nest where a long time adult male was tragically hit by a car last September. His mate had departed on her migration before he was killed, so she returned to her nest this spring not knowing that he would not be joining her. Tho I am still sad about that loss, watching a new male try to take over this territory is so fascinating... His defensiveness, his nervousness, as he brought sticks to the nest...turning away from her, hanging his head, shaking his wings. Nervously looking over his shoulder at her...and his awkward unwillingness to share his fish with this female. She even chased him around the area during my last visit. Today they seemed much more comfortable together. She is still suggesting that he should bring her a fish, as this is the true test of a good mate in the Osprey world. But they are perching near each other, seeming much more relaxed and without the defensiveness of earlier days. I am hopeful for this new pair!