31 nests!

 I visited 31 nests today! Many were occupied by a pair….a few had just a single osprey but the partner may have been out fishing, and a few were empty. It’s got me scratching my head…..but time will tell. Sadly our oldest male did not return and I feel a very real sadness about that. He would have been 21 this year. I did get some nice photos of him last year that I will treasure. Most ospreys seem to be in the recovery mode….just laying low. Not much copulating, some nest work going on. I still have some bands to read tho I did get a couple identified. But still so many nests to get to for the first time…and now they are calling for a rainy weekend….NOOOOOO! It is distressing how many nests were removed this winter….but some huge nests have been left untouched and I am grateful for that!

Arboretum

 We seem to have a pair at the Arboretum and I have been trying to compare their markings to last years pair. The female seems to be a new one to me…..the male I am not as sure about. I will keep watching and comparing markings as time permits.

Happy Easter…

 After a very long day in the field I sit here staring at this page….how do I get it all in one post? Well I can’t…..so I won’t. For starters I finally got a new used car, so am more comfortable putting on the miles to check more nests. So I headed out early this morning….a beautiful Easter morning in a lovely park, with only one other human being seen. But I did see a male osprey back on his nest! It was a spectacular sight, so quiet. Sometimes I feel so lucky to be right where I am, seeing what I see, experiencing what I experience. But there was no female yet at this nest. It’s early tho. Then on to other nests….many of them empty, about four that had a pair! One of those nests should have had two banded ospreys….but only the male was banded. The older banded female was nowhere to be seen and he was bringing fish to this new unbanded female. There is still time for the older female to show up. It can take me a long time to just figure out if they are banded…lots of patience. Can’t blink or I will miss it! I visited 17 nests….four had pairs, one had a single osprey. One of those nests has quite a story so I will post that soon in a separate post. Enjoy the crummy photos….a windy day, hard to get a sharp shot sometimes holding my I phone up to the scope. I did mostly like the newish car…..but holy crap, I have to go to school to learn it all. The tech issues….what is that button for? Why is it beeping? How do I turn that off? I am so old school.

Back together again!

Pictures were challenging today, but our older male is not alone anymore….his long time mate showed up one day after he arrived and I was able to read her band today. I was overjoyed that they are both alive to make some more beautiful chicks together! They are so comfortable together...their instant ease is palpable.

I work very hard to compile all the data in to reports that I can look back thru for info…and it’s so grueling to do, but I am so happy to have the information I need at my fingertips! So I looked back at the histories of these two. They have been together for 10 years now and have produced 23 chicks. The female was on this nest one year prior to when the current male joined her. They both had nested successfully previously, and didnt get together until they were nine years old! But it’s a match made in heaven. They have been successful every year.

This male had nested at another nest not too far away prior to that but in 2015 his nest blew down in a storm killing both chicks and possibly injuring that female. That may be what precipitated his move in 2016. I believe his female didn’t return.

The female was a floater seen at another nest in 2014, and she moved to this nest in 2015. She was quite old to be breeding for the first time, 8 years old, in 2015. Perhaps she nested previously somewhere we didn’t know about. At any rate, once they found each other, they have been deeply bonded and they work together like clockwork. So much fun to watch. They are both 19 years old this year. We hope they will be successful again this year, and for some years to come as well.

He’s back!!!!,

 The older banded male who I was expecting to be the first osprey back showed up today! Woo hoo! I was so excited I was shaking as I took some photos. He will be 19 yrs old this year. He looks great and went out and caught a huge northern while I was there. Just fun to hang out with him. Then I visited some other nests and found many empty, but found a pair on one nest and a single male on another. I got a report of another pair on the other side of town…..so here we go! Start your cars….i hope to get a new used one soon so I can really start putting on the miles.

Osprey season has begun!

We have our first osprey spotted on a nest!

So Osprey season has officially begun…just as I predicted! We are off and running!

Thanks to Dani for the report and photo!

Today? Tomorrow?

 I predict we will have our first ospreys back on the nest today or tomorrow. We had northerly winds yesterday, and were supposed to have strong winds from the NW today…but right now it’s quite calm….winds from the N at 2-3 mph. Winds will switch to being from the SE tomorrow. Our first banded male osprey arrived last year on this day. He will be 19 this year, so if he survived, we will see him soon. He has been the first osprey back for years….first pair to lay eggs, first chicks to hatch last year. We have been able to set our osprey watches by him. There are three other nests we watch too for early returns….if those territorial birds survived, they are usually the early birds. I will check one today and one volunteer will check another today. Keep your eyes open!